My Pro1000 isn't seating my bullets straight?

Hey guys!

I have to admit, the pro1000 is a excellent and easy to use press, except for the instructions that came with it.... lol

I do have a slight problem.... The seating die, on it, isn't seating the bullets straight. Why is this? I have tried to place the bullets on top of the case (before seating and crimping) as straight as possible, but still not 100% success.

Forgot to add. I'm using a 115gr. FMJ RN

I wish I had that press to be able to give you a hand. Maybe someone here has one.. These are just regular die huh? 9mm?

Yes, they are normal 9mm dies that came with the press. Unfortunately it didn't come with a Case Collator, but everything else did. Even a Auto disk pro came with the set (the one with the round hopper, not the square one). The only extra thing i will buy is the case collator and a bullet feeder.

From a bit of research on the internet, i may have found 2 possible problems.
1) When putting the bullets onto the cases, it has to be straight. (but that one is eliminated, because i have tried it)
2) The seating/crimping die isn't perfectly aligned with the case.

But there may be a third. Is it possible that the seat plug inside the seating/crimping die could perhaps be the problem? I do have another set of 9mm dies, i could perhaps try that die and see if it fixes the problem.

This is the first time i have come across something like this. Has this happened to anyone else, maybe in a single stage press perhaps?

It could be the die and or the seater plug. If you have another die, I would try that. Also, I would try that die you have now in a single stage to see if it repeats it in the press. It could be that the plates aren't lining up, making your brass not lining up and seating crooked.

Now lets talk about crooked, Do you have a pic of this? The reason I ask, 45 ACP RN has a habit of being crooked when seated. Looks like a small bulge on the side at the base of the bullet. There is no way around that. They shoot fine through the 45. Wondering if this goes for the 9mm as well being a RN and the seater plug is made for different nose profile. If that is the case, maybe a cotton ball inide the die at the so that it forms around the RN better and the plug seats it....

Would be worth a try.. Just have to readjust the die to seat. Also if you can, I would crimp in a different step. I never have success seating and crimping all in one motion...

I'll using the die from the pro1000 in my single stage and visa versa. I'll also take a pic of the crooked bullet.

Unfortunately i have to do the seating and crimping in one, because the pro1000 only has 3 holes. I have had good success with the seating and crimping together with my 38spl. (150gr. RN , cast), but... my 38spl. boolits has a more of "wider" shape. Meaning, it fits the seat plug better.

I have to go get some velocitor for my .22LR tomorrow, then when i get back I'll do some testing and let you know.

Wont the cotton ball cause the bullet to be seating at different depth's when seating?

on my progressive I try and seat the bullet as upright as possible, but most times its futile on a progressive because it shifts in the indexing. i dont think the cottonball method will work, but you will probably have to back the seating stem out about 1/16 or 1/8 of a turn to get your OAL right, just do it like you would setup a new die.

only other thing i can thing of is maybe the timing of the press is off? I haven't used the lee so I cant tell ya how to fix it.

Check out http://ultimatereloader.com/ he has some good instructional videos on all the major progressive presses.

Blade wrote:Wont the cotton ball cause the bullet to be seating at different depth's when seating?

Yea that is why I was saying you would need to readjust your die. The reason I say try a cotton ball, my way of thinking, the RN has little surface to contact the seater stem. The stem works with many different profiles. The cotton ball may help fill the voids a bit to give a better grip. You could always try that as a last option.

Can't say it doesn't work if ya don't try ;P lol

If your seating and crimping in the same step, your seating/crimping die may be out of adjustment?
Have you recently changed bullet styles, or weights? If so, then you need to readjust your seating/crimping die for each different bullet.

I would start over from scratch and set the die up like it was brand new again and see if that helps.

