GearHead36

I found someone local selling a pound for a good price, so I bought it. I'll shoot it up, but I'm not wild about it. It doesn't seem to like my Hornady powder measure, which binds up quite often. It seems to work better with heavier bullets. I'll likely use it for my 230gr 45acp loads.

This is what I was going to suggest. Using a PTX, if the bushing shifts, allowing the powder measure to become loose, you will stop getting flares on your cases. That should be immediately noticeable. Plus, with the powder measure in station 2, and a powder cop die in 3, my powder measure hits things before it can come out. I have to take out the powder cop die before I can remove the powder measure. This keeps it from being able to loosen up enough to become completely loose.

Energy = K x mass x velocity^2. K is a constant. At the same PF, the lighter bullet will have more muzzle energy.

Glad I came across this. I was about to post a similar question. Related question: Is there any advantage in heavier or lighter bullets in knocking down steel targets? I have some 115gr ammo that runs ~130PF, and it sometimes fails to knock down steel.

Nobody has any now. Ammoseek shows only Reloading Unlimited with any stock, and they limit you to 1000 primers. With hazmat & shipping, that comes out to 8.3 cents ea. Just a BIT much. It looks like they're using primers to extort buyers into paying for their overpriced powder. I would do it for 5000 primers, but not 1000. I'm just getting back into reloading. I am in the process of working up some loads. My plan was, when I found a recipe or two I liked, I would stock up on components. Oh, well.

Duplicate.

Does the shell plate tightness make a difference? It would seem to me that how far a case gets pushed into a die is solely determined by the sub plate, and whether there are cases on the other side providing pressure on the sub plate. The bases of the cases on my LnL AP sit on the sub plate. Do other presses do it differently?

OK, here's what was giving me trouble. I seated a bullet (9mm in this case) to a certain COAL. I have a taper crimp die in 9mm, and after using it, the round plunked just fine in one gun, but not the other. I kept dialing in more and more taper crimp, but it would never plunk in gun 2, so I was thinking I needed a different crimp*, maybe the FCD. AND... I know of a couple of local shooters who use the FCD. I'm pretty sure one of them is shooting Blue Bullets. * Both guns are S&W M&Ps, one is the FS, one is the Shield, so I thought that the chambers would be sized the same. Anyway... last night, I seated another bullet, this time 0.050 shorter, and after taper crimping, it plunked fine in the Shield. I may have to develop a recipe for each gun. I probably should anyway... the PF is different for the two classes. I now have taper crimp dies in 9 and 45 on order. I want the 9 die so I can seat and crimp separately. I wish the mfrs would sell die sets targeted at progressive presses, with a sizer die, a seating die and a crimp die. Thanks to all for the input.

What kind of bullets is he using? Cast? Coated? Plated? Jacketed? As I understand the responses here, some types of crimp work with some types of bullets, and not others. It sounds like the FCD works only with some type bullets. Does the standard taper crimp work with all bullet types?

According to various YT videos on the Lee FCD, it looks like a taper die that resizes further down than a typical taper die, and you can adjust the amount of crimp applied to the crimp area (case mouth). It has two adjustments. One, how far down you set the die body, and two, how far down you set the crimp insert. A taper crimp die just has the first adjustment. Can't the FCD be adjusted so that it doesn't break the coating? I'm not trying to sell the Lee FCD, but I know people who use it, and say that they can't get their rounds to plunk otherwise, and I think I may be in that boat, too. My 9mm dies have a seat/crimp die. On my attempt to set it up, I set the seating depth, then backed it off, and then set the crimp. It would plunk fine in one gun (an M&P), but not the other (a S&W Shield). I kept increasing the crimp, but could never get it to plunk in the Shield. My commercial Speer rounds plunk just fine in the Shield. Maybe the bullet was hitting the lands on the Shield, but not on the M&P. I set the COAL using measurements from the M&P. I'll do some more experimenting tonight. Thanks to all for the input.

Been shooting since the 70's. I reloaded as a teenager in the 70's and 80's. Then life happened. I got married. Kept my guns, and shot every so often, but not nearly as much as I wanted. I started IDPA a few years ago, and I'm loving it. I may try USPSA and Steel Challenge, too. Right now, though, I really suck at steel targets, I think, because of cataracts. I plan to get that fixed soon. Hopefully that will improve my shooting. Just bought a progressive press to get back into reloading so I don't have to stop shooting matches every time there's a run on ammo. I have to admit, there's more to it than I anticipated. I used to reload rimmed cartridges (revolver, 30-30) on a single-stage. That was very simple. Reloading rimless cartridges on a progressive is proving more involved than I expected.

Is this a bad thing? What's the consequence of having my coated bullets swaged down to the size of jacketed bullets?

The first photo is of two seating/crimp dies. I don't have any crimp-only dies (yet). The second photo is of the crimp portion of the seat/crimp die. It's an insert. The P/N I specified came off my die box, too. Maybe Hornady made a change at some point. Either way, now I need a taper crimp die for 45. The $64K, though, is, why would they ever make 45acp dies with a roll crimp?

Are you sure about that? This page shows two sets of 45acp dies. One taper crimp, and one without. The taper crimp set is 546555. The other set (no crimp type specified) is 546554, which is what I have. I purchased a set of 9mm dies with taper crimp. This video shows how to set up the taper crimp/seating die. My 9mm crimp/seating die looks like the one in the video. My 45 crimp/seat die doesn't look like the one in the video. That's a possibility, but the more I dig into setting up this press, the more I think that he never used it. Or... he bought it used, and never used it. It shows almost no wear, but it was dirty, and completely lacking in lubrication. The top photo shows the two seat/crimp dies. The die on the left is 9mm, the one on the right is 45. Notice that they're not the same. The bottom photo is of the inside of the 45 crimp die. Note the ridge for the roll crimp. I'm quite sure the 45 crimp die is a roll crimp.

I took the die apart, and observed a hard ridge in the die body. A taper crimp would be smooth. I have the 546554 set. On Hornady's site, that set is shown with a seating die (044151) but not a taper crimp seating die (no # for that). They DO specify a P/N (044172) for a taper crimp only die.

Ah, I didn't even realize that Lee had a taper crimp die. I thought the FCD was the only one they had. Thanks.

I'm fairly new to reloading rimless cartridges. Most of my experience has been with revolver cartridges and 30-30 rifle, all of which use a roll crimp. I recently bought a used Hornady Lock-N-Load AP, and it came with dies. The dies (Hornady) are the roll crimp version. I've tried to seat a bullet, and do a plunk test to find my max COAL, but... I have now verified that I have the wrong crimp for my gun. Anyway.... which is better? Lee's FCD or Hornady's taper crimp die? The guy who did this comparison likes Dillon dies best, followed by Hornady, then Lee, but that's mostly for the sizing die. I wouldn't mind sticking with Hornady if the quality of the die and crimp are the same. That way, if I have a problem, I won't have Lee and Hornady pointing fingers at each other.