Barnes 308 bullets sticking in Lee seating die? Beginner needs help.

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Terp312

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Greetings. I'm new to reloading and ran into an issue that I can't seem to find a solution to. When reloading 308 with Barnes ttsx bullets, the bullets get stuck in the seating plug, and get pulled back out of the case. After several attempts I can usually get them to seat and stay in the case, but it leaves a noticeable indentation ring on the bullets a couple mm below the expander tips, and seems to bend the tips a little. I tried polishing the seating plug with fine sandpaper, but that didn't help.

Using the Lee dies on my beginner lee set. The manual seems to suggest that Lee can make a custom seating plug if you send them a sample bullet, but do they send stuff across the border? Did you ever find any seating plugs sold separately that can be used on longer bullets?

Any help or advice would be appreciated, because after seating 20 bullets I'm pretty aggravated with the current state of affairs
 
It shouldnt take that much force to seat the bullet, such that damage is done to the bullet. Have you tried other bullets? Try seating the bullet incrementally, perhaps the bullet is being forced against the powder.
 
Polish it some more so the inside edge is knocked off and the inside of the plug is smooth, drills with polish compound works good, then put a little case lube on the bullet tip if that doesn't work.
 
cosmic said:
It shouldnt take that much force to seat the bullet, such that damage is done to the bullet. Have you tried other bullets? Try seating the bullet incrementally, perhaps the bullet is being forced against the powder.
Click to expand...

The load I have been using is a compressed load, as per the manual, confirmed by Barnes rep, so there is some audible crunch when the bullets seat, but even with lighter loads I ran into the same issue
 
You have the wrong seating stem. You need a VLD. I am sure the bullet is also damaged in the process.
Chamfering the case mouth will help but not cure that main problem - improperly fitted stem. Bullet should not stay stuck in the stem..ever.
 
Janeau said:
You have the wrong seating stem. You need a VLD. I am sure the bullet is also damaged in the process.
Chamfering the case mouth will help but not cure that main problem - improperly fitted stem. Bullet should not stay stuck in the stem..ever.
Click to expand...

You're right, he has the wrong seating stem tip.

As for the little dent, unless you're shooting competitively, which you wouldn't use ttsx bullets for, those marks will not have any effect on accuracy.

If they were on the base of the bullet, nicks, burrs, dents can cause some issues because they create a "rudder" situation.

I saw a study done on the issue you're having with your bullets. The study included the "stem guide" ring, mangled lead soft points, mangled plastic nose inserts, and even scratches on the ogives.

None of them had any effect on the hunting bullets they tested. None of the norm groups, with perfect out-of-the-box bullets, were different at the ranges they shot, which were 100-200 yards.

They tested bullets with heel damage, both boat tail and flat base. All of the bullets with damaged heels had expanded groups and flyers.

Here's a bit of a heads-up for you.

DON'T SKIP THE CHAMFER stage of the inside rim of the case mouth.

If you do, chances are very good that you will see a tiny sliver or even a full ring of copper on the lip of your case mouth, after inserting the bullet.

The brass cases are harder than the bullets and sharp edges will shave the copper edge, creating a slight imbalance, etc.
 
bearhunter said:
You're right, he has the wrong seating stem tip.

As for the little dent, unless you're shooting competitively, which you wouldn't use ttsx bullets for, those marks will not have any effect on accuracy.

If they were on the base of the bullet, nicks, burrs, dents can cause some issues because they create a "rudder" situation.

I saw a study done on the issue you're having with your bullets. The study included the "stem guide" ring, mangled lead soft points, mangled plastic nose inserts, and even scratches on the ogives.

None of them had any effect on the hunting bullets they tested. None of the norm groups, with perfect out-of-the-box bullets, were different at the ranges they shot, which were 100-200 yards.

They tested bullets with heel damage, both boat tail and flat base. All of the bullets with damaged heels had expanded groups and flyers.

Here's a bit of a heads-up for you.

DON'T SKIP THE CHAMFER stage of the inside rim of the case mouth.

If you do, chances are very good that you will see a tiny sliver or even a full ring of copper on the lip of your case mouth, after inserting the bullet.

The brass cases are harder than the bullets and sharp edges will shave the copper edge, creating a slight imbalance, etc.
Click to expand...

That is super useful information, thank you! Any idea where I might get my hands on a VLD seating stem? Are there dies that come with one or is this something that can be purchased separately? Also are seating stems universal between brands, or lee fits Lee, Rcbs fits Rcbs, etc?
 
I once had a similar problem. I put the seater stem in a vice and used a drill to deepen the seater cavity. Drill was about half the cavity diameter. That way the tip did not hit bottom. Worked well.
 
Might be easier to just buy a Hornady Seater with something like the VLD stem or A Tip

Sounds like a couple issues going, but if the tip is being distorted its hard to reason how the grip on the body can still be tight enough to pull it from a case
Maybe pull the die apart and csi how the bullet fits
 
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boxhitch said:
Might be easier to just buy a Hornady Seater with something like the VLD stem or A Tip

Sounds like a couple issues going, but if the tip is being distorted its hard to reason how the grip on the body can still be tight enough to pull it from a case
Maybe pull the die apart and csi how the bullet fits
Click to expand...
If the inside of the seater stem is smaller than the outside diameter of the bullet the outside rim of the steel stem will dig into the copper bullet and basically create a press fit which can be tight enough to pull the bullet out of the case. A VLD stem or modified factory stem is needed to solve this problem. Since the tips are being damaged as well the interior cavity of the stem is also too short for that style of bullet.
 
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