GJGary Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 (edited) With the coated bullets is anyone running the FCD? In my last station I use the Lee taper crimp and works great with no damage to the coating. 1st deprime size, flare prime, powder drop, seating die then taper crimp. I use range 40 brass and half is tight in the gauge. Does the FCD help with no damage to coating and under size which might lead to leading or is there a different route. Edited March 25, 2015 by GJGary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsa Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Use the Lee FCD with caution to just remove the bell. It is pretty easy to swage a coated lead bullet with the FCD; when that happens your accuracy will suffer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techj Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I use the FCD with Blue Bullets in 45...adjusted them to just take enough to pass the plunk test. Haven't seen any damage to the coating after pulling bullets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshxdm9 Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I tried FCD with bayou 180gr. Bullet with no luck at all. Rounds would not group well at all. Changed to dillon taper crimp with the same oal and powder charge 4.6 of n320 and problem solved ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clawson2011 Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Shooting Bayou 200 RN and have the FCD on my 650. set the die to just barely touch with plate all the way up and works great for me. 169PF with titegroup @ 1.400 out of my M&P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowenbuilt Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Since Blue Bullets are now being sized to minimum groove diameter or the same size as jacketed you should not see any resizing through the FCD carbide ring. A very light taper crimp should be sufficient to finish the round. Be careful with the taper crimp, just a little dab will do ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noylj Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 You should really use a proper expander die and not just flare the case mouth. A non-expanded case can swage down a lead bullet and produce a round much less accurate. So, the coating will resist gas-cutting from not filling the bore completely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJGary Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 You should really use a proper expander die and not just flare the case mouth. A non-expanded case can swage down a lead bullet and produce a round much less accurate. So, the coating will resist gas-cutting from not filling the bore completely? In the second station I use the flare ever so slightly and it helps hold the case during the up stroke prime for less priming issues (loadmaster). I have a LNL powder drop and use the .40 (forgot the name) that goes into the case sizing it on the 3rd station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustygun Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I am new here guys so please enlighten me . What is an FCD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbeck76 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I am new here guys so please enlighten me . What is an FCD? Lee Factory Crimp Die Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc7x7 Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 9 40 and 45 use FCD and have never had an accuracy problem, crimp .002-.003 feed great and no problems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruton Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I had that problem with bayou bullets . I had to remove the carbide ring from the FCD. I had about 50% fail plunk test after removing ring about 5 out of 1000 rounds fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenR Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 You should really use a proper expander die and not just flare the case mouth. A non-expanded case can swage down a lead bullet and produce a round much less accurate. So, the coating will resist gas-cutting from not filling the bore completely? So which dies are considered improper expanding dies. Just wondering if I can improve my process. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noylj Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Dies that ONLY flare the case mouth (see the Lee Universal Expanding Die, which does not expand the case). The case, particularly for lead bullets, should have an ID that is 0.001-0.002" less than bullet diameter. If your expander die doesn't do this, it is an "improper expanding die." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenR Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Dies that ONLY flare the case mouth (see the Lee Universal Expanding Die, which does not expand the case). The case, particularly for lead bullets, should have an ID that is 0.001-0.002" less than bullet diameter. If your expander die doesn't do this, it is an "improper expanding die." Thanks noylj. I have noticed how deep the expander actually goes into the case and was somewhat annoyed, but now it makes sense. Thanks, again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJGary Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 FCD took care of my feeding issues with no leading. With issues gone confidence up with the tactical sport and it shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeti Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 I use the FCD to remove the flare and produce a light crimp. Has worked quite well for me with multiple well regarded brands* of coated bullets in 40 & 45. Be cautious in setup. *Some oversized bullet styles may not play well with a FCD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRevolutionIX Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 I have used the Lee FCD with success loading 180 gr BBIs. This was not the case when I tried it for the 147gr BBIs in 9mm. My loads were tumbling and figured out the die was swaging the bullet. I changed to a taper crimp die and the problem went away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkvibe Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 If you use coated bullets take the FCD out and taper crimp instead. You can probably make it work but what's the point if you can just taper crimp and not worry about mixed brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave33 Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 People either love or hate the FCD, I believe if it is setup correctly it works just fine. I use the FCD in 9, 40, and 45, with oversize coated lead bullets and have never had a problem. Either people are not setting it up correctly or the inner diameter varies from die to die. The proper way to set up the FCD is as follows. Raise the ram of your press to the top of the stroke and screw the FCD down until it just touches the shell plate and tighten down the lock nut. Unscrew the top adjusting knob almost all the way out. Run a seated round at your desired OAL all the way into the FCD, when the handle has bottomed out hold it there and screw the top adjusting screw down until it makes contact with the round, lower the handle and scew the adjusting screw about a half turn down for a light crimp, a full turn down for a heavier crimp. I find my rounds work best at just slightly past halfway on the adjustment knob, maybe 55-60% of a turn. Raise the round back up into the FCD and check the crimp, and make slight adjustments from there. If you setup your FCD that way I just dont see how it can swage down a bullet, I have measured the case mouth before and after going into my FCD, but before screwing down the adjustment screw, and I get, in 9mm about .3805-.381. I usually have my rounds "crimped" to .378-.379 depending. I have run .358 diameter 9mm bullets through the die and never had any leading or swaging problems. Either the dies are not consistent from the factory or they are not being set up correctly by the end user, my money is on the latter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimber76 Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Does anyone have any load data for BBI .40 180 gr using WSF. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now