"Fixing" A Lee Factory Crimp Die

[EricW]

Let's face it, if I can find my a** with both hands, I'm having a good day. So, it was no surprise that when I ordered my 40 setup from Brian that I forgot to order a Dillon crimp die. Being impatient, I drove to town to see what I could get: and that was the Lee FCD. Groan... (For those not in on the joke, I hate the FCD with a passion.)

Not even massive amounts of One Shot keep the FCD from sticking on the rounds. After 50 incredibly annoying cycles of that stupid die making my entire bench shake, I ripped it out of the toolhead and bashed out the carbide sizing ring with a punch. Guess what? It works just fine without it.

Problem Solved.

[Flexmoney]

Just for equal time...

I would not load 40 without the FDC.

[EricW]

Flex,

I sure may not be smart, but my press doesn't run like Russian watch anymore.

[texasag93]

I was having the same problem with the FCD. I had my smith open up the sizing ring a couple of thousands and it works great now. Drill a hole in the top of the plug. That helps let air out for quicker cycling of the press. I love my FCD.

TXAG

[Ken]

Flex, do you experience the problem Eric described?

[Flexmoney]

Flex, do you experience the problem Eric described?

Not at all.

At the start of the shooting season last year, I had cleaned up my press, loaded my primer tubes, set my powder measure*...all that "fresh start" stuff.

The next day I went down to load some 40 S&W rounds (on the 650). Everybody had been talking about how many rounds per hour they could load, I had never paid much attention to that before, so I noted the start time. Eight primer tubes later (800 rounds)...about 45 minutes had passed. I didn't load fast or jerky, just smooth and constant. I don't have a strong mount, nor a roller handle.

I have the Lee 4-die set (which includes the FCD).

Now, I have the same Lee 4-die set for 9mm. When I run 9mm, I end up loading at about half the pace of loading 40. My slow-down in 9mm is the sizing die. The brass doesn't want to go in there very well. I've replaced the sizing die once...to no effect (same brand of die, though). I wonder if my tool-head could be mis-aligned...or my shell plate is off?

At any rate...my 40 setup runs like a swiss watch. My 9mm setup doesn't. I think the difference is in the tolerence stack-up of the parts that are changed over upon caliber conversion.

Oh...did I mention that I won't load 40 without the FCD. I think it is a safety step that helps to avoid bullet setback.

* always verify the powder measure is throwing the proper amount of powder

[diehli]

Flex, why do you type it FDC when it's FCD? Slight lysdexia? Just curious.

[eidt] Ops. Thanks for catching that...I think I fixed my typo(s).

Edited February 8, 2004 by Flexmoney

[EricW]

(Another brainless post in my unending quest to offend 5.95 billion people)

To me the FCD is a band-aid for defective equipment and/or a defective process. I'll bet most of the case gauge and chambering issues folks are having are due to Glock bulges (fixed with EGW die or other small-base die) and crooked bullet seating.

Squishing the bejeezus out of a loaded round to "fix" the bullet bulge in the case just doesn't seem like a solution. The Redding Competition Seating (RCS) die is. There is simply no comparison in the quality and consistency produced by the RCS die versus any "stock" seating die I've tried. It's also the fastest die to set up and dial in. It ain't cheap, but there is no substitute.

[tightloop]

As I said in another post about the Tinkerer, sometimes you get a big hammer and bash hell out of it...

[Yardbird]

I also use the FCD and wouldn't load without it. Never had a problem with it...except...for loading 9x21 with 9x19 Lee 4 die set. I also replaced the 9mm FCD once and it did not help. The 9mm dies appear to have a small ridge and not an even radius to guide the case in. It does seem however like the case does not hit station 5 on my 650 squarely, I have to just touch the case a bit to tip it into the die. Pain in the butt.

[blkbrd]

I don't understand the problem?

Using my EGW U die and Redding Comp. seating die, the Redding Factory crimp die size ring never even touches the case?

[Skywalker]

EricW,

first of all: if you punched out the carbide ring from the FCD, you eliminated half of the advantages that the FCD is going to give to your ammo (if you load lead bullets).

The carbide ring does slightly resize your loaded round to factory spec diameter; this is mostly useful if you load lead bullets, since I have noticed that they tend to bulge the first 1/4" of the brass from mouth down. The same doesn't happen to me loading with plated or jacketed bullets.

Second: I use the whole Lee 4 Die-set, but I can honestly tell that the last FCD station isn't really needed when using the Lee Sizing die: I have been loading some 30K .40 rounds with lead bullets without using the FCD and never ran into FTF jams (but this might be also due to a quite generous chamber in my SVI).

In the end, with the FCD I can get ALL of my rounds (lead, plated, jacketed) pass the gauge test, while without it at least 50% of the lead loaded bullets wouldn't pass the same test; OTOH, the rounds that wouldn't pass the gauge test have always performed flawlessly in my gun.

Using the FCD has now become a sort of psicological insurance, and a slight help when preparing the match ammo, because I don't need anymore to take down the barrel of my gun: I can use the the gauge without the pain of fearing a round not passing the test could jam in the gun during a match.

[EricW]

EricW,

first of all: if you punched out the carbide ring from the FCD, you eliminated half of the advantages that the FCD is going to give to your ammo (if you load lead bullets).

Skywalker,

Thanks for caring bud. I love ya man, so don't take this the wrong way, but I just don't care! I just can't stand how herky jerky it makes my press run.

Of course the Gods will have a really big laugh at my expense and make my gun puke hard right in the middle of major match (of which which I won't be shooting for more than a year, probably).

Seriously, if I was running the Lee U size die I probably wouldn't have any problems, but I'm not for now. So, bye bye carbide sizing ring....