RCBS Seating Die Confusion

M70375! said:

I HAD THAT PROBLEM A TIME OR TWO WITH HEAVILY COMPRESSED LOADS, WHEN USING COOPER BULLETS, IS YOUR LOAD COMPRESSED?

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Not even close. And again, why does the old die work and the new ones do not? I am using the same load and the same bullets for the past 3 years.

It sounds like the profile of your bullet doesn't fit with the profile of the seating stem. I have fixed that problem before with my wife's hot glue gun. Since it isn't working now you might give it a try. You apply the glue into the seating stem and use a well lubed bullet to form a custom profile in the cavity of the stem. Remove the bullet and let the glue harden completely.and then try seating a bullet. It then fits that bullet and should not stick. As I said it has worked for me.

Joker12 said:

It sounds like the profile of your bullet doesn't fit with the profile of the seating stem. I have fixed that problem before with my wife's hot glue gun. Since it isn't working now you might give it a try. You apply the glue into the seating stem and use a well lubed bullet to form a custom profile in the cavity of the stem. Remove the bullet and let the glue harden completely.and then try seating a bullet. It then fits that bullet and should not stick. As I said it has worked for me.

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Good idea. But again, I had no problem whatsoever with the older die (#23) on the same bullets.

Dhutson said:

Good thought but these were new brass.

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New doesnt mean it doesnt need to be sized.
The expander ball might need to open it up just a smidge to make seating the bullet not take enormous effort also some cases can be bent in shipping packing ect and be just slightly out of round.

I’m confused. The sizing die issue was resolved by using enough lube. Ok…

Next, Are all the cases trimmed to correct length?… usually about .010” shorter than SAAMI chamber length. Since the roll crimp shoulder in most standard seating dies conflicts directly with the bullet seating process, just wondering if that may be root of some of the problem. I solved that potential a long time ago in most of my calibers by completely separating the crimping operation from the bullet searing operation….. trim all cases to correct length, lightly chamfer inside and outside of mouth and turn out the seating die a turn or two so the internal crimping shoulder is no where near the case mouth. Adjust seating stem for desired bullet seating depth. Use Lee FCD alter bullet seating as the final step in process.

fourfive8 said:

I’m confused. The sizing die issue was resolved by using enough lube. Ok…

Next, Are all the cases trimmed to correct length?… usually about .010” shorter than SAAMI chamber length. Since the roll crimp shoulder in most standard seating dies conflicts directly with the bullet seating process, just wondering if that may be root of some of the problem. I solved that potential a long time ago in most of my calibers by completely separating the crimping operation from the bullet searing operation….. trim all cases to correct length, lightly chamfer inside and outside of mouth and turn out the seating die a turn or two so the internal crimping shoulder is no where near the case mouth. Adjust seating stem for desired bullet seating depth. Use Lee FCD alter bullet seating as the final step in process.

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fourfive8 said:

I’m confused. The sizing die issue was resolved by using enough lube. Ok…

Next, Are all the cases trimmed to correct length?… usually about .010” shorter than SAAMI chamber length. Since the roll crimp shoulder in most standard seating dies conflicts directly with the bullet seating process, just wondering if that may be root of some of the problem. I solved that potential a long time ago in most of my calibers by completely separating the crimping operation from the bullet searing operation….. trim all cases to correct length, lightly chamfer inside and outside of mouth and turn out the seating die a turn or two so the internal crimping shoulder is no where near the case mouth. Adjust seating stem for desired bullet seating depth. Use Lee FCD alter bullet seating as the final step in process.

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They were all brand new brass. And I do use a separate crimping die. And again, the question-Why does the old older one work and the two newer ones don't? I don't think I should be paying $60 for something that is supposed to work. I am a big fan of RCBS because I don't have to customize.

Thanks to everyone trying to help. Still open for all thoughts and suggestions. The real problem I am trying to solve is why does the older one work and the newer ones do not. And do the numbers on the dies really mean something more than the year of manufacture?

M70375! said:

I HAD THAT PROBLEM A TIME OR TWO WITH HEAVILY COMPRESSED LOADS, WHEN USING COOPER BULLETS, IS YOUR LOAD COMPRESSED?

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I shoot the same load as @Dhutson, it is not compressed.

Buy a set of Lee dies with a factory crimp die, I've loaded a lot of .375 H&H with the bullet you are selecting and with many other bullets, I've never had a problem.

I've used a number of different die sets for many different calibers, I've paid a lot for fancy dies, competition dies etc. I now use Lee dies for just about all my rifle calibers. They are reasonable in price and good in performance.

