Thread: Steating stem

Originally Posted by sdogg73

Not an uncommon problem with new VLD type projectiles. Can be solved agriculturally by simply drilling the tip area deeper a little, then it'll seat off the ogive not the tip. If you've access to a lathe even better. A few of the other manufacturers remedied this by producing a separate VLD seating stem

You can deepen the centre of the seating stem with a lathe -- but just as readily with a drill press.

1. Put 3mm drill into drill press the wrong way, cutting end up.
2. Lower drill bit down to vice and clamp onto shank of drill bit. Fix vice to table in that position.
3. Loosen drill bit from drill head and raise the head back up.
4. Attach seating stem in drill head, lubricate the drill bit, start the drill press on slow speed, and lower onto lubricated drill bit.

[BTW, to minimise drill wobble, (1) seat the drill bit as deep into the vice as you can, just enough drill bit protruding as is needed for the hole. (2) Also seat the seating stem as deep in the drill press head as it will go.]

@Cordite thanks for that info. Have had a look and a 3mm drill bit simply slides into the 308 seating stem well past where the stem is contacting the bullet. So maybe have to go to 3.5-4 mm

If you have access to a lathe it is easy enough to just make some new ones. I found with the Lee dies you might have to make the stem longer to get them to work nicely with the design I made.
I didn't end up getting the concentricity results I wanted and bought higher quality dies.

I have also read a few things on epoxy bedding stems to a bullet but haven't tried it myself.