Lee Factory Crimp Die

[bkeeler]

What does the Lee Factory Crimp Die help? Thinking about getting one? Need some input on this. In .45acp

Thanks

Bruce Keeler

[Jerome Poiret]

Bruce,

You're talking about "Carbide factory crimp die", right ?

I'm no expert but am using one.

It allows you to seat and crimp separately, applying only one force to the round at a time, which is usually better than doing two things at the same time. (don't ask why )

The second, and IMO the most important, benefit is that it resizes the COMPLETE round, after crimping. The carbide ring will resize the case from bottom to up, eliminating the risk of a case bulge caused by two much crimp or a misaligned bullet (or maybe an oversized lead bullet).

My gun swallows everything, so I thought there was no point with the LCFCD. But you'd be amazed by the number of cases it actually resizes ! Over 50%. I'm now even more confident with my ammo. I think that peace of mind is worth the (low) cost of the die.

One drawback is that the press cycle is less smooth (on a 650).

[Julien Boit]

You're right Jerome.

The little money it costs is well spend money !

Before I use the LFCD, about 25 % of my ammos were in the "training only" box, now, I only left about 3 or 4% in this box.

They could work, but as I run every cartridge through the dillon gauge before a match (not for training, i'm not crazy gauging 1500 or 2000 rounds !) I reject those who don't freely comes in and out of the gauge, but again, they would work .

I think this is one of the MUST HAVE tool as well as caliper, balance, bullet puller...

DVC

Julien :-)

[Joe]

I just purchased one from Lee Saturday.  $19.98 shipped.  http://www.leeprecision.com

I'm having problems when using lighter recoil springs.  My reloads are causing the slide not to lock.  The round won't fully chamber stops about a quarter to an eighth.  I check my rounds as Speer suggests, with my bbl.  Insert round into bbl press in w/thumb, invert bbl, round should fall out.  I find that some of mine don't no matter how I adjust my crimp die.  I'm confident the new die will eliminate this problem.  I'm ready to try out all of these recoil springs!!!

Joe

[kbear38S]

Joe,

The problem likely isn't related to the crimp, the problem is more likely your case isn't sized far enough down to the base. Make sure you have the die adjusted the whole way to the shell plate.

I've found the FCD will work almost all the time but I occasionally will come across a 40 that still won't chamber. The absolute best solution is a CasePro roll sizer but they're expensive at around $500.

[Flexmoney]

Joe,

Like Kbear said, your problem likely comes from the sizing die, not from the crimp.  

The Lee FCD may, or may not, solve that problem.  Lee make an undersized sizing die (I think they name it with a "U".).  EGW takes that one step further and mills the "U" die so that it sizes down the case a bit more than normal.

The EGW sizing die seems to be the $20 alternative to running a case pro.  I don't use one, but many here do.  

[Joe]

Could be.  But the way I see it if that were the case all of my rounds would do it, not just a random few.  I could be wrong but I think the case lengths vary enough that the crimp die bulges the longer ones slightly.

I'm hoping it arrives today.  Got another 1000+ to do on my RockChucker.

I'll post the results.  Thanks for the tips incase this doesn't help.

[Mickster]

Since I use range brass for my reloading I sometimes get a round that is either very tight or won't drop into my case guage all the way, .40 and .45. I heard that the Lee Factory Crimp Die puts a taper crimp on the case almost all the way down to the rim, kind of like almost resizing the case again during the crimp.

Is this true? Is this die at least better than a regular taper crimp die for many-times fired brass?

[Bill Schwab]

I use the LFCD and love it!  Also make sure your sizing die is screwed in to almost touching your shellplate, that should help with the rounds that don't make the gage.  You can also purchase the Lee U (for undersize) resizing die, or better yet the EGW undersize sizing die.

There's a few more threads on the forums concerning this.

Hope this helps.

Bill

[EricW]

[Wrongness Mode ON]

I tried using the LFCD in .45 and HATED it.  Yeah, it sure stopped the misfeeds, but it made my press a total b**** to run (I found a better solution for my problem  and dumped the die altogether).  If you're running an ultra, mega-tight chamber b/c you're shooting bullseye or headed to The Cup, the LFCD may be a great solution.  Otherwise, I'd rather get my chamber reamed out and put a whole lot less effort into the loading process.  

[soapbox Mode ON]

I really think folks put way too much empahasis on case gauges.  If you're shooting a case gauge in competition, it certainly seems valid to gauge your ammo.  Otherwise, the question is:  Will the ammo chamber in your gun?  Most gun chambers are larger than the *minimum* dimensions that case gauges are manufactured to.  If you're going to gauge all your ammo anyway, why not just set the "tight" rounds aside and use them for practice.  That way, you'll know if they're even a real problem or not.

My 2 pesos,

E

[Duane Thomas]

Thing is, the gage being tighter than the chamber, if it'll fit in the gage, you KNOW it'll fit in the chamber. The gage also catches things like an overly belled case mouth that wasn't totally smoothed out, a split case, anything that might stop the round from chambering. It's worth it to me.

