.38/.357 seating die with flat stem?

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PO2Hammer

PO2Hammer

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I'm looking for a .38/.357 die with a flat nose stem for seating wadcutters and SWCs. My current seating die has a cone shape stem which is great for jacketed/plated/hard cast, but it is distorting (closing) the hollow points on my soft swaged LSWC-HPs (Magnus, Speer & Hornady) as I seat them.
I looked at the RCBS replacement stems at Midway, but didn't see anything.

So I'm looking for a dedicated seating die for my soft lead hollow points. Any ideas?
 
Dillon seating die. You can also take it apart to clean it without removing it or changing your setting. It's also flared to allow the case to glide right in.
 
For soft nose bullets that deform easily I seat and crimp in separate steps, the COL may come out the same but the depth of the bullet seated in the case will vary from the deformation of the bullet nose.
Contact RCBS and they will likely send you a seating stem at no charge, I have found their customer service to be excellent.
 
Ya, my RCBS die came with two stems also? Did you buy the die new, if so call RCBS and tell them it didn't come with the other stem, they'll probably just send one out N/C.

GS
 
All I have right now is the Redding Comp seater. I think I'll buy the RCBS seat/roll crimp die and use it as a dedicated LSWC-HP seater. I always crimp in a separate step.
Thanks all.
 
I got a second seater stem for my Redding Comp seater, welded it full and cut it flat. Filling one with epoxy should work.
 
Lee will make a custom seating stem for under $10 I believe. Just send them a sample of the bullet. I think the other die companies offer a similar service.
 
If your going to seat SWC it's best to contact the shoulder not the nose. This way any mold seams will not impact OAL. This also insure the bullet is seated straight all the time. I have taken spare RN seaters and opened them up to clear the nose and and only contact the shoulder. Does not take much to make some work, depends on the SWC profile.
 
HexHead said:
Dillon seating die. You can also take it apart to clean it without removing it or changing your setting. It's also flared to allow the case to glide right in.
Click to expand...
This. And for me Dillon die works well switching between bullets. I get just perfect OAL if I load HP/RN using one end it OAL just right with flat nose when I flip insert.
 
"...looked at the RCBS replacement stems at Midway..." Forget Midway and call RCBS' customer service. They'll send you one for free.
A soft swaged LSWC-HPs will expand upon impact with anything, anyway. Lead just does that. Why there are lead HP's made is beyond me. Marketing, I suppose.
 
My Dillon 9mm dies came with a seating stem labeled "9/38". One side was flat WC and the other was SWC. I was having a problem seating some 9mm bullets so I called Dillon and told them about the seating stem. The guy I talked to acted like he had never heard of a flat stem before. He sent me a replacement for free that had the correct RN/SWC profiles. I posted a photo on their forum, and the Dillon rep commented back "oh yeah, that is the stem for 38". :-/

image_zpsee4c2b39.jpg
 
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