Forster Benchrest seater die issues

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JNA

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Hello All,

I am having an issue with my Forster Benchrest seater die in my RCBS press as it seems to be seating at a wide margin.

I am loading .308 Winchester Berger 175 target bullets in new Lapua brass.

Checking my measurements with a Mittuyo vernier caliper (so assuming it is not an issue with the measuring device).

I am trying to seat the bullets at 2.8000, however every round I have to adjust the seating die in order to get to this value in some cases leaving the seater die in its previous value has dropped to 2.780.

I have checked the die is locked in place (have not taken apart the die, but think it might be a good idea).

I am the first owner of all the equipment.
 
so......the length of the point of every bullet is different, but the shape is always the same.......

the seating die pushes on the ogive of the bullet, and not the point of the bullet, if you measured ogive to base your measurements would all be the same, but because the length of the tip of the bullets vary your measurements are also varying to the same degree, this is why you hear precision shooters talking about base to ogive measurements and not COAL, COAL works for hunting loads, not precision loads, what you need is the Hornady bullet comparator measuring devices and the understanding of how they work and why they work
 

I am not sure if this helps.

I have noticed that Redding die and Sierra bullets sometimes don't work well together from the measuring standpoint but Forster is top notch.

Sorry for a crappy video.
 
yodave said:
so......the length of the point of every bullet is different, but the shape is always the same.......

the seating die pushes on the ogive of the bullet, and not the point of the bullet, if you measured ogive to base your measurements would all be the same, but because the length of the tip of the bullets vary your measurements are also varying to the same degree, this is why you hear precision shooters talking about base to ogive measurements and not COAL, COAL works for hunting loads, not precision loads, what you need is the Hornady bullet comparator measuring devices and the understanding of how they work and why they work
Click to expand...

I agree 100% on what yodave said above and its very good advice......."Except" for his signature block where he tells you "Friends don't let friends drive fords" :bangHead:

64-47235.jpg
 
Hi everyone, I am looking into the meplat trimming and waiting on my Hornady have to come in, but if I've understood the takeaway the COL will not match.
 
Just to add to what YoDave wrote.

I too had trouble with the Forster seating die giving me some varied results and particularly with one bullet...this is what worked for me...

- VLD inside neck chamfer tool. The more gradual slope seemed to just start the bullet seating action better. Smoother right from the get go. Got that one from Dogleg.

- Graphite neck lube. I ultrasonic clean and the inside necks being "too" clean created some extra friction. Learned this one myself. Actually popped out a primer on a Federal brass case one time and learned another lesson with that brand of brass. ( Big Ed the primer pocket loosening part well with some graphics.) I use the Redding Application media now and dip the case up to the shoulder junction, but a nylon brush will work as well.

- in my situation only, and this is going to sound weird, but the bullet shape and the coating on the Federal Trophy Bonded tip bullet just seemed to work against the seater. "Grabbing" is almost is the only way I can kind of describe what I believed to be occurring before incorporating the top two points. I sent some bullet samples for Forster and they custom honed a seating stem for me at my expense. These bullets have incredible field results so I dropped a few extra for a custom stem in this situation.

^^^ The first two points maybe something you can easily try and made the biggest difference with respect to consistent seating results.

Regards
Ronr
 
I had this same thing happen. Make sure to pull out the stem and inspect it. Mine had small cracks all around allowing for the seating stem to open and seat bullets at different heights. Forester sent a new stem ASAP and all fixed.
I suspect it may have occurred from seating compressed loads
 
yodave said:
so......the length of the point of every bullet is different, but the shape is always the same.......

the seating die pushes on the ogive of the bullet, and not the point of the bullet, if you measured ogive to base your measurements would all be the same, but because the length of the tip of the bullets vary your measurements are also varying to the same degree, this is why you hear precision shooters talking about base to ogive measurements and not COAL, COAL works for hunting loads, not precision loads, what you need is the Hornady bullet comparator measuring devices and the understanding of how they work and why they work
Click to expand...

What dave said, never use the tip of the bullet as a reference point it is never reliable, a OAL guage that measures to the ogive of the bullet is the only way to measure reliably.
BB
 
Yodave is correct as someone else above mentioned. I had the same problem myself and once I started measuring from ogive to base i could get bullet seating to within 0.002" everytime. I will say that I also have the RCBS competition seating die with the bullet load window and now never really use the forrester die anymore. If you load quite a few rounds, I would highly recommend the RCBS die.
 
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