Lee Seating Die Inconsistency?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Bill M. said:
"Is there a better Seating die, and why?"

Yes, there is a much better seating die. The Redding Competition seating die is a much better seating die than the Lee. The why is because it has a moving sleeve that holes the bullet in alignment with the case while seating. And because the die is made to good tolerances. And because the shape of the bullet plunger matches a lot of bullets.

I replaced my 9mm Lee seating die with the Redding and have been very happy with the loads from the new die. Actually I like the die so well that between Ebay and Midway I now have the competition seating die for all 3 handgun cartridges I load. A large expense but to me the results have been well worth the cost.
Click to expand...

That’s $750 worth of dies
 
I have not read every word but try this
Double strike a few rounds after turning the cartridge some
I know it works on rifle rounds. This will help determine the cause
 
"That’s $750 worth of dies".

I paid $75 each for the 2 seating dies I found on eBay and $102 for the new one I bought from Midway. (and a used one showed up on eBay right after I bought it) So it was $252 for me for the seating dies for my 3 calibers. Spread over a year. I was looking at maybe a new press to replace my Lee Classic Iron press but decided the seating dies would do more to improve my reloading pleasure and quality. I put a Hornady lock and load bushing in the Lee press and that change eliminated any desire I had for a turret press.

There is probably no need to anybody for these dies. But...the OP did ask if there was a better die than the Lee. And I think there is. And I love the way they feel when they seat a bullet.

In answer to the OPs concern about OAL, I have no idea how consistent the dies are on overall length. I check OAL once to see if it is in the right range and forget about it. If the bullet has a cannelure I just use that and forgo the OAL.
 
Last edited:
peeplwtchr said:
Researching this die. Pricey, but the concept seems worth it. Very unique and sensible design compared to others, probably will end up in my stash at some point. New project for the backlog: Ladder testing Lee Seating die vs. Redding. Rabbit hole of reloading.
Click to expand...

I have the Redding Competition Pro dies and they are amazing. They are really amazing. BUT, as an owner of those high dollar dies, I do not want people to think they can't load just as well with lee. Lee dies WILL make ammo just as good, literally just as good, it's just harder because your fine adjustments require difficult tiny twists by hand with no micrometer gradiations. Adjusting a lee seating die by 0.001" is not "easy" in the same way that twisting a micrometer from one 0.001" graduation to the next and seeing a round go from 2.801" to 2.800" 100% of the time, but it's made of steel and once you get it set it's not going anywhere.

Redding is easymode, but you pay $100 for a die that is $10 from lee. I thought it was worth it, but if you hand seat bullets carefully and make adjustments carefully you CAN do the same work on a Lee die.
 
Dead Nuts Overall Cartridge length requires the correct bullet seater stem.

I grind the OD of the head of a grade 8 bolt to approximately 0.380" that has the correct threads to fit in my seater die. Then I grind / machine the head of the bolt 0.020" to made sure the bolt head is dead flat and perpendicular to the threaded portion. I replace the profiled seating stem with my grade 8 bolt and adjust the bolt to provide the correct overall length. Using this method My Dillon, RCBS, or Lee press will hold Cartridge Overall Length to a tolerance of 0.001" .
 
Last edited:
I agree with the answers that indicated your setup is just fine but didn’t see it mentioned in my less than through reading of all replies.

OAL might not be the best indicator of how your seating die is working. If I have a variation, the first place I look at is the projectile.

If I find they alone measure up to .005” difference alone, I immediately understand there is no way I can load them to the same OAL.
ABF7CD38-009F-4CDD-95DD-E99CB3D5DFFB.jpeg 8A44EA87-9CCC-4558-88A2-45D86105658C.jpeg

That’s not the end of the world though because my seating die doesn’t seat by the tip, the tip doesn’t contact anything until it hits the target. So what about the area that is important?

A simple device with an appropriate size hole in it allows us to measure from a bearing surface, or location much closer than the tip.

38D3C901-768A-4B0B-BBEC-C407DBF70FF2.jpeg

Now you can take the device or similar one and measure, the numbers will most likely be smaller than your OAL numbers.

3B118323-616D-42B8-8812-5DF542FA481E.jpeg

If you don’t want to buy anything at all, just remove the seating stem from your die and use it.
C2C89C83-190E-4B7D-BAC0-116E73B80F3B.jpeg
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

H
  • Locked
Lee bullet seating die isn't giving consistant OAL
Replies
21
Views
5K
243winxb
243winxb
CMV
  • Locked
Inconsistent OAL length
Replies
17
Views
1K
RandyP
R
K
  • Locked
Redding Competition bullet Seating die
Replies
8
Views
1K
cfullgraf
cfullgraf
B
  • Locked
Seating depth variation and dies
2 3
Replies
52
Views
1K
Skgreen
S
J
  • Locked
Dead Set Seating Variance?
Replies
4
Views
491
jeffdt
J
Back
Top