Forster Micrometer seating die - Any nuances one should know?

Kelly Timoffee

Kelly Timoffee

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Going to be switching over to this type of die for most of my reloading and received my first one recently.

Is there any little details or quirks that one needs to know with these units or just good to go and don't look back?

Will be used in a Rockchucker press.
 
In my case they did help with consistency, but...

A Lee seating die with a perfect neck tension process will have more consistency than a Forster MIC die with an imperfect neck tension process... in my experience.
If necks are perfect, you get that perfect seating depth with this die.
 
Yep... I would suggest the Lee collet neck die to get that perfect neck tension. outside neck turning as well.

Peterson LONG brass... I really like this concept for belted magnums and keeping that case alive.

Anneal properly on an ongoing basis.

Add all that together and it leads to very consistent ammo.

Jerry
 
Mystic Precision said:
Yep... I would suggest the Lee collet neck die to get that perfect neck tension. outside neck turning as well.

Peterson LONG brass... I really like this concept for belted magnums and keeping that case alive.

Anneal properly on an ongoing basis.

Add all that together and it leads to very consistent ammo.

Jerry
Click to expand...

All that is done to optimize what I can, aside from the Lee die, I also got a F/L Forster to size also.

Now, just gotta get over this single shot repeater I will have with COAL.
 
I like the Forster die and the slightly more expensive Redding that have a caliber specific sleeve to support the case. This cleaned up my runout big time compared to my old seater (Hornady match). I use the Lee collet neck sizer, redding body sizer, then outside neck turn. All of that, for me, makes for a ###y motionless needle on my concentricity gauge haha. If I ever replace my barrel, then I'll get the Smith to ream a sleeve for my die that's the same as my new chamber.
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
All that is done to optimize what I can, aside from the Lee die, I also got a F/L Forster to size also.

Now, just gotta get over this single shot repeater I will have with COAL.
Click to expand...

Not a fan of FL sizers for belted magnums unless the reamer has the same dimensions/headspace. I much prefer the Redding body die so I can control where and how much I bump that shoulder.

Often, FL sizers undersize for belted magnums so you headspace off the belt.... not always the most accurate nor ideal for extending brass life.

Jerry
 
Mystic Precision said:
Not a fan of FL sizers for belted magnums unless the reamer has the same dimensions/headspace. I much prefer the Redding body die so I can control where and how much I bump that shoulder.

Often, FL sizers undersize for belted magnums so you headspace off the belt.... not always the most accurate nor ideal for extending brass life.

Jerry
Click to expand...

The problem I am currently correcting is the inconsistent seating depth when I am running long COAL.If I size to a normal SAAMI COAL length there is no issues , once I want to get longer there seems to be some type of issue with my RCBS seater.I drilled and lapped the seating plug for VLD type bullets but there is just something in that die that doesn't like long cartridges.

It's a royal PITA when you have to back off the die and seat each cartridge from the start.
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
The problem I am currently correcting is the inconsistent seating depth when I am running long COAL.If I size to a normal SAAMI COAL length there is no issues , once I want to get longer there seems to be some type of issue with my RCBS seater.I drilled and lapped the seating plug for VLD type bullets but there is just something in that die that doesn't like long cartridges.

It's a royal PITA when you have to back off the die and seat each cartridge from the start.
Click to expand...

Hey Kelly, might have stated all this before, apologies if I have, but I too have a Forester FL die for new to me brass. Works well. Use the body die I purchased from Jerry and Lee collet and together an improvement for sure.

WRT to the Forester Micro seating die - it had what I describe as "grabbing" issues with seating the Trophy Bonded bullet. Got a custom honed stem from Forster after sending them some of those bullets but haven't tried the new stem. I too suffer from erratic bullet seating depth if plus minus .002 for hunting ammunition is too zealous of a consideration to try and improve on. I like the micro option, just up to now I haven't put all the pieces together to get things exactly where I like them with consistency I expect when seating bullets which is better than where I am at now.

Regards!

Ron
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
The problem I am currently correcting is the inconsistent seating depth when I am running long COAL.If I size to a normal SAAMI COAL length there is no issues , once I want to get longer there seems to be some type of issue with my RCBS seater.I drilled and lapped the seating plug for VLD type bullets but there is just something in that die that doesn't like long cartridges.

It's a royal PITA when you have to back off the die and seat each cartridge from the start.
Click to expand...

Weird for sure... did you try turning the seater 2 revs "UP"? Then reset the seating stem lower?

As long as you are not oversizing the case necks, seating shouldn't be too wonky but....

Jerry
 
RonR said:
Hey Kelly, might have stated all this before, apologies if I have, but I too have a Forester FL die for new to me brass. Works well. Use the body die I purchased from Jerry and Lee collet and together an improvement for sure.

WRT to the Forester Micro seating die - it had what I describe as "grabbing" issues with seating the Trophy Bonded bullet. Got a custom honed stem from Forster after sending them some of those bullets but haven't tried the new stem. I too suffer from erratic bullet seating depth if plus minus .002 for hunting ammunition is too zealous of a consideration to try and improve on. I like the micro option, just up to now I haven't put all the pieces together to get things exactly where I like them with consistency I expect when seating bullets which is better than where I am at now.

Regards!

Ron
Click to expand...

Yes, a friend of mine had this exact issue with a Forster mic seater... after I talked him into one ffs. Forster made him a new seating plug and things have been great ever since. Some bullet shapes can wedge tightly into the stem. I would be willing to bet the reduced bullet grip from seating longer is causing the issue if seating to SAAMI COAL has no issues.
 
Mystic, a quick scan of Peterson website revealed no reference to LONG. I know most new brass is a bit short of SAAMI spec. Are they making it to SAAMI spec and expecting reloaders to trim after one firing?
 
It's long to the shoulder. Not long to the case mouth. Belted mags can significantly blow the shoulder forward on first firing. Lots of allowance in SAAMI specs from belt to shoulder.
 
Hey, Mystic, think there is one glaring error in the video.
Johnny says that the standard SAAMI spec brass on firing, the shoulder will move forward (.018?), and the brass will come from the web.
Not so. Yes, it Headspace’s off the belt, but on firing the thinnest part of the case expands first, the neck. It seals the case and sticks to the chamber, the case head will only move rearward as much as the headspace, so no difference between the SAAMI brass and the long brass in this respect.
The shoulder will to be bumped forward more, but this is a one time event, only on first firing.
The brass will eventually get longer, but the brass will flow from the neck/shoulder area.
Case head separation is not as much of an issue with belted or rimmed cases. Much moreso with rimless cases.
This is made very clear in the Hornady manual.
 
My experiences agrees that brass does flow from the web area and overly short cases are going to get damaged there. of course, brass flows from the neck and shoulder as well but the consequences are not as severe

Case head separation happens right above the web area at the base of a case....

That is also a very big stress area for belted magnum cases.

Jerry
 
Thanks, Jerry.
Can’t say I have any experience with case head separation. My post is based on book learnin’
Think I have some 5x fired 7mm Rem Mag, maybe I should section one and see if it’s thin above the web.
 
Just bump that case 4 to 5 thou shorter vs chamber headspace... you will get separation soon enough... just be careful.

If you looked up case separation, you will see that the vast majority will fail just above the web at the base of the case. Wrong sizing will cause this and belted magnums are really vulnerable given the difference that might occur in chamber headspace vs brass out of the bag.

One firing is all it takes to strain that web ... and separation happens soon after.

You will see a thin but bright ring around the area about to fail.... toss those cases.

Jerry
 
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