Lee Loader

I called Lee a year or two ago asking if they would custom make me a flat seating plug as the vast bulk of my cast bullets are either a flat nose SWC shape or a HP which leaved a flat ring on the nose. The "universal" seating plugs they have all round off the cutting edge of the meplate and some of the softer alloys I cast a HP bullet with have the nose close up some. Worst is if I'm casting soft I sometimes have seating depth issues as some cases are tougher to seat the bullet. Back then they just relpied that's not a service they offer. Now lo and behold:

http://leeprecision.com/custom-bullet-seating-plug.html

They finally offer custom seating plugs... I'm so happy I could cry...

I could use one for my Lee 309-180-RF. The generic one leaves a ring around the nose. So do I need to send them something they already have and how much is shipping? Maybe if I checked out it would say.

Awesome this is good stuff.

I could use some, too... The price is OK, but shipping is ridiculous.

Yea it is bit pricey but noone else is making them

Outstanding! Glad I saw this! Lots of cast FPs in revolvers and levers! Thanx

Funny this comes up. I too have been having trouble with rings cut into cast lead bullets when the meplat is smaller than the seating plug. I tried turning the plug upside down in the seating die and it worked. At least for that application. It worried me a bit that my new method might allow the bullet to lean during seating but the 30+ examples so far haven't exhibited any runout.

Is this safe to do in most cases or has anyone tried it? I would hate to accept it as OK and ruin a batch of bullets somewhere in the future.

I found the following graphic over on Fr. Frog's web page under Developing An Accurate Load. Could this be what is causing the problem?



He goes on to say, "Because bullet tips vary slightly in shape seating a bullet by means of its tip leads to varying seating depths. It may be necessary to alter the seating plug by drilling it out slightly so it bears only on the ogive. Some manufacturers will custom cut seating plugs for you."

Also, some reloaders are using other techniques to match their seating plugs to their favorite bullets. Here's a link to a thread discussing the use of JB Weld and other potential solutions...

I use flat plugs made from carriage bolts. I don't have problems with OAL or runout. I only shoot round, flat nose cast bullets.