What am I doing wrong here!!

[243winxb]

Make sure the seat die is NOT CRIMPING while seating the bullets.

The expander diameter only needs to be smaller then the bullet diameter by .0015" Contact RCBS for a new expander.

The brass has thick neck walls. Buy a Redding type S fl sizing bushing die or outside neck turn the brass, for the standard RCBS fl die.

 

[Kmccord]

Here is my setup, I have 6.5 Creed and Lapua brass, I removed the expander ball from my Redding FL die, taped the de-capping rod to hold in place, bump shoulder .002, I use a Lyman Neck cleaner with Micca, lube the neck and use my 21 Century Mandrel that is measured at .2625. Set the neck tension, load powder and seat bullet, no issues with seating force. Now, after reading some others recommendations, I am going to try chamfer neck mouth and see if I can get better results with runout and group sizes.

 

[243winxb]

Bushings needed .288" For Hornady Brass.

 

[59FLH]

I can feel it in the handle when raising the Ram.

This is a Summit press, and your bullet seating issue is when raising the ram. ....
I don't get it.

 

[243winxb]

, I removed the expander ball from my Redding FL die.

Measurements are needed after sizing the brass necks to see if the FL die is over working the brass.
Measure the necks OD of a loaded round. The sized neck OD only needs to be .003" smaller.

If a bushing has to size the neck down more then .008" skip the bushing die. Get a Forster fl die honed to your needed diameter, instead.

 

[Kmccord]

Never measured outside, but inside after FL sizing comes to .2605

 

[243winxb]

virgin brass

New brass will spring back close to its original size. Brass has a memory. The hard seating may get better after the brass is fired 1 time. Clean new necks cause more friction on the first loading.

Do lube the inside of the case necks before pulling the expander thru the necks.

 

[Roughrice]

I use .290 bushing in Redding FL with expander ball for fired brass and bullets glide right in.
Expander ball barely touches but use it in case I have an un-noticed dent in case neck... can't really feel contact and doesn't overwork brass.

 

[243winxb]

Never measured outside, but inside after FL sizing comes to .2605

Inside measuring may be more accurate using pin gauges. I don't know. Never tried inside measurement.

My standard RCBS 243 win fl die from the 1970s over worked the necks a lot. The bushing die improved case life.

EDIT/ADD- I like to measure neck OD before & after seating a bullet. If OD increases by .002" , neck tension is OK.
The heavy recoil guns 460S&W, 458 or magnums need more, around .004"

 

[DUSTY NOGGIN]

maybe you are partially crimping it ???

that would explain the pressure fullly through the stroke and not just the initial pressure

 

[Ucsdryder]

maybe you are partially crimping it ???

that would explain the pressure fullly through the stroke and not just the initial pressure

Possibly! I am backing out the seating die one turn after it touches the shell holder. How would I confirm it's not partially crimping? Back out another half turn?

 

[243winxb]

To not crimp wirh RCBS seating dies, follow instructions that come with the RCBS dies. I place a nickel coin between the shell holder & seat die, for my adjustment.

 

[Rflshootr]

You guys might want to stop helping me. I'm about to have a fire sale on a bunch of components!

Loaded neck OD .291

I chamfered. Just tried annealing too with no change in virgin brass. I take back the comment about it loading easily on 2x. Tried again. Still hard.

heres a picture of the expander on the Rcbs. It's obviously getting some work.

Lube the inside of the case neck with a nylon brush and your favorite case lube.....and burnish the brass off of the expander with scotch brite or 0000 steel wool. Or clean it off with some bore solvent. The lube in the neck will also ease seating.

 

[DUSTY NOGGIN]

Possibly! I am backing out the seating die one turn after it touches the shell holder. How would I confirm it's not partially crimping? Back out another half turn?

case in shell holder , ram up no die , lift seater high in die body. die in until feel touch , back off 1/4 turn, adjust seater stem down to your COAL

use the longest case or trim all to match the one you used to set up