Bullet seating

[twarren]

Does the bullet seating die seat the bullet off the tip of the bullet or off the ogive of the bullet?

[CFJunkie]

I don't think I have any dies that seat off the tip because doing that would tend to mess up the bullet tips.
That said, where on the bullet a particular die makes contact with the bullet varies with the die maker.
All of my dies don't seat off the ogive but some get relatively close. The majority touch the bullet around halfway from the tip to the ogive.

I really don't think it matters much where the die touches the bullet as long as the reloader knows what seating depth is desired and sets the die accordingly.
It is the reloader's choice to set the die to achieve the seating depth desired.
The reloader should measure and already know what seating depth he wants, both cartridge base to the tip and cartridge base to the ogive, so he can control where the ogive will be in relationship to the rifling in a particular rifle's chamber.
As long as I know that the bullet tip is not being damaged by the die, I can adapt to any die regardless of where the die touches the bullet.

[RCE1]

If you decide to load only one bullet, you can use epoxy in the seater stem to create an exact fit. I don't usually do that with jacketed but frequently have with cast match bullets.

[twarren]

I was in a discussion with a friend of mine and he kept telling me that the bullet was seated off the tip. I could not convince him that weren't so I just gave it up as hopeless.

[RCE1]

Only certain pistol bullet seating stems have a flat interface that I'm familiar with. Matches up with flat nosed cast bullets.

[Texas10]

Does the bullet seating die seat the bullet off the tip of the bullet or off the ogive of the bullet?

Depending upon what bullet you're loading, some stems do in fact push against the tip of the bullet, which is definitely not a good thing. I have drilled out some stems just for this reason when seating VLD bullets.

You should always check stem fit before loading a new bullet, and be prepared to swap stems (or dies) to get a better fit and ability to seat a bullet without deforming the tip.

Some stems will bear against the bullet nose further down, closer to the bearing surface and spread out the seating load and prevent deformation. Check with your die maker for available stems, there may be a selection to choose from. Many times they will ship these to you free of charge if you call their Customer Service.

The new Hornaday A-Tip recommends that you buy the special seater stem (that fits Hornaday dies) just for this reason. I can tell you from personal experience that it fits quite well on the 135 grn 6.5 CM A-Tip. The standard seater pushes against the tip.