This is the reason why I don't use a seating/crimping die.
I seat all my bullets first, then use a Lee Factory Crimp Die to finish the final operation. It's so much easier than trying to do it all in a single step with one die.

just a thought but how much are you expanding the mouth if its not enuff it will sometimes start wierd and never b right. i have run the same 100 pro with the same 115gr rn and never had a problem with it. and i run 9mm 38/357 40 45 45lc and 223 on mine

i'm wondering if its the seater plug in the die.. it may be allowing the bullet to rock as its being pressed into the case.

whenever i have a bullet nose that doesn't fit my seater plug, i'll use a little hot glue to make a new nose profile for the seater plug. you can do this by doing the following.

remove the seater plug and clean it with acetone or something to remove all oils. if the glue falls off of the plug, its because there was lube on it.

slowly heat up the plug end with a torch, just hot enough to allow the hot glue to melt slowly.. not to turn the glue into pure liquid.
put a ball of hot glue onto the plug and allow it to melt.
coat a bullet with some case lube (* this is so the bullet can come off of the glue when it cools *)
slowly press a bullet nose into the plug in a nice strate position and allow it to cool.
once the hot glue cools and becomes hard, remove the bullet and trim the sides of the hot glue with a razor.

put the seater plug back into the die, and have at it.

when your done, you can remove the hot glue from the plug easily, just give it a pull it will come right off.

i had 45acp's seating crooked when i was seating semi wad cutters as opposed to round nose.. this little trick made it all better.


good luck,
Dan

I'm not trying to be a smarty pants or anything here, so please don't get me wrong. I know everybody is trying to help however they can.
Just offering my best advice, but I don't think hot glues or cotton balls are the right answer? It just seems like a band aid for bigger problems that are occuring.
Something is out of whack either with his press or the die and I would try to find out what's wrong with it first before I start adding band aids to cover up deeper issues.

Then if all efforts to correct the problem fail, do whatever it takes to get a quality round out of it.

Just my 2 cents.

I wish I knew more about the style press that he has, or if I could actually put my hands on it. I know I could figure it out and fix the problem.
I'm not familiar with every press out there, but I am a maintenance/mechanical/technical and welding/fabricating by trade and I can tell when a machine needs maintenance. If it was otherwise doing fine and now it's not.............it needs some attention. Something moved, broke, fell off, or simply got out of adjustment on it.
Afterall, it is just a machine with moving parts.

Blade......have you checked everything on it to make sure nothing broke or fell off?
Look around on the floor and on your reloading bench to make sure it hasn't spit out any parts like springs, snap rings, bolts, nuts, washers, or anything that appears out of place.

Thank you guys for all the info!

I'm just busy to decap/clean about 350 9mm cases, after that I'm taking my full attention to my pro1000. What I'm going to do first is to use my other 9mm seating/crimping die, if that doesn't work, I'm going to check the alignment plate vs. the die. If not, then i think i may try the hot glue method, sounds like a very good tip.

Mohunter - Luckily there is nothing on the ground or table that came off it, from what i can tell there's also nothing broken. Also, it is a brand new press, i got it on Wednesday and made about 15 cartridges so far and tested them, and it's affecting my accuracy.

Will let you know how it goes in about 3 or 4 hours time.

Mohunter, the cotton ball isn't meant to be used all the time. I am not advocating it as a bandaid. If he was to use the cotton ball, and it fixed the problem, then he would know where to look at the problem and be able to fix it at that point. Using the cotton ball as a tool to find the problem.

Blade, that is all the info I have to offer. I do not have a pro1000. I will be watching this thread to see how it comes along. I really hope you find the problem and get it fixed.

if the bullet seating punch in the die dosen't fit the profile of your bullet it can seat the bullet crooked. but usually it will deform the bullet nose. the case should seat the bullet straight unless you are having to really force the issue. Seems to me That Mo is on to something I would look at the timing of the press. Have you tried that die in a single stage press to eliminate the press from the equation? If if it seats a round straight in a single stage and not in your 1000 then i would be looking at the timing of the press. This is why i really like Hornady dies they have a collar that holds the bullet straight while being seated. IMO if it had a micrometer adjustment would be the best seating crimping die on the market. But that is a different topic. back on target. Check to make sure that the turrent if fully indexed I havent used a lee pro but if it has an adjustment on its index thats where i would go.

I have found the problem and the solution.

