I loaded some Triple shocks the other day and found that while seating the bullet that I was pushing the shoulder down. Is this common and what is the cure? Once shot brass and I brushed out the neck. First time I have loaded these bullets in my 300 WSM

Greg

quote:

Originally posted by albertacoyote:
I loaded some Triple shocks the other day and found that while seating the bullet that I was pushing the shoulder down.

Greg

I take it, it is the shoulder of the case you are "pushing down" during the seating operation??

I have never experienced this, and in particular not with TSX, most of which are made in boat tail configuration, and thus easy to start into the case. When you seat TSX, you can feel the full caliber bands as they slide into the case. But other than that, TSX have seated pretty smoothly for me.

Have you sized your cases without the expandsr, or if not, what is the dimension of your expander ball?? Secondly, make sure you chamfer the inside of your case neck before seating.

Good luck finding the gremlin...

- mike

that happened to me when i first started out! the die isnt set up right / cases too long. thats my guess anyway

Happend to me once and i skiped that one case from deburing the insied case mouth. use a vld deburer works like a champ.

Doesn't sound like the case is too long.. sounds like you didn't run your die all the way down and then back it off one full turn....therefore you are crushing the shoulder slightly...

Its not the bullet...

PS: Because I have screwed this up and ended up with the same results.. I'm not as smart as I am experienced from making the same mistake...

cheers
seafire

I wouldn't reload without a vld chamferer any more. I have a lyman. It comes in a wood handle but you can screw off the handle and use it in a drill or as I do.....put it into one of the stations of the recbs trimmate.
They are great for tough seating bullets (and the tsx is one of those) and bullets with coatings.
Another option is the Lyman M die that can be set to just ever so slightly bell the case mouth and is also a wonderful tool to use with brand new brass to get "the wrinkles out".

I've seen a few "collapsed" shoulders, possibly because the crimp on the seater too far down, too soft brass, no chamfer on neck etc and hopefully the projectiles are the right calibre?

I load a lot of TSX's and they load just as easy as anything else. Keep searching for the root cause.

It's definitely not the bullet.

quote:

make sure you chamfer the inside of your case neck before seating.

I bet thats the problem!

Agree with the diagnosis: not the bullet. Outside of something strange (like the wrong diameter bullet or sizing button in the sizing die), I'd suspect that the seating die is screwed into the press too far. Back out the sizing die a couple of turns, and try again. JMO, Dutch.

I have not had this problem with triple shocks, but I did have this problem with Northfork bullets (which also have grooves cut in the bullet shank). The caliber was 416 Rigby.

I tried using a 22 degree chamfer and still had the problem.

I talked to Mike at Northfork and he recommended getting a M-die. You can get these from RCBS and if I recall they are ~$40. The M-die puts a slight bell in the case mouth and you can control the amount of bell that you want. It doesn't take much of a "flare" in the case mouth to solve your problem.

The reloading procedure goes like this:
1. resize and deprime case
2. flare case mouth with M-die
3. seat bullet & crimp (if you want/need a crimp)

Friends-

My bet and vote goes with Seafire and Dutch.

You did not back the die off enough when placing it in the press.

I agree, however, I'd also look at the expander plug. I'm suspicious since it is a WSM and no doubt the dies are new and not used, or worn. Maladjusted dies as well as an undersized expander plug will cause this phenomona, as afterall, we're only talking about a few thousandths of an inch.
A little "motor mica" lube applied to the interior of the neck before resizing couldn't hurt either.

I didn't see anything in the original post that this was the firs time the guy used the dies or that they were new. To me the post read that the had reloaded with the dies but not the triple shock.
It will be interested to see what he comes up with as I think all of us have covered any practical bases for the problem.

Every time I've crushed a shoulder, it's been the adjustment on the seating die.

quote:

Originally posted by RogerK:
Every time I've crushed a shoulder, it's been the adjustment on the seating die.

ditto, everytime!

quote:

quote:
Originally posted by RogerK:
Every time I've crushed a shoulder, it's been the adjustment on the seating die.


ditto, everytime!

Same here.