John Dunn Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 After reading all the posts about the EGW (Lee) "U" die and the Lee factory crimp die, I finally got them installed on my 1050. I loaded a couple mags with my old ammo (Dillon Dies), and the new ammo and hand cycled it through the gun. Noticably smoother, all the new rounds gauged easily, without the occasional slight hitch I would get with the old ammo. This is awesome, no way I'll go back to the old set-up. The problem is that the Factory Crimp Die, independent of the amount of crimp I apply, has a significant catch on the upstroke. I'm lubing with One Shot, and I can't feel much difference on the downstroke, but the upstroke is sucking all the fun out of my previously butter smooth press. Bummer. Anyone else experience this? Is there a cure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeper Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 I dont think that it is the FCD. I think it is the EGW die. I noticed this on mine with the EGW die. Since it sizes a little more than normal then the powder funnel gets tighter. This causes it to stick more in the case on the upstroke. That is my opinion at least. The powder funnel has a harder time coming out of the case now that it is smaller from the EGW die. I just try and make sure that a few cases are lubed on the inside and it seems to fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunn Posted January 11, 2004 Author Share Posted January 11, 2004 Not the U die. I tried it with all the other stations empty. It' the FCD. There is a distinct catch as the lower sizing ring approaches the case mouth on the upstroke. Like driving a Corvette with square wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Are you using new brass? If so, see if used brass does the same thing and /or tumble your new brass first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Can you reduce the belling (from the powder die) at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecutts Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 I'll bet it's the belling thing flex mentions. I'll also bet that Mr. Lee designed his fancy FCD to be used with his brilliantly designed seating /crimp die combo so most of the bell is removed before the FCD sees a round. And we also know, as our host has pointed it out on many occasions, that the one station seat/crimp die is kind of a looser. On my 550 it's not a big deal, but with a 1050 and all those extra stations you could run a regular crimp die to clean up the bell and finish you crimp and resize with the FCD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbear38S Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 It's the factory crimp die. Since you have a 1050, you can do the actual crimp with a Dillon crimp die and put the Lee FCD on the last station to do a final sizing if that's what you want. I've used both and I think the Dillon crimp die does make a nicer crimp but it also lacks the resizing ring. For what it's worth, I did have a failure of sorts with my FCD. The crimper portion is centered with an o-ring and somehow it got twisted up and it wasn't crimping concentrically. I had a bunch of messed up crimps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Anyone else experience this? Is there a cure? [Pariah Mode ON] I had the exact same issue with a FCD in 45 ACP. My solution: Junk the die and go with a regular crimp die. All that herky jerkiness is going to do is result in inconsistent powder charges. Sorry to be the wet blanket in all this, but the FCD die sucks. I think the reason that some people have the issue and some may not is due to inconsistent dimension of the ID on the carbide ring. 0.0001" makes a huge difference as to whether something is a slip or interference fit. [/PM] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 John, Eric may have a point. If you decide you really want the FCD --- you may need to buy another until you find one that works the brass without the jerkiness. My two in 9mm and 45 work perfectly --- but I may have just gotten lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 John, Where did you buy your EGW die? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickwholliday Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 i sure do love my FCD...i know the bump you're talking about and as far as i'm concerned it's just the die doing what i purchased it for which is sizing the bulge out of the side of the case created by my .401 lead bullet......now any load that comes out of my loader will drop in a case gauge.....until something else happens to mine, i'll keep recommending them....Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecutts Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 John,Where did you buy your EGW die? from EGW. http://www.egw-guns.com/egw.htm parts link at the top, then scroll down to "other parts" and click on undersized dies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherlockWV Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 I have to agree with Nick & Dick. I started out using Lee's Rifle FCD for my autoloaders and lever actions. They have always worked great. If one didn't know any better they would think that they were factory crimped. Now, thanks to Flex mentioning it to me one day at a match I have been using the Lee FCD of the 9mm & the .45 ACP and they work flawlessly. The only problem I had with my D- 550 was the large nut size of the Lee and short threads. Flex suggested mounting it on the bottom but that didn't work because the die bottomed out on the indexing star. After staring at my bench for awhile I realized that I had three extra Dillon nuts. I put the Dillon lock nuts on and walla, continued sucess. Now I am really disapointed with the Dillon Seating Die. Yea it comes out nice and fast for cleaning but changing seating depths stinks. Just when I think I have got it then lock down the nut, the die creeps and I end up as much as 10,000th deeper. Does anyone know of a decent adjustable seating stem that will work in the Dillon Seating Die. It doesn't have to me a micrometer adjustment but just an adjusting stem would be a 100% improvement. Continued Safe Shooting JC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunn Posted January 12, 2004 Author Share Posted January 12, 2004 TDean: Once fired, tumbled. Flex: No, it is adjusted so that there is next to no belling now. Any tighter and it will start shaving the bullets. CSEMARTIN: EGW, at the mentioned link Thanks for the replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 The one and only FCD I have, in 9mm, also has a hitch on my 650. I think the FCD would be overkill to finish off what the EGW die started. It's freaking amazing how my .40 EGW die put an end to my Limited ammo failing my cartridge gauge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunn Posted January 12, 2004 Author Share Posted January 12, 2004 The hitch isn't pleasant, but I think I can live with it. I just wonder what there is left to iron out after the U die and the downstroke of the FCD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickwholliday Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 if i were only shooting jacketed bullets i agree that the EGW sizer does the job and the FCD is probably not needed but oversize lead bullets adds another variable to the equation and the FCD solves it......Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gun Geek Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 I knda agree about the little hitch from the FCD. It is there because the FCD is doing what it is supposed to do. I just try to work the thing as smooth as I can. Sherlock, I lock dies down with pressure on them (i.e. a cartridge under the die pushing it up) that takes all the play out of the system. Ther's quit a bit of play in the tool head, so I pretthy much have to do it this way on a 650. Once locked this way, I don't have any problem with the dies creeping. I make dummy rounds of each of my loads so that if I need to change depth, I just back the die off, run the reference round into it and then hand tighten. I use the wrenches to finish it all off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolan Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 i sure do love my FCD...i know the bump you're talking about and as far as i'm concerned it's just the die doing what i purchased it for which is sizing the bulge out of the side of the case created by my .401 lead bullet......now any load that comes out of my loader will drop in a case gauge.....until something else happens to mine, i'll keep recommending them....Dick Like I've said before the Factory Crimp Die is just a band-aid for improper sizing. When it irons out that .401 lead bullet bulge on the upstroke what size is your .401 bullet now? .400, .399, .398? What was your bullet pull before the FCD and after? Are you sizing the case small enough to prevent the now smaller diameter lead bullet from pushing into the case? How consistent is your overall length? Mine actually pushed the lead bullets up so I got very inconsistent OAL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickwholliday Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 My loa is within .003 and the case is sized as tight as an RCBS or Lee carbide sizer can do since i've tried both (but now i use the EGW/Lee undersized one)......i don't really care too much what size the bullet is when it goes off because it is still shooting those little clover leaf groups.... i did load some montana gold 180's yesterday and i really couldn't tell the upstroke carbide ring on the FCD was doing anything at all.....no bump. no nothing. in fact you'd a thought that you just had a regular taper crimp die in it....... Like they say i guess this is one of those times where we'll just have to "Agree to Disagree"....... Your Pal....D I C K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 What Nolan said....and.... Once again, I'm going to do my best to offend everyone and suggest that the objective is to feed ammo into your chamber and not a case guage. I'd dump the FCD and run the EGW on the sizing station and not screw with it as long as my ammo fed. If my gun was so tightly chambered that I needed an FCD to make it run, I'd get the chamber reamed first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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