Lee dies such grief with plated bullets?

Brutus

Brutus

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I think I'm not going to use lee brand bullet seating dies with plated or copper jacketed bullets anymore.
I've loaded a boatload of 44 Special and lead cast with these dies, and not many real issues to worry about.
Thought I would try Frontier brand 240 grain electroplated .429 bullets.

What ch@ckensh@t!! Couldn't get a crimp, adjust for crimp, bullets not seated with a crimp (!!!) die adjusted, bullet seated to different depth now with a monster crimp!!!

Too many cases destroyed, must take break before I lose it.........:mad:

Where's my RCBS???
 
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Probably four years back (I think?) when I started reloading I had pretty much the same problem you're describing. It turned out to be the bullets I was using. I believe the nickname they had was "jelly beans"......Excel .40 cal plated bullets. No crimp.....too much....loose bullets...etc

Now if you're bullets were goofy like that and then some of your cases were to the minimum side of length, while others were to the max it could account for your problems. My .02
 
saskgunowner101 said:
Probably four years back (I think?) when I started reloading I had pretty much the same problem you're describing. It turned out to be the bullets I was using. I believe the nickname they had was "jelly beans"......Excel .40 cal plated bullets. No crimp.....too much....loose bullets...etc

Now if you're bullets were goofy like that and then some of your cases were to the minimum side of length, while others were to the max it could account for your problems. My .02
Click to expand...

Thank you saskgunowner, you describe by problem to a tee.

Cheers!
 
I had similar problems with lead, plated and jacketed bullets and different dies.
Almost every time it was traced back to bad bullets - oversize/undersize, irregularly shaped. Sometimes - once, actually - the worn neck sizing die (Lee).

But... I never do seating and crimping at the same time, and always trim the brass (to be crimped) to the same length.

s>
 
Lee dies

If you are having problems seating and crimping, try a factory crimp die from lee.

I just picked one up and it has made a huge difference. A lot of IPSC shooters at the last Qualifier use this die as their last step when reloading.
 
FrankGuillon said:
If you are having problems seating and crimping, try a factory crimp die from lee.

I just picked one up and it has made a huge difference. A lot of IPSC shooters at the last Qualifier use this die as their last step when reloading.
Click to expand...
I think I might have one of those I purchased a while back for heavily loaded 44 magnum rifle handloads.

Thank you for the advice.
 
Have used Lee dies for years with all types of bullets without problem. I noticed in you post you mentioned having loaded cast 44's earlier. Assuming you are loading plated 44's, did u check to ensure that all the waxy lube buildup from the cast is not remaining in the die. A very common problem which will cause the seating depth to fluctuate all over the place if its not removed prior to use..Just a thought.
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