My lee "dead length bullet seater" 7x57, is seating bullets with a .012 difference. I am measuring from the ogive, and have measured the bullets prior to loading. I have made sure the dies are clean. This is with hornady, sierra, and barnes bullets. Thank you for any ideas.

Sometimes the seater "cup" isn`t deep enough to accomadate very long nosed bullets like the Ballistic tips or V`max. Some of the bullets then contact the bottom of the cup and seat off the nose instead of the ogive as it should.

I don`t know exactly which bullets from the makers you noted you are using but suspect they are VLD or similar design. Try taking a dremel or hand drill and deepening the seating cup a couple thousanths and see if it helps.

WELL, my idea is to buy some good equipment instead of that LEE crap. Believe me, it will solve your problem.

well, turns out it probably dosen't matter. took the time to load some up at .030, .020, and .010 from the lands, and they all shot the same. Not very good. Back to the bench

Make sure you are tightening the lock ring. If not the difference in neck tension will cause diffrent seating depth.

Thanks mdvjrp93, will try and get back with results

Lee FAQ Seating Depth Variations

There are a number of possible causes for overall length variation. One is the way it is measured. If you measure overall length from the tip of the bullet to the base of the case, remember to subtract the variation due to bullet length tolerance. The bullets will vary in length due to manufacturing tolerances (bullets with exposed lead noses are the worst in this regard) and this will add to the overall cartridge length variation. Remember that the bullet seater plug does not (or shouldn't) contact the tip of the bullet when seating, but contacts farther down the ogive. For a more accurate seating depth measurement, take the seater plug out of the bullet seating die, place it on top of the cartridge and measure from the base of the case to the top of the seater plug.

Another possible cause for bullet seating depth variation is seating and crimping at the same time when trying to apply a firm crimp to untrimmed cases. Variation in case length also causes variation in the amount of crimp applied. Long cases get a heavier crimp than short ones. When seating and crimping at the same time, the crimp is formed as the bullet is seated into the case. The crimp will form sooner on a long case, and therefore the bullet will not be seated as deeply. The solution is to seat and crimp in a separate step (the Lee Factory Crimp die is good for this) and/or trim cases to a uniform length.

The amount of force required to cycle a progressive press varies with the number of cases in the shell plate. When the shell plate is full, it is harder to lower the lever than when there are one or two cases present. This can lead to variation in cartridge overall length because there are different loads placed on the working parts of the press. When the shell plate is full, seating depth will be slightly long, because the load is higher and all of the clearances are taken up. With the shell plate nearly empty, the load is not great enough to squeeze out these clearances, and the seating depth is short.

A potential solution for this on progressive presses is to turn the sizing die in far enough so that the carrier is stopping on the bottom of the die. This removes clearance problems when no sizing but yet seating / crimping is occurring. Take special care not to turn the die in further than to just touch the shell plate and possibly just a tad more. About 1/4th of turn more is all you want to go, turning the sizing die in too far causes other problems. V-MAX Bullets Need Custom Bullet Seating PlugPosted by Andy @ Lee Precision on 10 January 2012 11:57 AM
The bullet seating plug in the bullet seating and crimp die is generic and designed to seat a wide variety of bullet types. It is a very low drag bullet and has very steep sides. These steep sides allow a large portion of the bullet to slide into the bullet seating plug before the plug makes contact with the bullet ogive. This causes the bullet seating plug adjustment to bottom out before the bullet can be seated to achieve the cartridge overall length you are loading to.

A remedy for this is to order a custom bullet seating plug for $8.00 + shipping. Order the plug online at: http://leeprecision.com/custom...et-seating-plug.html

Send the sample bullet you want the plug made for, along with a copy of your invoice, and we will make the plug for you.

Lee Precision

4275 Highway U

Hartford, WI 53027