seater die making marks

joshmb1982

Ive put together my first batch of 308 ammo to try out in a new savage fcns i just picked up. When seating the the bullet into the case i noticed there is a small very light ring around the tip of the bullet. ids this a normal occurrence and will it effect the flight of the bullet any? Id doesnt seem like i had to much hard enough on the handle of my press to have done any damage to it.

Also do I need to crimp in the bullet for bolt action rifles or is that just for semi autos? thanks

Justjump

sometimes if there is a mild tarnish (just less than bright) you can see a ring lightly. If you'll notice it will go away in a day. Its where the seater set against the bullet. Usually if you were seating to hard the shoulder will wrinkle first. I never crimp my bolt guns, and only lightly on the semi's. I test like this, take 2 loaded rounds in a mag manually load first round, fire then very gently open the bolt to retrieve the loaded second round. Inspect to see if it has moved at all. adjust crimp accordingly

idahoducker

Not every seater plug will fit every bullet just right. Too many variables. Two things you can do. Three actually.
Don't worry about it.
Call your die maker (I'm pretty sure RCBS will do this) and ask them about a custom seater plug. I believe they'll want you to send 3 or 4 of the bullets you are having this problem with and they'll use them to make a perfectly fitting plug for that particular bullet. I think it's pretty cheap too.
Do-it-yourself by using a drill press. You can clamp the bullet, put the plug in the chuck, line it all up, put polishing compound on the bullet and spin away. Shouldn't take much to fix it up. Might even work with a pair of vise-grips and a regular drill if you're careful.
Most die makers also make both round nose and flat nose seaters for many of their dies. Often available wherever you buy your reloading stuff. Hornady offers a plug specifically for their FTX bullets now too.

joshmb1982

so far all ive loaded are 145gr fmj bullets. havent even gotten into the soft point hunting ammo yet. have to see what this does with a sierra spitzer bullet.

Rocky Raab

Unless it actually cuts the jacket material, there's no worry. If it DOES cut the jacket, is IS a worry, though!

You can easily polish off the sharp inside edge of the seater plug. Take the plug out and lightly touch it with a grinding ball in a Dremel tool. Repeat lightly. You could even do it with your inside chamfer tool by hand if you are careful. You only have to break the edge, not create a new taper.

243winxb

Check the expander buttons diameter, it could be undersize. An expander .002" smaller than bullet diameter is good.