I'm trying to load some 270 grain triple shocks in RCBS 375 H&H dies and the bullets are sticking in the dies. Any suggestions to prevent this? BTW, I loaded 5 rounds before this started occuring.

Make sure your neck expander button is the right size. Should be about .373 to .374.
Make sure your cases are deburred on the inside edges.
Is the bullet tip sticking in the seating punch?
Or is it sticking in the neck of the die?
Does the bullet pull back out of the case neck when you lower the ram?
Do other bullets work ok?

If it is sticking in the nose punch so you might need to lap the nose punch out.
You can also call RCBS and they will fix your problem.

I'm using new cases that have been have been expanded to ensure roundness. These are the only .375 bullets that I have on hand. It appears that the bullet is sticking on the punch.

Remove the seater, and take a bullet and chuck it up in your cordless drill. Put some grinding/lapping compound on the tip of the bullet and spin it around in the seating cup. If you don't have any lapping/grinding compound you can take some sandpaper and scrape off some 'grit' and mix it in with some toothpaste or similar for a home-made mix.

I've done it before and it really works. You're basically reshaping the seating cup to mate better with your bullet, and prevent it from sticking on the tip of your bullet.

Good Luck!

Sounds like a neck expander button problem to me. Have you ever loaded anything with this die set that works?

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:
Remove the seater, and take a bullet and chuck it up in your cordless drill. Put some grinding/lapping compound on the tip of the bullet and spin it around in the seating cup. If you don't have any lapping/grinding compound you can take some sandpaper and scrape off some 'grit' and mix it in with some toothpaste or similar for a home-made mix.

I've done it before and it really works. You're basically reshaping the seating cup to mate better with your bullet, and prevent it from sticking on the tip of your bullet.

Good Luck!

I have had the stuck bullet problem a couple times with Forster ultra seater dies [Where did my bullet go?] caused by a microscopic burr made in the de-burring of the seating stem.

I put them in the lathe [drill chuck for Those in Rio Linda] and de-burr the de-burr with a piece of wet-and-dry paper.

I have sent pictures and explanations to Forster, but years go by, and they still de-burr with a hard tool and then no polish.

Thanks guys. I tried chucking a bullet and polishing-no dice. The bullet is coming out of the case when I lower the ram. I called RCBS yesterday-they are sending a replacement seater. They recommended polishing with a dremel. I fired up yhr dremel last night, but have not tested the die yet.

Interesting Mrfudd, let us know what happens, I'm wondering if it's just the wrong caliber seater......

Good Luck!

Back to square 1. RCBS sent me 2 seaters, but I still can't seat bullets to the proper depth. 3.6 is as deep as I can go before the bullet starts sticking in the die. I have screwed the die in until it barely touches a fully raised case and then backed it off 1 full turn. I then started lowering the seater gradually until the bullet started sticking. I have tried various combinations of screwing the die/seater in and out.

Sounds to me like you don't have enough neck grip.
Lyle

quote:

Originally posted by YUMAN:
Sounds to me like you don't have enough neck grip.
Lyle

Could be that though it usually seems to me that TSX's are a little on the fat side and usually have stout neck tension. If you think neck tensions a problem you might try polishing your expander ball.

The things that first came to my mind was wondering if you were shooting a compressed load or not. TSX's are pretty long, in 416 REM Mag and 400gr TSX's I was having problems with the compressed powder actually pushing the bullet back out, and with the extra force required to seat a heavily compressed load they occasionally would want to stick in the seater. The solution to this is to try a different powder that doesn't require as much compression.

The other thing you might try is to bed the seater stem. What you do is you wax the inside of your die and the stem except the inside of the seater stem. Find the straightest loaded round you have and wax it up.
Put a small drop of epoxy or JB Weld inside the seater stem and then lower the die and the seater stem onto the waxed bullet you've run up on the ram. Let it dry overnight.
Pull down the ram, take the die apart and clean up any excess epoxy. You should now have a seater stem that perfectly matches the tip of the bullet you are using. If you used a particularly concentric round it will also help you load the next rounds straighter. And all this costs you is some wax and drop of epoxy.

Good luck, let us know what worked for you...........................DJ

I had the exact same problem with a set of RCBS 375 h&h dies when I bought them 15 or so years ago. I fixed the problem by buying a set of Hornady dies. I've never used the RCBS dies since. Dunno what the problem was, but the Hornady dies don't do it with the exact same components.

I have many other sets of RCBS dies in other calibers and have never had the same problem with any of them.

Heck if I know, I'll just keep using my Hornady h&h dies...

I had the same problem too, with the same caliber and same bullet.

I suspect that the ogive of the bullet matches the shape of the seater so perfectly that it 'grabs'. There seems to be a broad area of contact, rather than just a line.

I polished the inside of the seater with a Dremel and it helped; it also helped to add a touch of sizing lube to the bullet (only where it contacts the seater) before lowering the seater.

I had the same problem with Barnes TSX in RCBS dies in .458 WM. With those, I just grabbed an old Lee Loader that I had kicking around, and seated with that.

As much as I like Barnes bullets, I've had more trouble achieving proper neck tension with them than any other bullet.

I've had that problem with a Forster die set and the .338 WM and a TSX. They work fine in my Redding dies.