I swaped the 2 dies out and still had the same problem, then i checked to see how far the flaring/charging die was from the shell plate....... errrmmmm (shakes head) it was a bit far away..... so i turned it in so that there's about a millimeter gap, there was about a 4 or 5 mm gap. Then i placed in another case and it worked great. I've made four more and they all came out straight. Looks to me like it was kind of crimping before it was seated properly.

BUT...... now that all that is fixed and the dies are all set "properly" i got another problem when i went into full production.... . As soon as there are cases in all the holes (meaning the shell plate), then my ram comes off the whole shell plate carrier lol... I know where to tighten the bolt to grip the ram better, but i don't have the right size allenkey for it.... (damn american sizes, ). I need a 4.5 size key to tighten the bolt.

Travis: I saw that you mentioned you have a pro1000, do you perhaps lubricate all of your cases before putting it down the tubes?

Luckily i have found the solution to the ram issue. Someone at Calguns.net had the same problem. It was the allen screw as i've suspected. Just need the right size allenkey ...

This is the origional post from the guy at calguns, if anyone was intrested in reading it.
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/archive/index.php/t-46820.html

Good deal. Glad to see that you were able to find the problem and fix it. Now get that right size allen key and get to work LOL... Can't wait to see some production work...

you and me both

Blade wrote: Travis: I saw that you mentioned you have a pro1000, do you perhaps lubricate all of your cases before putting it down the tubes?

now blade i dont lube any pistol brass i use all carbide dies

Good to know, thanks. I have another question if you don't mind, have your ram ever came off the shell plate carrier before?

What's weird is, all my other dies that i bought about 6 years ago (but only actually started reloading about 2 or 3 years ago) looks to me like normal steel dies and i haven't had problems with them before, even without lube. Luckily my pro1000 came with 9mm carbide dies.

i think in 2 years mine has came off 3 times but i figure it was because i didnt get it tight when i changed carriers

If you are using Lee pistol dies, they are all carbide. I called Lee about this one time and they told me that they didn't make any pistol dies that were not carbide. Don't know if that helps you or not?

Glad you found the problem and fixed it Blade. That's the way to use your noggin'

Almost forgot to reply, sorry.

Thanks for that info Mo! Even though it does look to me like my older pistol dies does not have a carbide sleeve in it, you say it is? Good to know though.

I forgot about the downtime last night and just as i wanted to post my reply it said "maintenance" .... lol

In anyways. I wasn't in the mood yesterday to drive 25km (about 15miles) to the nearest hardware shop to get the right size allenkey, so i took a old no.5 key and worked it down on the grinding wheel, until it fitted correctly into the bolt which hold the shell plate carrier to the ram. Then i went into full production. I only had 2 problems, i forgot to push the lever hard enough in the up position to push in a new primer. So i got that case out (which was already fully loaded with powder and a bullet.... then the next case i checked for the powder level and saw it was a double charge (because of the case, that i tried to get out with the primer not fully seated).... Luckily for me, my light on my reloading bench was fitted just right so that i can see clearly and directly into the case to check the powder level. One thing is for sure though, you DO NOT WANT ANY TYPE OF DISTRACTIONS when reloading on a progressive press!! It's really easy to make a HUGE mistake if your head is not in the game. I'm thinking of removing the priming system on my pro1000 and rather do it by hand until i feel more comfortable on my pro1000.

I just got a good idea if doing the priming by hand, well... maybe just a thought. I was thinking of removing the sizer die and put it in my single stage press and size and prime all my cases first then i can move my charging die to station 1 (will only work if you have the auto disk with the spring and not that irritating chain). Then move one of my seating/crimping dies to station 2 just to seat the bullets, then my other seating/crimping die to station 3 just to crimp. I should get a lot more uniformed ammunition that way.

Here's a pic of about 50 rounds i made when i went into full production. I only had a phew bullets left for 9mm


I'm waiting for my 9mm mold to arrive, hopefully on the 15th Dec. I'm getting my first non lee piece of equipment other then my farnkford scale and my electronic measure. It's a 2 cavity lyman mold, it pops out a 120gr. tapered nose boolit. Here's the link to the mould i'm getting.
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/bullet-casting/mould-details.php?entryID=4