I've been loading for 375H&H Magnums, When I go to seat the bullet, it sticks to the seater and pulls back out of the brass! I'm using RCBS dies,Barnes 300grain TSX bullets, new and used brass, I've never encountered this before! Any suggestions?

I've had exactly the same problem except when seating with a Lee die. I solved my problem by using an RCBS seating die.

The other problem I've had with Barnes TSX bullets is that at times, even with a properly sized case, the bullets when seated, are very loose. I've found this problem can sometimes be solved by sizing the neck with a Lee collet die and/or using a Lee factory crimp die. For some reason, I've had the most problems with Barnes bullets combined with the 375 H&H Magnum case.

Doc:

The expander ball is too large. Turn it down a few thou. Better yet, take it out and throw it away. I never use the things.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

Doc52
I think it is time to get the calipers out and measure the neck diameter before and after sizing. I would also check the brass thickness. Then measure the bullet diameter. You may not be sizing the neck small enough to give proper neck tension. For some reason your sizing die is not giving enough neck tension.
I got interrupted but that’s a good thing because I was thinking about your problem. Take your expander ball out and measure it. The expander should be about .003-.005 smaller than your bullet. You can chuck it up in a drill or drill press and use a piece of sandpaper to take a little off it. Just keep measuring till you get where you need to be.
LOL 400Nitro is faster on the keys than I.
I use the expander because I have had dies that were to tight with out it.

am.
Bill

I can't see any reason the bullet would stick to the seater and pull out of the case when the ram is retracted unless there is some problem with the seater itself.

Even if the expander is too big the bullet would fall into the case and stop when it hit powder.

Does the bullet have any marks on it where the seater would be likely to crimp onto it? Any chance you're using a seater for spitzers on FN or RN softs?

Sanding down the expander may very well provide enough extra tension to solve this but I doubt it the the cause of it.

I'd take a good look at a pulled out bullet. Look for a circular ring or rings near the top. If you find any pull the seater and look for signs of copper or lead in a similar ring patern. Then get some fine sand paper and carefully sand out that area with the seater spinning in a lathe or drill press.

Good luck.

Doc,

I've had this happen before. I put the seater plug in a drill and ran it against sandpaper to remove a little metal off the leading edge and smooth out the face of the seater plug. It worked. I think you'll see where the edge of the plug is cutting into the bullet and grabbing it.

If that doesn't work, call RCBS and get a different seater.

Another reason Redding is the best!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 470Evans:
Doc, I've had this happen before. I put the seater plug in a drill and ran it against sandpaper to remove a little metal off the leading edge and smooth out the face of the seater plug. It worked. I think you'll see where the edge of the plug is cutting into the bullet and grabbing it.


DITTO

Yup as someone said, my first thoughts were polish the edges of the seater plug with a Bubba grinder( dremel tool). If necesssary buff the outside of the seater plug also.-Rob

While the seater plug may be sticking to the bullet, that wouldn't be enough to pull the bullet back out if it had enough neck tension to begin with. The expander ball is too large.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

It happens on ocassions...I have always marked the bullet with a marking pencil and that will show you where the seater is grabbing the bullet. then polish or grind on it until it starts working..and yes it can grab and hold the bullet. All bullets have different shapes and a fit all seat is near impossible, but its amazing how well the factorys have done this....

In your case the bullet is porbably going in too far and the seater is grabbing it down low. so you need polish it out where its grabbing.

You can take a few thousands off the expander plug and get more grip on the bullet. I do that as a rule with all my big bores, mostly to keep the bullets from seating back from recoil..that may or may not fix the problem..

Try another brand of bullet and see what happens. Be sure and fix the seater to take any bullet.

Also you could send 3 bullets to RCBS and tell them to send you a seat that will work with the bullets you sent them.

The principle that allows the bullet to stick in the seater with a fair amount of tenacity is the same as that of a Morse taper. Morse tapers are used on machine tools to mount chucks, drills or other tools for machining by simply slipping a tapered shaft into a tapered socket. The angles on the shaft and socket coincide and the result is a rigidly mounted tool that resists torque and removal surprisingly well. In your case, the taper on the nose of the bullet and the taper inside the seater coincide and it acts like a Morse taper and sticks. The solution is easy and, as suggested, you can polish it with the aim to change the angle in the socket of the seater. This will prevent the current bullet from sticking and may allow another, that did not stick previously, to stick, because their tapers now coincide.

Push a small ball of tin-foil up in there for an instant fix that may last for quite some time.

Here's another bit of info to help you out! When I used the Expander/Decapping Die, I had to yank the handle to get the shell out of the Die! FYI, I use a RCBS Ammo Master!

Thank you all for the information!
When I get back from the DRSS hog hunt in Brady Tx, I'll try your ideas and let you know the outcome!
Thanks again,