Is this normal?

[j21blackjack]

I've noticed over the last couple hundred rounds of lead that I keep having to adjust the bullet seater out every couple of rounds, so I decided to pull my Lee Bullet Seating/Crimp die apart and this is what I found

Please note that my rounds are seated and crimped just fine, the die was just clogged with lead.

Those two clumps are piles and piles of little lead rings. They get shaved off pretty much every time I seat a lead bullet. Do I need to flare my cases more, or maybe clean the die more often. If I had to guess, this is the first time in about 1000 rounds I have taken it apart. On the same note, how often and what do I use to clean the dies with?

 

[Ol` Joe]

deleted

 

[woodsoup]

You are definiatly shaving your bullets. A bit more flare would help a bunch. Set up the flare/powder thru die so you can start a bullet into the case a few thousandths. and make sure your case mouths are beveled too. If you're roll crimping you might be starting the crimp before the bullet is fully seated too. Try backing off the crimp a bit.

Lick this problem and your accuracy might even improve a tad.

You can clean your dies with anything you'd clean your weapons with. Make sure to leave a little oil behind to help prevent rust.

 

[janobles14]

i would have to say that is coming from the brass shaving lead bullets. cant say that i have ever seen it that bad though. i would do just what you said and flare the case mouth a bit more. if you have some rounds that were done within the "shaving" period you could pull a bullet or three and see if they are in fact shaved from the base.

i clean my dies every so often but have never had this happen. i also know that there are folks who have never even broken a die apart for 20 years.

make sure that you arent throwing too much of a roll crimp on lead rounds. while it wouldnt do what you have going on here it can cause other issues. that being said, use your seating screw wisely! dont depend upon the die depth to do too much of the work or you could shave also.

 

[mongoose33]

What woodsoup said--though my guess is it's more a crimp problem than a casemouth expansion problem.

Good reason, IMO, to have a separate crimp die.

 

[j21blackjack]

It's definitely case mouth. When I was just using it to seat the bullets, I was collecting the little rings and throwing them away. Today I decided to use it to crimp and seat about 250 rounds. I didn't see a single ring, I guess I know why.