V Max Bullet Seating

[noexcuses]

Have been tinkering with loads for my 17 Remington and have noticed that when I seat the V-Max bullets (20 grain) there is a "faint" ring around the bullet just above where I believe the olgive would be. Not sure exactly how deep it is but can't be decerned with a finger nail or mic. I have carefully chamfered the inside/outside of the necks and am wondering what can be done to minimize this, or does it matter? I am using a standard seating die that came with the RCBS set and haven't experienced anything like this, except with the V-Maxs. Are they thinner (more fragile) than the standard Hornadys and Bergers? Is there a seating die that you all might recommend? Thx in advance!

[ray h]

I've been using epoxy in the seater stem so it matches the shape of the bullet. I suggest after it cures run a small drill up in the tip so any variations in the length of the bullet point has somewhere to go and not vary your seating depth. This has worked for me, an easy quick fix with 5 min epoxy.

[Chuck Miller]

It's not uncommon with the Vmax to get a little ring below the polymer tip because of the thin jacket. It's never affected accuracy in my loads so I ignore it.

[noexcuses]

Thx for the notes. I'll watch for any anomolies at the range. If I have any (real or illussional) I'll get to work with the epoxy. Am I to understand that some folks have a seating die (filled with epoxy) for every different bullet they seat, or just the ones that develop rings around them? That would seem logical. Thx again!

[ray h]

I usually set the stem up for a VMax's, they work for all the other bullets I may use. Maybe VLD bullets would be the exception but I haven't used any.

[georgeld]

N/ex:
What cause's those rings is a mismatching of the bullet punch and the bullet
shape. Because all the stress is placed right on that thin edge of the seater
and the jackets so thin and soft. It make's an indention.

The epoxy idea is slick. IF/when you want to seat a different shaped bullet. Just heat it enough to pop it out, or make it softer so it can be dug out fairly easy.

There's lots of these little tricks if you ask enough reloaders.