Lee bullet seater pulling out vmax tips

[Luke45]

Today, busted out a new pack of .53 gr vmaxs(rediculusly awesome bullets btw) and about every 5th bullet the seater die pulled the vmax plastic tip out, it is extreamly aggravating!!!! Anybody had this happen to them?

[bootsmcguire]

Can't say I have ever had that happen, and I have loaded a lot of V-Maxes over the years. Give LEE a call and tell 'em. Every time I have had to deal with them their CS is top notch. I had a 22 Hornet Deluxe set come to me with a 22H FL, 22H Seater, and a 222 Collet Die and they sent me out a 22H Collet Die for free and let me keep the 222 Collet Die to boot.

[Luke45]

I will call them thanks! I had never
Had that happen before either, it was a new box
Of vmaxs I wonder if that had something to do with it? Man it was angering me having to pull the die apart and dig
Out the tip then adjust the die again haha

[eddiesindian]

roger that....give them a call. they have good customer service.

[gotcha]

Luke, I've had this happen with Nosler B-tips. Fixed by using 1/8 in drill to deepen the interior of the seater plug. This way the plastic tip doesn't make contact or become wedged in the seater cone. Other seating die makers do this as part of production process to eliminate this problem......... This will make your seating depths more consistent as you will be making contact w/ the ogive rather than the tip of the bullet. Easy, simple fix.......................... You may also want to polish the interior of the plug to remove any potential burrs caused by drilling.

[jon8777]

2nd the drill out. Bullet design has really changed with the "ultra" long bullets of today. The oge has moved back and unless you buy non run of the mill dies you are going to run into this at some point.

[thermaler]

From what I understand the damaged plastic tip has little effect on the bullet's accuracy--I've shot em when they've completely fallen off--cycling in a semi-auto can damage them too.

[gotcha]

thermaler, I've never shot a bullet with plastic tip missing. However, the force of the plastic tip being pushed back into the bullet is what creates the violent expansion that makes these bullets so devastating on Vermin. I'm thinking that explosive effect would be reduced noticeably without the plastic tip ??????????

[thermaler]

Again--I may be wrong, but I don't think the plastic tip does anything at all other than make a hollow-point style bullet more efficient at longer ranges by filling in the hole at the bullet nose--it has little or no effect on the bullet's expansion properties--which has much more to do with the bullet's internal design and/or jacket thickness and bonding characteristics. Hollow point designs are a long-standing way to get the expansion going--though a couple of bullet designs--like the gameking and I think the speer hot core-- do use a lead tip in a hollow point which I'm sure has some effect in the expansion of the bullet.

[Luke45]

Again--I may be wrong, but I don't think the plastic tip does anything at all other than make a hollow-point style bullet more efficient at longer ranges by filling in the hole at the bullet nose--it has little or no effect on the bullet's expansion properties--which has much more to do with the bullet's internal design and/or jacket thickness and bonding characteristics. Hollow point designs are a long-standing way to get the expansion going--though a couple of bullet designs--like the gameking and I think the speer hot core-- do use a lead tip in a hollow point which I'm sure has some effect in the expansion of the bullet.

Thanks for the advice
Guys! I'll probly do the drill out or just take the seater if from a different die possibly. And honestly I dot care about the tips being messed up, just that the plastic tip gets stuck in the die and stops up the operation

[gotcha]

Good deal Luke! If you have the equipment it shouldn't take more than a few minutes to drill out the seating stem. Finding an alternate seating stem will be challenging as Lee's is unique.

[gotcha]

Thermaler, You make some good points. My frame of reference is long distance varmint hunting. Where the differences in B.C.'s between H.P.'s and plastic tips has a big effect on trajectory, drift and terminal momentum. As you, said bullet construction has a lot to do with the equation as far as expansion is concerned. All things considered I'll stick with the plastic tipped stuff if it's O.K. with you :) :)

[thermaler]

Thermaler, You make some good points. My frame of reference is long distance varmint hunting. Where the differences in B.C.'s between H.P.'s and plastic tips has a big effect on trajectory, drift and terminal momentum. As you, said bullet construction has a lot to do with the equation as far as expansion is concerned. All things considered I'll stick with the plastic tipped stuff if it's O.K. with you :) :)

I use lots of em too, though I tend to favor Nosler bullets over hornady's. I also like the fact the Nosler also color-codes their bullet tips instead of everything red (excluding the gimmick zombie stuff). Matchkings and VLDs seem to do OK without em : ) I've seen so many of these tips get bent or knocked off just from chambering--I've often wondered how many of em actually make it to the target in pristine shape.