56-50 reloading die question - RCBS deforms bullets

[Jed Irons]

Hi, all.  I've had a Taylor's Spencer replica in 56-50 for a few years now and have only done a little reloading for it.  I have the RCBS legacy dies, am using the Starline brass, and using Buffalo Arms .512" bullets (that are apparently specifically for the Spencer replicas), and I've experienced one particular issue with them.  The seating die nose cone (sorry if I'm using incorrect terminology) is apparently for a narrower bullet, as when seating, even if I used minimal compression, it deforms the bullet.

Here's an example, next to one of my good rounds.



I took out the seating stem and married it to one of the bullets and it's obvious it's for a narrower flat point bullet.



My solution was to back out the expander die and use the flat portion of the expander to seat the bullet, which actually worked great.  But it's obviously not a great or long term solution since I don't want to have to keep adjusting the expander die.



Here is a finished round after using this method.  Beautiful!  Perfect!



But my question to you all is how have you gotten around this problem?  There aren't many options for 56-50 dies, and I tried to find a replacement stem that would accomodate my wider/rounder bullet, but couldn't find a great option on RCBS's website.  Any solutions?  A separate seating die that you guys know of?

Thanks for your help

[Jed Irons]

Gah!  Sorry for the huge images.  Not sure how to make them smaller.

[treebeard]

I use the Lyman 56-50 seating die marked HO5. Radically different than the RCBS seater rod.
The seating stem is marked 424L.

[Jed Irons]

Thanks, Treebeard.  I'll check it out.

[Jed Irons]

A couple of things to update, might be helpful to others here:

1) Called up RCBS, they said my die set should have come with 2 seater plugs including a semi-wadcutter plug, and they're sending me a new SWC plug at no charge!  That's great customer service.  I have a feeling it's the same as my other plug, but we'll see.

2) Called up Buffalo Arms, asked them how they seated their loaded BP 56-50 ammunition.  They stated they use flat seater plugs.  They mentioned filling the cone of the seater plug with JB Weld.  A Google search for this solution turned up multiple results, so it looks like this is not only a common problem (rings on the bullet) but also a common solution.  Ordered some JB Weld and will try this, especially now that I have a separate seater plug coming my way.

[Trailrider]

My suggestion would have been to send a bullet to RCBS and have them make a custom seating die. But it sounds like you have the solution.

[Jed Irons]

Trailrider, I just discovered that they offered that service, that is a good suggestion.

However, I just found an even cheaper solution and it worked!  Someone on another forum suggested filling the plug with hot glue, which is easily reversible should I ever change bullet shapes or want to go back to the original.  Filled it in tonight, flattened it while it was still malleable, and after it cooled and solidified and I loaded 8 rounds with no problems.  Seated them perfectly with no more marring of the bullet.

So there you go.  Easy DIY flat seater plug.