Hornady die issue...

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troutseeker

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I have been using Hornady dies for pretty well all the calibers I reload for and am happy with them, except...

I recently bought some new Hornady dies for my .300WSM and I am loading 168 grain Barnes TTSX. The seating dies kinda "grabs" the bullet near the tip and makes it hard to remove the round from the press. It also slightly marks the bullet.

Anyone else experience this? Have you found a fix?

Thanks, Troutseeker
 
I wouldn't come within 10 feet of a Hornady die if it was downwind and hiding behind a bush!
I have owned several, all have had problems with the expander stem sliding up and down and the bullet seater not giving good bullet alignment. I'm switching to RCBS everything, and no more problems.
 
Most of my dies are RCBS but I have a set of Hornady for my .35 Whelen and I like them. I did have the same issue with my Hornady seating die and 225gr TSX when I first got them. It would grab and leave a ring around the nose of the bullet. After closer examination I found that there was sharp edge/burr in the seating stem. I used my Dremel, a cone shape buffing wheel and some compound to buff it out. Never had a problem with grabbing and marking bullets since.
 
troutseeker said:
I have been using Hornady dies for pretty well all the calibers I reload for and am happy with them, except...

I recently bought some new Hornady dies for my .300WSM and I am loading 168 grain Barnes TTSX. The seating dies kinda "grabs" the bullet near the tip and makes it hard to remove the round from the press. It also slightly marks the bullet.

Anyone else experience this? Have you found a fix?

Thanks, Troutseeker
Click to expand...
Experienced the same problem in .375 Win.Replaced the dies with a RCBS set.
 
Change the seater button. Wouldn't hurt it to make it a tick bigger. Mind you, a wee bit of damage on the point doesn't matter. The TSX is longer than a lead cored 168 due to the lower density of copper too. Watch your OAL.
 
I like Hornady dies when they are working right, but they are easily the most problematic brand I have run into. I sent a set of pistol dies back because the sizing ring was oversized, and a short bottleneck calibre back because the bullet seater was accidentally assembled on a long bodied die, so the case couldn't reach the crimp ring. Two weeks ago I picked up some .270 Win dies and have exactly the problem you describe. The seater grabs the bullet so firmly it rips the whole seater stem out of the die every time, right past that spring "retainer". I did mean to try polishing it to see if it made things better, but haven't got around to it yet.
 
As Battlerifle says:
The seater grabs the bullet so firmly it rips the whole seater stem out of the die every time, right past that spring "retainer".
I had the same problem with my hornady 9MM.dies. I solved the problem by selling the dies and buying RCBS dies.
 
This is a very common sypmtom, and it doesn't make any difference who makes your dies. If you get that "ring around the bullet" when seating, it's because the seating stem doesn't fit the shape of your particular bullet.

It's an easy job to reshape the tip of your bullet seater. You can use your Dremel tool (like bcsteve), or spin it in a drill and lap it to a perfect shape with valve grinding compound. Keep in mind that when it's perfect for one specific type of bullet, it may not be exactly right for others. I have (2) different seating stems for some calibers.

- Innovative
 
ruger 77 said:
As Battlerifle says:
The seater grabs the bullet so firmly it rips the whole seater stem out of the die every time, right past that spring "retainer".
I had the same problem with my hornady 9MM.dies. I solved the problem by selling the dies and buying RCBS dies.
Click to expand...

ruger 77
Where you having this problem with cast or jacketed bullets?..
 
Originally Posted by ruger 77
As Battlerifle says:
The seater grabs the bullet so firmly it rips the whole seater stem out of the die every time, right past that spring "retainer".
I had the same problem with my hornady 9MM.dies. I solved the problem by selling the dies and buying RCBS dies.

ruger 77
Where you having this problem with cast or jacketed bullets?..

I was using cast bullets. i also had another issue with these dies. I was using flat based cast bullets, and in order to get the bullets into the cases I had to flare the mouths out to the max. that the bullet seating stem would allow it, to still fit over the case mouth. I had a problem with the cases shaving lead off of the bullets, and a few crumpled cases. another shooter at work had the same problem with his 9MM. hornady dies. if you shoot cast bullets I definatly would not recomend using Hornady pistol dies. As I said I sold the dies. I have had NO problems with the other dies that I have. RCBS, Lyman, Redding, and Lee.
 
tacticalII ......

Read the Tech Tips section on my website, and consider the advantages of using "bushing type" dies like Forster, Redding and RCBS. These dies provide real advantages of not requiring the use of an expander button, and they give you complete control of neck tension.

- Innovative
 
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