[EricW]

I guess I'm just a little more utilitarian.  If I'm going to shoot an event that's big and important, I use my barrel as the gauge.  Either it's a slip fit, or it's not.  For everything else, I've just quit worrying so much.  Then again...maybe lessons learned from homebrewing should not be applied to shooting.

E

[Tree Rat]

EricW has it right........I would add that the FCD is a MUST in 40, especially if you insist on loading Glock fired brass. I ascert that it's use with other calibers, especially lower pressure types like 45 ACP really yields no great benefit.

Press smoothness is significantly reduced IMHO. Micro adjustment of the Platen seems to help but really it's the price you pay for the performance you attain with the FCD.........when you need it.

TR  

[ErikW]

But if you use your barrel as a gauge, you run the chance of gauging with the bulge at the ramp position, passing the chamber test, but then later failing to chamber in the barrel when the bulge is indexed away from the ramp. Plus, a gauge on the bench is easier to get to than a barrel in a gun in the safe.

BTW, I use a Midway SAAMI maximum gauge in .40. Rounds which need a helping hand to go in or out of the gauge are relegated to lost brass practice, and they always chamber, fire, and extract in the STIs. Rounds which won't go in the gauge get pulled. My Super is another story. Rounds which pass the EGW gauge may not chamber in the Nowlin barrel. Rounds which pass the Dillon gauge always chamber.

I have a Lee FCD in 9mm. Last time I loaded 9x19, I cranked out a ton of rounds which wouldn't make it through a max. gauge.

[Tree Rat]

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Quote: from Erik Warren on 10:23 am on Oct. 1, 2002

But if you use your barrel as a gauge, you run the chance of gauging with the bulge at the ramp position, passing the chamber test, but then later failing to chamber in the barrel when the bulge is indexed away from the ramp. Plus, a gauge on the bench is easier to get to than a barrel in a gun in the safe.

---

You got that right........

TR

[twix]

Mostly  agreeing here in that a LeeFCD for .40 works well if you are using mixed brass. A wise old hand also shared with me that Redding dies resize a little further down the case than other brands, works for me but haven't tried anything else. Have also noticed that loaded rounds that are fine in a Dillion case checker (backwards or forwards) don't necessarilly feed in a Bar-sto Glock barrell, so I case check by letting them "tink" onto the feedramp and slide into the Bar-sto. With a proper crimp things have been feeding well.

[rhoss1]

I use a Lee`s Factory Crimp Die for my .45acp loads and love it. My reloads feed alot better now after I got it,And LFCD`s are a must with 45auto loads IMO. Hoss

[kbear38S]

The hidden message in all this is Dillon sizing dies suck. They just don't size as far down the case as they should.

[Duane Thomas]

I've never had a problem. But hey, to each their own. If it works for you, go for it.

[EricW]

Dillon sizing dies don't suck.  It's just that Dillon didn't anticipate a reversion back to the unsupported chambers of the 38 Supers of yesteryear.  All they did was to add some extra bell to the opening to make operating the press a bit easier.  It wasn't a problem until the popularity of Glocks skyrocketed.

E

[warpspeed]

I shoot 9mm loaded  on a  1050 and 40 S&W loaded on a 550.

For regular match ammo, I use roll sized brass and  the Dilion Size & Crimp dies.   All ammo passes Dilion Case Guage.  

[shameless plug mode on]

Roll sized brass from http://www.competitionbrass.com of  course.

[Mickster]

Thanks for all the info. It looks like the LFCD will solve my problem. The way this came up is the ammo I loaded for my well used  .45 Colt 1911 wouldn't feed reliably in my brand new, tack driving Kimber. Reason being the chamber is tighter in the Kimber. Also, I replaced my shot out Para .40 barrel with a Bar-Sto bull and the same thing started to happen. I'm going to assume a tighter chamber.

Not to sound like a dummy, but the Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die just replaces the regular crimp die at that station on the progressive, right?

[kbear38S]

---

It's just that Dillon didn't anticipate a reversion back to the unsupported chambers of the 38 Supers of yesteryear.

---

The problem exists for Supers and .40s. Dillon is aware of the problem and made a business decision to ignore it. Actually I do like their dies. They are robust and easy to clean. Minor design changes, however, would make the usable to more people.

(Edited by kbear38S at 8:32 am on Oct. 3, 2002)

[Bill Schwab]

---

Quote: from Mickster

Not to sound like a dummy, but the Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die just replaces the regular crimp die at that station on the progressive, right?

---

Yes.

[Mickster]

My .40 and .45 Lee Taper Crimp dies finally came in.

The .45 TCD solved my problems in the Kimber.

I took about 300 rounds of .45 that I had marked "not for use in Kimber" and after re-sizing, every one dropped freely into the Kimber chamber.

Then I took about 100 of the A-MERC that wouldn't feed in anything, and now these drop 100% into the Colt and 90% in the Kimber.

Tonite I'll try the .40 die but I expect the results will be similar.

Thanks for the helpful info. BTW, the Lee TCD for the .40 and .45 does not also seat the bullet like some other crimp dies do.