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Posted: 11/16/2016 6:54:45 PM EDT
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I'm looking at loading some self defense loads in 9mm with Speer's 124 grain Gold Dot bullets. RCBS makes a custom seating punch for this bullet to go with their Group B pistol dies. Unfortunately for me, my RCBS Group B 9mm dies are of an earlier generation and do not take RCBS's (now) standard 1/2-20 threaded seating punches.
Is it worth my while to buy a new seating die so I can use the custom seating punch? I've run into issues where bullets are marked (not necessarily damaged) by seating punches that aren't a perfect match for the bullet I'm using, but I don't know if Gold Dot bullets are fragile enough for a mismatched punch to damage them. Any assistance on this would be appreciated. |
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Thanks for the reassurance. I didn't want to have to spend $20 for a newer seating die just for this particular bullet.
On a related note, has anyone found third party seating punches for RCBS, Hornady, etc. dies? I can see this being a really interesting specialty market, but maybe only for production-level dies... |
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I have used a redneck solution when I needed to make a custom seating die. I have taken aluminum foil and wadded it into a ball. Then stuffed it up into the die and press it into the seating die. Press a few rounds into the foil to pack it and to make it conform to bullet shape. Adjust the die to get your desired length.
YMMV |
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Quoted: I haven't had any issues with my Hornady dies for my Gold Dots and don't consider them a fragile bullet that marks up easily. Was just going through some boxes of 9mm ammo this last weekend. There were Gold Dots that I loaded back in 2005. No marks on the bullets, I use Hornady dies. These were loads from before I discovered True Blue. |
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Quoted:
Put a dab of candle wax in the seater. I had all kinds of trouble with the stem in RCBS dies for .32 ACP with Gold Dots. I messed with grinding the stem to fit, but it was not perfect. RCBS sent a correct stem. That sounds like what Dean Grennell would say. In fact he did in his editions of ABCs of Reloading, I also found some stuff suggesting using polymer clay and even JBWeld. I think poly clay is as permanent as I want to get. Oh, and I use separate dies for seating and crimping because a lot of bullets don't react well to seat/crimp at the same time. |
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Quoted:
That sounds like what Dean Grennell would say. In fact he did in his editions of ABCs of Reloading, I also found some stuff suggesting using polymer clay and even JBWeld. I think poly clay is as permanent as I want to get. Oh, and I use separate dies for seating and crimping because a lot of bullets don't react well to seat/crimp at the same time. Quoted:
Quoted:
Put a dab of candle wax in the seater. I had all kinds of trouble with the stem in RCBS dies for .32 ACP with Gold Dots. I messed with grinding the stem to fit, but it was not perfect. RCBS sent a correct stem. That sounds like what Dean Grennell would say. In fact he did in his editions of ABCs of Reloading, I also found some stuff suggesting using polymer clay and even JBWeld. I think poly clay is as permanent as I want to get. Oh, and I use separate dies for seating and crimping because a lot of bullets don't react well to seat/crimp at the same time. I had to use wax to shim the seater for my .221 Fireball die, there was no way to seat the bullets I was using deep enough. I called Redding and the rep knew about the problem and sent the correct stem. Some Redding stems have a number on the end for identification, maybe all, I never thought to check the others. |
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