Lee Seating Die and VMAX Bullets

DiabeticKripple

DiabeticKripple

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Red Deer, Alberta
Unbeknownst to me, the Lee seating die doesnt work with the VMAX bullets. I can not screw down the plug far enough to seat the bullet even past the lands in the rifle.

I tried flipping the stem around and just using the flat side, but i just crushed the tip into the bullet.

Does anyone have any ideas? i thought about a dab of epoxy and some release agent on a bullet to mold the plug into the same shape as the bullet to give me the extra 40 thou i need.

or do i just need a better die? I dont have the time to wait for the custom plug from Lee.
 
The epoxy idea might be worth a try. Do you have anything to use as a spacer between the seating plug and the adjuster stem? A couple of washers? Or is the issue that the seater plug is bottoming out in the hole?
 
Instead of adding to the front of the stem you could add a rod to the back (where it contacts the depth adjustment screw).

Also could screw the die in more, unless it's touching the shell holder already.
 
diegocn said:
Instead of adding to the front of the stem you could add a rod to the back (where it contacts the depth adjustment screw).

Also could screw the die in more, unless it's touching the shell holder already.
Click to expand...

Screwing in the die farther will probably give excessive crimp.
For deep seating with 7.62 Nagant I did as you mention and put a bullet above the stem which worked well.
To seat 44 Special with 44 Mag dies I found a solid bolt to replace the aluminum adjustment screw and was able to get deeper. Either way might work for you.
 
The Lee die doesn’t crimp, so I have it set to just touch the shell holder with a tiny bit of cam over to ensure good contact.

I was stupid and had 2 separate dies apart and accidentally tried making the glue plug in the 223 stem, but I put it in the 6.5 creed die body resulting in the bullet not being centred by the die before going into the stem, introducing a butt load of runout. However, I did manage to get them seated to the right depth.

I took it all apart, pulled the bullets and neck sized the cases back straight, then used the proper die and made a new glue plug but I haven’t tested it yet since I had to leave town. Should work though!
 
DiabeticKripple said:
Unbeknownst to me, the Lee seating die doesnt work with the VMAX bullets. I can not screw down the plug far enough to seat the bullet even past the lands in the rifle.

I tried flipping the stem around and just using the flat side, but i just crushed the tip into the bullet.

Does anyone have any ideas? i thought about a dab of epoxy and some release agent on a bullet to mold the plug into the same shape as the bullet to give me the extra 40 thou i need.

or do i just need a better die? I dont have the time to wait for the custom plug from Lee.
Click to expand...

I'm going the epoxy route every time I use compressed loads. You know, when the seater leaves a ring on the bullet because much force is needed.
works well.
 
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