Problems with my Hornady Custom 450 Dies

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Problems with my Hornady Custom 450 Dies

Postby ReggyWill » Sun Jun 19, 2016 1:22 pm

Just got my 450 dies and I'm having an issue trying to seat bullets with my Hornady custom dies. I'm using a RCBS Rock Chucker and when I raise the ram with a factory round in the shell holder (which I use to preset the die to get it close to where it needs to be) I cannot even come close to getting the die to thread into the press. After reading the instructions again, it states that you need a minimum of 3 threads of the die screwed into the press for proper operation. I screwed the die in 3 threads, put in a case with no bullet and ran it into the die. The result was a case that had so much crimp it actually put a shoulder on the case with about an 1/8" neck. I called Hornady and talked to a customer service rep that told me It may be an out of spec die body so a new one is on the way. My thoughts tell me it must be the floating seater inside the die is actually too long. Anyone else have this issue?

I have been reloading now for about 4 years now. Everything from 380 ACP - 260 Rem but have never used Hornady dies before. I usually stick to RCBS, Redding, and even my Lee sets I've never had an issue with. This being my first experience with Hornady dies, I can already say, I wish another company made 450 dies. :evil:
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Re: Problems with my Hornady Custom 450 Dies

Postby Hoot » Mon Jun 20, 2016 5:12 am

Welcome aboard Reggy.
There is for lack of a better term, a slug which rides the inside of the seating die, between the stem and the actual bullet guide/seating plug. That "slug" is free floating inside the die and with the stem backed way out, it can get cockeyed in the race it slides in and bind up. There are two corrective action approaches. You can shake the die up and down while listening and you'll hear a distinct sound when it drops into it's proper position. after that, avoid shaking it up and down, or inverting it until you have your seating plug adjusted properly for the seating depth you prefer. Once the stem is screwed down far enough to produce that depth, there is a lot less travel in that "slug" and the chance of it getting misaligned goes down significantly.
The second approach is disassemble the die, paying close attention to the orientation of the slug so you don't put it back in upside down. While you have it out, give the outside surface a little polishing before reassembly. That reduces the chance of it binding. If you feel a little braver, remove the retaining clip and remove the guide/seating plug. Polish that as well on the outside. Now. Carefully reassemble using last out, first in method and when you drop the "slug" down into the body look at how far it drops down. Holding the die as vertical as possible, jump the die body up and down a few times and see if the slug drops down further. Further is good. Once you feel it is all the way down, reinsert the adjusting stem and screw it all the way down.
To adjust the seating stem for your seating depth choice, place a bullet on top of the case as if to seat it. Run your press ram up until the seating plug stops on the bullet ready to push it in.Back out the seating stem and raise the ram to take up the newly created additional space. Adjust the stem out further, repeating the procedure. Once it is backed out so far that the ram is fully extended, you can then start screwing it in to achieve your desired seating depth.
When readjusting for a different bullet profile, don't back out the seating stem a long way, just enough to not seat the new bullet all the way. By doing that, you will not leave enough room for the "slug"to get misaligned again. The flip of the coin is to just learn by feel and sound, when you have gotten the slug to drop down to its proper resting place. If you're still awake after reading this long explanation, you will be off to a good start. ;)

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Re: Problems with my Hornady Custom 450 Dies

Postby plant_one » Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:48 am

wasnt there some other reports of short die body's out in the wild not too long ago?

IIRC hornady just replaced the die bodys.



one thing i can say for hornady CS - they stand behind their stuff and jump through hoops to get things right. i broke a part on my press (the primer shuttle guide rod bracket) and when i called to try to buy the part -i'm sure it was my fault - they pulled my address out of the system and shipped the part, never asking for any payment at all.
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Re: Problems with my Hornady Custom 450 Dies

Postby Al in Mi » Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:33 am

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14898&p=50103#p50103

body length of the die was too short.
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Re: Problems with my Hornady Custom 450 Dies

Postby plant_one » Mon Jun 20, 2016 7:59 pm

i knew i recalled it recently - i was exhausted last night from the weekend up at the farm killin critters in the heat.... made me too lazy to search for it... thanks al :)
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Re: Problems with my Hornady Custom 450 Dies

Postby pitted bore » Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:52 pm

Hoot-
FWIW-

The terminology of the parts of the seat die in Hornady's New Dimension Custom Die set can get confusing. I'm still not certain which part is the "slug" you described.

Here's an image taken from the instruction manual that gives the "official" names.

--Bob
.
Image

edited to update image url
Last edited by pitted bore on Sat Aug 11, 2018 9:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Problems with my Hornady Custom 450 Dies

Postby Hoot » Fri Jun 24, 2016 8:00 pm

pitted bore wrote:Hoot-
FWIW-

The terminology of the parts of the seat die in Hornady's New Dimension Custom Die set can get confusing. I'm still not certain which part is the "slug" you described.

Here's an image taken from the instruction manual that gives the "official" names.

--Bob
.
https://s26.postimg.org/jvnx0x3fd/seating_die.png


Yeah, I never get the terminology right. I just call them from the gut and boy my gut can be misleading. :roll:

What I called the stem, the proper name is Seater Adjusting Screw. What I referred to as the "slug", is in reality, the Seating Stem. Its been 6 years since I dealt with it. Hi, I'm Dory!
My original set started off with a short body. Unfortunately, while trying to get modified .284 cases to work I wound up dislodging the retaining ring (formerly referred to as retaining clip) and gouging the inside of the body. Not their fault. Totally mine with my bulged cases. They sent me a tall body replacement and some more clips for free, including the shipping!

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Re: Problems with my Hornady Custom 450 Dies

Postby pitted bore » Sat Jun 25, 2016 12:12 am

Hoot-
Thanks for the reply.

I have a vague recollection of posts from 6-7 years ago describing problems that were somehow attributed to the retaining ring, which was breaking in the course of reportedly normal operations. I could not understand how the retaining ring was being broken or even dislodged. However, if the problems with the ring were associated with a short body die, then that may have contributed to or caused the retaining ring breakage.

Best,
--Bob
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Re: Problems with my Hornady Custom 450 Dies

Postby ReggyWill » Mon Jun 27, 2016 11:42 am

UPDATE!

Spoke with Hornady today. Apparently the customer service gentleman didn't bother making sure my address was correct. They mailed the replacement die body to someone with the same name only in Connecticut, not Indiana where I live. On top of that, didn't even have my phone number in the system so they could call when when the package was returned to them. Not what I would call world class service, as they claim to have. I did speake with Lori today and she was very apologetic about the situation. I requested overnight shipping since I need to get ammo loaded for a hunt next weekend but they could do no better than 2 day shipping which at this point in the day, will mean I won't get them until Wednesday. That leaves me a ton of time to get load work-ups done and get to the range to then come back and get my hunting rounds loaded :lol: Purchased the dies 2 months ago, noticed the issue and contacted Hornady originally over a month ago, still no dies. As I stated in my previous post, this is my first experience using Hornady dies, and I can assure you all it will be my last.
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