Tips For Seating Hollow-Point Lead?

R

robhic

New member
I have just started using more lead bullets. Jacketed/plated before and no problems. But the hollow-point lead is giving me some issues.

I have the 9mm carbide dies for my RCBS press. It comes with a flat seater plug and a conical one. I thought the flat would work (HP is kinda flat-pointed...) so tried it. It mashed the petals a bit. So I tried the cone-shaped seater plug and it TOO seemed to mar the HP more than I'd have expected.

Not using a lot of force, the hard seater plugs just seem to mash the HP more than I'd like. Any tips or tricks to reduce this happening? Like I said, I'm new to lead bullets and wonder if I am missing something. The rounds still shoot OK and all seems well, just don't like the look of the scarred tip. Thanks!
 
I have loaded many 130gr HP 9mm bullets without any problems. These were not jacketed. They were from GT bullets. If, the brass was "belled" correctly there should be no problems. I would look at how I had my dies set up if I ran into your problem. Best wishes
 
"...mashed the petals a bit..." That's ok. The only part of a bullet that matters is the base. Mashed petals and wee scratches are just cosmetic.
Like kerreckt says, try a bit more flare. You could try seating more slowly too. Don't think it'll make any difference though. Lead is really soft stuff.
An HP on a cast/swaged lead bullet is kind of, um, pointless. (No pun intended.) A lead bullet will expand dramatically upon impact anyway. And they tend to break up easily after impact.
 
I had a couple of bullets that (I thought...) seated too deeply. So I backed the sizer die flare out just a bit. Your comments could be the result of this. I think I'll play with that and go back to the other setting.

The flare was too much, IMO, and the crimp seemed a bit loose. That's why I backed it out. Looks like I could have left it alone....

Thanks for the thoughts!
 
I would write the manufacturer of your dies. Redding sent me a couple of different seaters for different bullets that worked much better.
 
I would write the manufacturer of your dies. Redding sent me a couple of different seaters for different bullets that worked much better.
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Wow, good idea. I thought flat and round-nose type seaters would be adequate. This couldn't hurt. I'll do this and thanks!
 
If this is a bullet you bought a mold for and intend to use a lot, you can also get a spare flat type seater, degrease it, wax a bullet with paste wax, put some JB Weld all over its ogive and center it in the cleaned seater and up against the end of it. Wipe off any excess, let it set until just firm, remove bullet, trim any epoxy flashing left behind with a razor blade, let it finish hardening for a week. This will give you a custom seater just for that bullet shape.
 
If this is a bullet you bought a mold for and intend to use a lot, you can also get a spare flat type seater, degrease it, wax a bullet with paste wax, put some JB Weld all over its ogive and center it in the cleaned seater and up against the end of it. Wipe off any excess, let it set until just firm, remove bullet, trim any epoxy flashing left behind with a razor blade, let it finish hardening for a week. This will give you a custom seater just for that bullet shape.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting idea. Thanks, Uncle Nick! And I'm not casting my own, these are bullets I purchased already made, but it's a neat idea I'll have to keep in mind. :)
 
The old timer's trick for a temporary seating punch is to use SEALING WAX.

The hard stuff, the kind they melted to seal letters, with a chop, signet ring, stamp, etc.

Works for a while (you might be surprised how long ;)), and is easily redone.

DO NOT use the soft paraffin like they use for canning, its too soft and won't hold up more than a couple rounds, if that.

If you're going to use a lot of those particular bullets, call the die maker, maybe send them a couple bullets, and they will turn a custom seating plug for you.
 
The old timer's trick for a temporary seating punch is to use SEALING WAX.

If you're going to use a lot of those particular bullets, call the die maker, maybe send them a couple bullets, and they will turn a custom seating plug for you.
Click to expand...

Another good idea. I had had thoughts of inserting something softer in the end of the seating die(s) to try but this sounds like a good idea, thanks.

I've already sent a note to RCBS to see if they have something or some idea. It's not a big deal, more for looks than anything as the deformation is minor.
 
If this is a bullet you bought a mold for and intend to use a lot, you can also get a spare flat type seater, degrease it, wax a bullet with paste wax, put some JB Weld all over its ogive and center it in the cleaned seater and up against the end of it. Wipe off any excess, let it set until just firm, remove bullet, trim any epoxy flashing left behind with a razor blade, let it finish hardening for a week. This will give you a custom seater just for that bullet shape.
Click to expand...

I've done this before with very good results. Pretty permanent too if you clean everything well.

All the Best,
D. White
 
Instead of epoxy, you can also use hot melt glue. Not quite as long lasting as epoxy but faster and easier to make and easy to re-new or to change to a different bullet.
 
I may try one of these "form your own" mold tricks if the deformation gets worse than minor aesthetics.

I also got a reply from RCBS that for $25 and 3 bullets to use as templates they'd custom make me a seater plug for that specific bullet. Don't see using the hollow point enough to warrant that. The regular round nose version is fine....

Thanks for the tips, they might prove useful if I get a bullet I see using more than these HP lead ones.
 
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