If it were me I’d try hornady dies, and buy a hornady shell holder as well, that makes a difference. Sometimes things just don’t make sense. Also could try a Forster comp seating die

I’m a bit confused by the comments, but that’s not unusual, so I may be repeating info already said. When you say that the projectile is sticking, it’s sticking in the seating stem? ( I know you said plug, I’m just confirming) Are you using a round nose seating stem with a spitzer projectile or vise versa? Don’t know if rcbs even make a round nose stem so that may be a moot point? Have you got the seating stem wound down far enough, so it’s not interfering with the roll crimp function before it seats? Compare the stem to the one that works, pull them out of the dies to check, you may need to hold a projectile in the seating stem to make sure they are the same depth wise. When you said the original die is damaged, is it the die body or the seating stem? If the body, can you swap the seating stems over. Is there a burr on the new stems that is catching? Sometimes you may need to slightly smooth the edge of the stem to remove manufacturing artefacts. The comment about hot melt glue to form a good shape is a good one. I have a couple of modified seating stems for my 32/35 for cast bullets, I used Devcon metal putty (bedding compound) to form the shape of the projectile ( I made the seating stems.) I apologise if I’m repeating something already asked/answered
Gumpy

If you want to load or reload the most consistent and reliable ammo, no matter if starting with new or fired brass, do the following. Remove the neck sizing button/depriming stem from your sizing die. Buy a Lyman M die for the 375 HH. Buy a Lee FCD die for the 375 HH. Buy a universal depriming die to use for reloading fired cases.

Lube enough. I use regular lube mixed with Imperial on a RCBS rolling pad. Run brass through sizing die. Clean lube off case with acetone on paper towel. Trim to correct length. Lightly chamfer inside and outside of mouth. Run case into Lyman M die set so a tiny flare is created at case mouth (Lyman M die has a two diameter step neck expander. The slighter larger step is used to put a tiny/short flare at the case mouth so bullet starts smoothly). Prime cases so primer anvil slightly compresses on bottom of primer pocket and primer is .004-6” below base of case. Charge case. Back out bullet seating die a turn or 2, set lock ring, thus set, the roll crimp shoulder WILL NOT contact the case mouth. Set the bullet seating stem and lock it at desired bullet seating depth. Seat bullet. Set Lee FCD to put crimp on case mouth adjusted so the collet segments barely touch each other at full die compression. The case mouth should be crimped against the forward edge of the bullet’s crimp groove. The seating depth should be set so mouth edge is crimped up against the forward edge of bullet’s crimp groove. If the bullet has no crimp groove, adjust the Lee FCD so it gently compresses the mouth against the bullet shank. Test fire gun with cartridges in magazine and inspect and check length of last cartridge to see if recoil has moved bullet. The front of the mag box hits the tips of the bullets in the magazine during recoil and can shorten COAL.

This is the way I load DG ammo for 100% reliability. You can do it however you wish.

Hogpatrol said:

Could be too much neck sizing. This is an advantage of Redding dies, regulating neck tension through different size removable bushings.

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Again, it was brand new brass.

Dhutson said:

Again, it was brand new brass.

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Bro..... your getting realky annoying with the....... but it was new brass crap.

EVERYONE is telling you the same thing.
Your either being intentionally daft at this point or your incapable of being helped.

I juat reloaded 50 3006 lapua cases and 120 norma 404 jeff. Brand new and you know what they all got sized because while lapua and norma makes good shit its not perfect. And the larger norma cases had a few dings from shipping.

At this point bro. Ima say read the reloading manual. And watch some youtube vids. And try not to hurt yourself

Issue has been solved and sorry Farmer John it had nothing to do with anything you were suggesting and nothing you were suggesting would have solved the problem. The problem was the new brass. I have used new brass on other occasions with other calibers without any problems. I recently loaded 100 30.06 shells using Norman brass with no issues. But I did nothing to prepare the brass. I really didn't think I needed to. Never had before. But I was wrong. I should have prepped the new stuff. Size, trim, etc. So, I started over with all of the brass that I had and resized, trimmed, and prepared it the same way I do with reloading old brass, and problem was solved. Loaded 50 rounds without one incident.

There still is one issue that even RCBS could not resolve. I loaded (with no issues) 20 rounds using an older seating die. Still can't resolve this issue. I probably got lucky. I checked the seating plug on all three dies and they were the same. I got lucky and that's enough for me.

Thanks to everyone for the input.