D.Hayden Posted January 2, 2004 Share Posted January 2, 2004 I've read lots of posts about the 2 dies, but I can't figure out, are these the exact same die, or are they different? Through the search, I found one person who thought the EGW was ground shorter, to size the brass further down the case. Time for myth busters? I'm more worried about 40 then 45, but even with the 45 I'm not going to be happy until I get my case gage rate up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted January 2, 2004 Share Posted January 2, 2004 EGW machines a bit off the bottom of the Lee U-Die, allowing the case to be sized a bit further down. They're the same otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Larry Cazes Posted January 2, 2004 Share Posted January 2, 2004 Yup.....The EGW U die even comes in the red plastic LEE case with the LEE documentation. Got one in .40 and it seems to work very well. The only down side to this die is that it is not flared on the bottom like the dillon sizer and sometimes gets hung up on the case mouth. Just requires a little extra care...... Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuietMan Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 I just received my .38Super die from EGW. Concur. Lee die w/red box. Die actually has a "U" engraved in to it after they undersized it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.40AET Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 BerKim- Send me a mailing address and I will resize some .40 brass with both the standard die and the "U" die. Once you measure the case diameter, you will see that the "U" die resizes .001" smaller. It also rides the case lower for a more complete resize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogmaDog Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 'Course, we can throw a wrench into things by asking about the Lee Factory Crimp die, too. Supposedly it replaces the crimp die so it crimps and also resizes the whole length of the case. Will the FCD accomplish the same thing as the EGW U die? I would think you wouldn't have problems with the case mouth hanging up, since there's a pointy bullet there to guide it into the die. DogmaDog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.40AET Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 The FCD resizes in station #4, for the second time, and the "U" die resizes in station #1. The "U" die will resize the case .001" smaller than the FCD would. Theoretically, the FCD would do nothing to the case if it ran through a "U" die first. The FCD would be a better choice because it resizes a completed round, which should eliminate the need to drop them into a case gage. I would still drop check match ammo just out of habbit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted January 3, 2004 Author Share Posted January 3, 2004 40AET... thanks for the offer. I'm definently buying one of the 2 based on comments here. I was just trying to see if there was a difference. Doesn't sound like it. I'll go ahead and get all three (9, 40, 45). Have you used both the FCD and the 'U' die? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperComp Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 According to George (at EGW), they buy the die from Lee .001" smaller than OEM. SC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperComp Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 BerKim, I use both the "U" die and the FCD. Cast bullets are usually sized .001" over bore dia. The "U" die does such a good job sizing that cast bullets WILL cause some case bulging. The FCD irons out the bulge in the case that cast bullets sometimes cause if/when they're seated slightly crooked. Since I've been using both "Lee" dies, my case gage failure rate is near 0%. BTW, I also use EGW's case gages. The Dillon gages I've used are OVERSIZE!! Regards, SC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORCA Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 After reading the good reviews on the EGW dies and the Lee FCD dies I bought both for .40 SW and .38 super. I haven't had a round fail the case gauge since. I would definently buy a FCD die, I had 400 rounds of .40 that wouldn't pass the case gauge. I ran them through the FCD and all but 20 passed the gauge after being processed with the FCD die.Those 20 dropped into my barrel. The FCD die paid for itself several times over the first day I had it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Larry Cazes Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 Berkim, Never found a need for the FCD and I dont really think that resizing a finished round is a good practice. YMMV..... Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted January 4, 2004 Author Share Posted January 4, 2004 Larry, thanks.. just wondering if some people used both. See you at the match tomorow - should be good weather after all Orca: When you had those rounds fail, were you using the 'U' die? SuperComp: I've heard that about the Dillon case gage. For my 45, It's good enough, but I'll probably get a new one for the 40. I've heard good things about the one from Midway. What brand does EGW sell? (hard to tell from the pictures - I guess they could be made there too) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORCA Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 The rounds that failed were once fired glock brass resized using a Dillon die. The FCD would probably be enough, the EGW U die some times hangs up on a case in the first station of my 650. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.40AET Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 Berkim.. I was using just the "U" die. I took it out to clean it and have been running a Lee standard resizing die in station 1 for the last 2,000 rounds. I was having the same problems as Supercomp with the small bulge from the bullet (180g MG) being seated in the smaller case when running the "U" die. I had more failures to gage from that bulge. The cases that failed worked fine for practice, but it was getting annoying. Things have been working great, but I am buying a new press and addig the FCD just to see if it helps...........Never leave well enough alone, it could get better. Good luck, Kirk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperComp Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 BerKim, EGW machines and sells their own case gage. They're made of aluminum; the "chamber" is cut with an actual barrel chamber reamer, then hard anodized. I've never used Midway's gages so I can't comment on them. SC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 I have a .40 EGW lee I would sell if anyone wanted it. Too many stops in my 650 and I don't seem to suffer from the bulged cases. Nate 1martin@bigsky.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 Nate. PM sent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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