seat and crimp on .40 Rainier 165gn HP

[54lariat]

I use a RCBS carbide die set for the .40 bullets, I just finished loading 300 Remington JHP with no issues and started into a box of the Rainiers and I'm seeing this line around the end of the bullet. It appears the bullet seat plug is making a line around the nose of these bullets. Anyone else had this problem? I'm thinking about getting a LEE die set to see if the seat plug is shaped diffrently to keep from marring the bullet.

 

[popper]

They are plated and the plating is thin. Don't worry about it unless the ring is really deep, it won't affect anything. I use the same die, leaves a ring - no problem.

 

[cfullgraf]

The ring you are seeing is a frequent thing.

If it really bothers you, remove the seater and lightly polish the rim of the seater plug to take the sharp edge off.

 

[54lariat]

I figured it was the thin plating, just never had that happen with my 9mm or 45. It's not real deep so your right it probably has no real effect on the bullet... I may try to polish it too.

I also loaded some .223 the other day on my LEE dies and found these strange lines left on the bullets, running end to end...I was loading my Hornady 52 grain bullets, doesn't do it with my 75 grain bullets.

What is the best way to polish those small areas. I had an old RCBS resizing die that left lines on the case so I wrapped a small piece of scotchbrite around an 1/8" tap and crammed it in the die and ran it on my drill for a minute at low speed, once I put it back together and resized again the lines were then gone.
The cutting edges on the tap grabbed the scotchbrite and spun to polish the inside of the die.

 

[Walkalong]

The ring you are seeing is a frequent thing.

If it really bothers you, remove the seater and lightly polish the rim of the seater plug to take the sharp edge off.

Yep. That'll fix it.

What is the best way to polish those small areas

Remove the seater plug, chuck it up in a drill or a drill press, and use 600 grit on the edges. Maybe 400 grit first if needed. Just knock the sharp edge off (Round it off a hair), and polish.

 

[popper]

Take the die apart and clean it. A strand of something inside. Heavier bullet probably has thicker plating. Nothing in the die should touch anything but the top.