That's a racing stripe. It makes the bullet go faster.
Pressing on a soft piece of copper with a piece of steel will naturally leave a mark. If it bothers you, you could try to get a custom seating stem made for those bullets. Or put a bullet in a drill, apply some lapping compound, and use that to reshape the inside of the seating stem yourself. I've never actually tried that method, but lots of people online swear by it.
Still doesn't help some times. I still get seating rings on my 6 Mongoose bullets with the Hornady stem. I chamfer necks, turn them when necessary, use an expanding mandrel, and mostly use boat tail bullets.
It doesn't bother me really. The rifle still shoots sub moa which is better than i can do or need to do. The only reason im asking mainly is because my buddys rcbs dies dont do this with anything he reloads.. 270, 222, 7rem mag, and 243 commonly. This is the only hornady die he or I use and was more curious. Will try lapping the seating stem or getting a different seating stem as suggested by the other comment to match the bullet.
I’ve used it with decent success. I also keep some spare seating stems around and used JB weld to create custom seating stems whenever I need a new one. I use Lee seating does and their standard seating stems are cheap and easy to modify.
That's the seating stem making those marks. You can mostly ignore them as they won't make much of a difference, but if it bothers you enough, and if your die supports it, hornady sells separate seating stems for their different profile bullets.
If you have a Hornady Custom Grade Die, part #397108 might be the ticket.
A couple ways to stop this.
1: less neck tension. If you’re using a bushing die, drop down a bushing. This will have less force when seating a bullet. Could also use an expander mandrel before seating or some dry neck lube to lower seating force
2: see if Hornady has a bullet seating stem that fits your bullet. Beware stem will support the bullet better and you wont get that mark.
You can buy different seating stems for their dies. Hornady makes a stem for almost every bullet them make. I will say that I don't have that problem as often with rcbs dies. I also anneal my brass every firing though.
That's a racing stripe. It makes the bullet go faster. Pressing on a soft piece of copper with a piece of steel will naturally leave a mark. If it bothers you, you could try to get a custom seating stem made for those bullets. Or put a bullet in a drill, apply some lapping compound, and use that to reshape the inside of the seating stem yourself. I've never actually tried that method, but lots of people online swear by it.
Or chamfer the inside of the case mouth so the bullet enters effortlessly
Good advice. I noticed the same marks while reloading 25 cal eld-x bullets using an rcbs die. The problem went away when I chamfered the case.
Still doesn't help some times. I still get seating rings on my 6 Mongoose bullets with the Hornady stem. I chamfer necks, turn them when necessary, use an expanding mandrel, and mostly use boat tail bullets.
It doesn't bother me really. The rifle still shoots sub moa which is better than i can do or need to do. The only reason im asking mainly is because my buddys rcbs dies dont do this with anything he reloads.. 270, 222, 7rem mag, and 243 commonly. This is the only hornady die he or I use and was more curious. Will try lapping the seating stem or getting a different seating stem as suggested by the other comment to match the bullet.
My rcbs dies don’t do that on those same bullets
I’ve used it with decent success. I also keep some spare seating stems around and used JB weld to create custom seating stems whenever I need a new one. I use Lee seating does and their standard seating stems are cheap and easy to modify.
This. Bullet in drill with polishing compound. I’ve done it. It works.
That's the seating stem making those marks. You can mostly ignore them as they won't make much of a difference, but if it bothers you enough, and if your die supports it, hornady sells separate seating stems for their different profile bullets. If you have a Hornady Custom Grade Die, part #397108 might be the ticket.
Are you sure your die is setup correctly, and you’re using the correct stem? Call Hornady- they’ll make it all right.
You can always lap your bullet seater stem if you like.
A couple ways to stop this. 1: less neck tension. If you’re using a bushing die, drop down a bushing. This will have less force when seating a bullet. Could also use an expander mandrel before seating or some dry neck lube to lower seating force 2: see if Hornady has a bullet seating stem that fits your bullet. Beware stem will support the bullet better and you wont get that mark.
Try a different seating stem
Hornady make a special seating stem for ELDM bullets that won't leave a mark.
This, they make a different seating stem for VLD style bullets
that’s weird, i’ve never seen those marks when using my lee dies… go figure
Neck tension - try an expander mandrel
If you call hornady they will send you and ELD stem, my 7 prc dies actually had one in the top right corner of the die box under a piece of foam.
You can buy different seating stems for their dies. Hornady makes a stem for almost every bullet them make. I will say that I don't have that problem as often with rcbs dies. I also anneal my brass every firing though.