.223 crimp dies

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JWF III

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I know not everyone crimps rifle cartridges, even those intended for auto loading rifles. This is not a debate on that.

My question is, since I have both available, Lee FCD? Or Dillon’s crimp die? Those that have used both (not necessarily in the same cartridge), which do you like best?

I’m leaning towards the Dillon simply because it’s so easy to over crimp with the collet. But just wanted the opinion of others.

Thanks in advance
Wyman
 
I dont crimp often but my experience with the factory collet crimp die was good. I loaded a run of 500 223 rounds for a friend that shoots ar and it took very few rounds to get it set and once dialed in it was smooth sailing. The experience I have had with other crimp dies for 223 was not so great. I ended up just using feel due to the small variations in case length went from no crimp to just right. Dialining it down and just feeling it, gave good results after you get the feel for it, but not so scientific and repeatability is highly debatable. Your experience may be different.
 
I had no luck with the Lee factory crimp die so I would probably try the Dillon. Others I'm sure will disagree but I'm ok with that. Use the one that works best for you.
 
I don’t flare .223 and often use bullets with no cannelure, so I don’t always crimp.

I have used them in the past though, can’t say I really have a preference between any of them, although if your case lengths are inconsistent, you are going to have variations between the cases and bullets, regardless if you are using a collet style or not.
 
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