Hornady seating problems

I have a Hornady LNL progressive press. When I first got it there was slop in the ram allowing some primers to be seated above flush. M4carbine.net had instructions showing how to add shims to take up the slop. I did this and I now can seat primers that are slightly below flush with excellent feel. However, I've noticed variations when seating bullets. I'm using H&G 68 style bullets with an swc seater insert pressing on the flat of the bullet's nose. When loading harder cast bullets, such as those by Magnus, Lightning, Summers, and Missouri Bullets, the bullets seat within a couple thousandths of an inch. That's measuring both oal and from the bullet shoulders. But when using softer swaged Zero bullets I'm getting oal variations of 008" to 010". I've experimented with only seating when I have cases in each of the die stations and seating with only a case at that one station. My expander is a stepped M-type that allows me to insert bullets straight. I assume there is some slop that I can't see or feel that affects the softer bullets, but I'm having a difficult time believing a small amount of hardness would show up this way. Also, I've had good results shooting each of the above mentioned bullets. Any ideas or experiences would be appreciated.

Seat from the shoulder of the bullet rather than the nose.

chiz1180 wrote:Seat from the shoulder of the bullet rather than the nose.

Do you have a special seater insert that bears on the shoulder? None of mine are deep enough to modify. Thanks for the reply.

I modified the stem of my hornady die. I will post pics when I get a chance.

I basically took the stock seating stem and drilled out the center such that I had clearance for the nose of the bullet.

I use a 9MM Luger resizing die to seat 45 wadcutter bullets, The 9MM die only contacts the shoulder of the bullet. The base of the die actually squares up the bullet with the case mouth.  I can change bullet weights and the bullet shoulder is still in the same place. Bullet lube buildup in a seating stem is a problem that goes away with this method.
Your mileage may vary.

Take a look at the following link.  There are a couple of different choices.  If the link doesn't take you to the page with the stem, search for "bullet seating stem" and you should find a couple of options.

UniqueTek, Inc.

Dennis, aka Dulcmrman

Thanks for all of the help, folks. By using a spare 9mm sizing die that fit the shoulders I was able to get seating variations down to plus or minus .001", that's measuring from the shoulder to the base of the cartridge. But there is .010" seating difference between seating on just the one station, or seating with pressure on all of the stations. So, I have more shimming to do. Also, I need to experiment with harder cast bullets to see if that makes a difference. The journey never ends, but it's a fun ride!

faraim wrote:Thanks for all of the help, folks. By using a spare 9mm sizing die that fit the shoulders I was able to get seating variations down to plus or minus .001", that's measuring from the shoulder to the base of the cartridge. But there is .010" seating difference between seating on just the one station, or seating with pressure on all of the stations. So, I have more shimming to do. Also, I need to experiment with harder cast bullets to see if that makes a difference. The journey never ends, but it's a fun ride!

I have a Hornady LNL press and experience the same .010" seating difference between seating on just one station versus seating when all 5 stations are in use.  I have a Redding competition seating die and make a quick adjustment with it but I would rather not.  If you find a solution, please post it.
Thanks,
Doug

I have a Hornady. My solution is that I only use it for 1 caliber, generally, and always have rounds in all positions, even between loading sessions. I also leave powder in the hopper pretty much all the time (gasp). Never really had a problem.

If I do need to "start fresh", I just keep the first 4 rounds for the short line.

Dave

Yep, seating from the shoulder is the answer on the LNL.  Here are pictures of a SWC seater I made from a common Grade 5 bolt
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The Hornady 45ACP New Dimension Die set comes with two seater inserts, one for the nose, and one for seating on the shoulder. It has worked very well on my LNL.

First four and last four rounds in a production run on my L-N-L get marked for practice use only. Lube build up on the seater is a concern with lead bullets so I keep an eye on that. 

I have Redding Competition seating and crimp dies that are overkill in my 45 ACP only press setup. They seemed like a good idea but other than being easy to disassemble for cleaning I doubt I have needed to spin the knobs after initial setup.