Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Crushing shoulders while seating

Many years ago I miked some Herters bullets in one of their factory boxes I bought from their Mitchel SD store that were supposed to be .284 but actually were .294. They really caused excessive pressure in the 7mm REM mag they were fired in. One shot was all it took and we stopped and found the problem.

I had the same problem with new SIG brass and some 120gr Nosler ballistic tips. Started seating long and incrementally turning the seating screw down. At each .020 step seating became harder, finally bullet didnt move. Pulled it with a pair of side cutters, bullet was scored terribly. This brand of bullets are razor sharp at the boat tail break. Tiny bit of lube and a VLD chamfer tool solved it. No problem with fired brass.

Oh man, did you just piss on Redding dies? I thought they were the cat's azz

Your new brass is soft and your size die is making the neck too tight by a few thou.

Did you size them without the decapping pin and expander ball? If so, the neck size will be much too small to seat a bullet.

How do you figure it's too tight from the pics he posted of measurements? Please elucidate me.

Well either the neck is too tight or the bullet is too large. If it only has 1-2 thou of resistance it should slip in perfectly. If all of the measurments are spot on then the brass is very soft and will harden after a few firings. Getting them loaded without crushing them is a bit tricky and some graphite dry lube will help a bit.

Lapua brass is not soft unless the O.P way over annealed it.. whttail in MT is spot on.
One of 2 things is my guess either improper die set up or the die is not cut right.

I called Redding today and explained the issue. The guy I spoke with had me measure the expander ball to ensure it is the right size. He also confirmed that I am using the right dies (which I am). He said this happens with shooters that anneal brass after every firing. He told me to use dry lube generously and chamfer more than what I was and after the first firing I shouldn’t have the problem.
I took the rounds that didn’t collapse to the range today and they shot well so I guess we shall see.

Thanks for the input and help trouble shooting the issue.

Your pic of the FL sized shows .286 and the brass should have a neck thickness of .013 or so. This would give .260 for the mouth which is .002 neck tension which should be fine. If the necks are thicker that might be an issue, otherwise I'm with the others and its the seater.

Did you anneal them? I didn't see where you posted you had.

That’s my line of thinking also. A couple of incorrect diameter bullets in the box of 0.264. Maybe 0.277. Nosler also makes a 0.277 130gr Accubond.

Happened to me not that long ago with some Hornady bullets.

Also the seating stem seems like it really created a ring /edge in the bullets. How much force did you use to seat those?

Unless i missed it, did he ever find out the problem? I had a similar situation, not near as bad as this, but my seating die was set wrong. I have the Hornady Lock n load press and once my dies are set, it's just a quick check and start. I ended up pulling the decapping pins out of all my dies because i bought a dedicated decapping die to punch primers. Keeps your dies clean. After pulling the decapping pin, I forgot to reset the die in the lock n load collar. My screw up and did very similar to this.

[quote=scbigben] for some reason I am crushing the shoulders of some of the brass while seating.

Last time that happened to me, I was trying to put .257 projectiles into .243 brass.

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Well none of the gurus saw it the way I did.. so I'll share my outlook on it...and how I avoid that problem.

Even if it is new brass I neck size it with a Lee neck sizing die. Pretty much in all my reloading, I use a body die to size the body, after using the Lee neck sizing die to size the neck. About 80% of the time, I anneal the brass each reload.

I don't rush anything reloading... I see too many guys ( for some reason) slam home their ram on their reloading presses. I lower mine, easily, and all the way down and then back up. If I feel any resistance that is wrong, I stop right there.

I also hold the bullet case, pushed all the way back with my thumb in the shell holder, until the neck is up into the die body.

Crushed shoulder, if the bullet was the right bullet, then the reloader either/or, didn't have that bullet straight in shell holder, and/or was pulling down on his ram too hard and fast to seat the bullet.

For some reason I've seen too many handloaders, for some reason, jerking down the ram too fast the same way they jerk the trigger anticipating recoil at the bench or when they are pulling the trigger...

Pretty much the same thing, is if you try to drive at freeway speeds around town, things are bound to end up getting bent.

but this is way I've developed a pattern of reloading, after experiencing what the OP is experiencing, when I was teaching myself to do this stuff...being self taught is a pain in the anus, but you sure learn to avoid doing it the same way.... pain and frustration are a great teacher in the long run...

go slower and things will spend less time getting bent up...