Hornady 300 Blackout Die Issue

[vafish]

So I just got a new set of Hornady 300 Black Out dies from Midway.

Sized up my first few cases and tried to make up a dummy round to check functioning.

When steating the bullet I can only screw in the seater die about 4 turns before it is crimping the bullet. This is my first set of Hornady dies, all my others in other calibers are Lee, Lyman or RCBS, all of which screw in much further than this one does.

In this pic the lock ring is where the die screws into the press. The brass is pushed in to where it crimps.



Here is a pic of the die screwed into the press:



I called Hornady customer service on Friday and their only thought was that the sliding portion of the seater was out of spec. They said that is should be 1.55" long. I took the die apart and it measures 1.55" with my calipers.

I measured some other parts of the die and have written them down on this picture:



The seater portion sticks out of the die .80" when the case mouth is crimped.

Anyone have a Hornady 300 blk die they can measure for me?

The dummy round chambers just fine, but this die doesn't look right to me.

 

[Russ D]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the .300 BLk seater is a generic .30 cal seater. It just so happens it is screwed way out when seating .300BLK because it can also seat .300 Win mag. and .308?

Give me a minute and I'll measure mine for you.

 

[John from MD]

On a Hornady rifle die, the inside portion of the seater die consists of two parts. The fat outer part has been reamed for the neck and slides up and down. The thin replaceable center section sits in the fat piece and can be switched for different shaped bullets.

If you invert the die with the adjustment screw screwed out, the thin center piece can come out of the fat center piece. It won't necessarily go back into the hole by itself when you turn the die back over. This will result in exactly what you are experiencing.

I suggest that you take the adjusting screw out and put the thin center piece back in the fat center piece then screw the adjuster in about half way. Then run the ram up and slowly adjust the die down until it contacts the case.

Sorry for the poor terminology but you will get what I mean when you disassemble the die.

BTW, those little clips that hold the fat piece in will wear so get some spares.

John

 

[tomgreco]

Good info. I have the dies, but have yet to get a press.

 

[vafish]

On a Hornady rifle die, the inside portion of the seater die consists of two parts. The fat outer part has been reamed for the neck and slides up and down. The thin replaceable center section sits in the fat piece and can be switched for different shaped bullets.

If you invert the die with the adjustment screw screwed out, the thin center piece can come out of the fat center piece. It won't necessarily go back into the hole by itself when you turn the die back over. This will result in exactly what you are experiencing.

I suggest that you take the adjusting screw out and put the thin center piece back in the fat center piece then screw the adjuster in about half way. Then run the ram up and slowly adjust the die down until it contacts the case.

Sorry for the poor terminology but you will get what I mean when you disassemble the die.

BTW, those little clips that hold the fat piece in will wear so get some spares.

John

I see what you are saying, but that is not the problem I'm having. If I hold the sleeve out and invert it the thin inner piece that contacts the bullet tip does get stuck, but if I shake it around it drops back in place. With it in place properly I still only get about 4 threads screwed into the press.

I think it is just because they are using a short die body to make the seater die. If you look at the picture I printed from Hornady's web site of the dies the seater die is much longer than the resizing die. My dies the die body is the same length.

 

[vafish]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the .300 BLk seater is a generic .30 cal seater. It just so happens it is screwed way out when seating .300BLK because it can also seat .300 Win mag. and .308?

Give me a minute and I'll measure mine for you.

Wouldn't it have to screw even further out for the longer cases like the .300 win mag?

I have always set my crimp dies up so that they conduct the crimp just as the press ram reaches the top of it's stroke (handle pulled all the way down). A longer case, like a .300 win mag, would need the die up much higher than the .300 BLK.

 

[Winterborn]

Wouldn't it have to screw even further out for the longer cases like the .300 win mag?

I have always set my crimp dies up so that they conduct the crimp just as the press ram reaches the top of it's stroke (handle pulled all the way down). A longer case, like a .300 win mag, would need the die up much higher than the .300 BLK.

This, or you will not have a full ram stroke before the bullet is seated/crimped.

I can't see how this would affect the operation of the die, just the aesthetics.

You said the round is seated correctly and chambers fine?

 

[vafish]

This, or you will not have a full ram stroke before the bullet is seated/crimped.

I can't see how this would affect the operation of the die, just the aesthetics.

You said the round is seated correctly and chambers fine?

I made one dummy round that seeems seated correctly and chambers fine.

Also took a look at midways web site. I don't see a hornady universal .30 cal seater, but mmost of the hornady seaters list several calibers.

 

[Wreck]

I have the Hornady Dimension dies for 300 Blackout/whisper that look the same as yours. I had to set my seater die out like you did, it looked weird but seated and crimped nicely, chambered and functioned fine. I believe in the instructions there's a note about seating die being set high but it's normal, I forget the exact explanation. The bag with instructions, wrench and extra d clip was behind the foam in the top.

 

[Bootknife]

Ditto what Wreck Said...I have not set this up yet as I am still in Florida and reloader is in Md.

 

[vafish]

I have the Hornady Dimension dies for 300 Blackout/whisper that look the same as yours. I had to set my seater die out like you did, it looked weird but seated and crimped nicely, chambered and functioned fine. I believe in the instructions there's a note about seating die being set high but it's normal, I forget the exact explanation. The bag with instructions, wrench and extra d clip was behind the foam in the top.

As few as three threads need to be screwed into the die for precise and accurate reloading.



When all else fails RTFM.

 

[DocSavage]

My Hornady 300BLK die is exactly the same... Looks the same as well, called Hornady, they explained this is normal. +1 for the "3 threads" comment.

What bullets are you using BTW? I tried the .308 Lapua 200 gr. and they will not chamber, at any depth. My cases are beautiful at 1.39, my practice OALs have been from 2.25 all the way down to 2.00 - no joy... At shorter OALs, I feed well, but don't go all the way into battery. Is it the rounder ogive?

Thoughts?

Doc

 

[vafish]

So far only bullets we have loaded are the Sierra 125 gr GK. Using AA9 powder because that was what I could find in a suitable burn rate.

Will run a few of them through, then try some of the lee 230 gr cast bullets.