any problems loading 9mm blue bullets?

The lackluster instructions leave a lot to be desired for a new handgun loader, and it sounded pretty good on paper, so I was indeed using it as a separate crimp/QC function.

I strongly suspect that I will no longer be using the FCD for plated or, if I ever try them, poly bullets. Instead I will just use the crimp supplied in the bullet seating die to carefully remove any flare left over. One less step is fine by me.

When I get to the point of stockpiling my reserves, I might give it another go with jacketed, but at this point I see no merit using it for plated or coated.

I loaded lots of platedcoated lead/lead bullets in 9mm with the FCD but you have to be careful not to over do it, if you over do it you can resize bullets and ruin neck tension.
It is not a case if a little is good more is better.
Do you need to reload good ammo no, I happen to like it. The FCD for semi auto pistol tends to be a like hate relationship.

I see no merit using it for plated or coated.

Click to expand...

I like being able to seat and crimp in two steps,
You could just get a separate crimp die, but you can use the FCD as well to do it in two steps as well.

It's been a while since I set mine up but as I recall I screwed the thing in the top down all the way then backed it out a couple turns(still most of the way down), then I adjusted the die height in the lock ring to get me where turning the knob
down a tiny bit got me to where I wanted to be crimp wise. Would need to find the instructions to see how Lee says to set it up, I think their instructions are different than what I actually did when playing with it..
Again you don't have to use it, it is not needed, some people like it some hate it.
(some who hate it may not have even used it, it's "Red" and Lee and some people hate all "Red" things and Lee things....If a magic Lee sizer took lead bullets and spit out gold ones some people would still hate it because it is Red or Lee...well it spit out a 24k gold bullet but is is supposed to be .356 and it measures .3562 piece of junk Lee stuff...of course I would just spit out gold bullets and think of $)

To me the Lee Carbide FCD is a crutch that's used to hide poor reloading practices.

Click to expand...

It can be used that way but it does not have to be used that way....
To imply that anyone who uses it has poor reloading practices is somewhat unfair IMO.

Dudedog said:

I loaded lots of platedcoated lead/lead bullets in 9mm with the FCD but you have to be careful not to over do it, if you over do it you can resize bullets and ruin neck tension.

You could just get a separate crimp die, but you can use the FCD as well to do it in two steps as well ... To imply that anyone who uses it has poor reloading practices is somewhat unfair IMO,

Click to expand...

I see another myth busting thread in the making titled, "To FCD or not to FCD ..."

LiveLife said:

I see another myth busting thread in the making titled, "To FCD or not to FCD ..."

Click to expand...

And things have been so peaceful here.

Dave

D Rock said:

LiveLife said:

I see another myth busting thread in the making titled, "To FCD or not to FCD ..."

Click to expand...

And things have been so peaceful here.

Click to expand...

I could put it to a vote ... whether majority of THR H&R members want the myth busting thread done on FCD.

LiveLife said:

I could put it to a vote ... whether majority of THR H&R members want the myth busting thread done on FCD.

Click to expand...

Just kidding, of course. The Myth Busting treads are always informative, even for old timers set in their ways. And always good for new reloaders. So, if if comes to a vote, I'll cast mine in favor. Provided someone else does the work.

Dave

Contrary to other advice in this thread I would recommend the Lyman M die for lead bullets assuming you’re bullets are the recommended diameter for lead in 9mm. I would order .356 or .357 bullets instead of .355 if that’s an option. If you order .355 your normal sizing dies will probably be as good as anything else but I couldn’t ever get acceptable accuracy using smaller bullets and smaller expanders. Lead bullets should be .001 or .002 larger than jacketed bullets and the use of proper expanding dies as Walkalong noted in post 13.


I use the Lee FCD die in a similar manner as Dudedog noted in post 27. With 9mm there’s a fine line between too much, just the right amount and no crimp.

I'm going to weigh in but with a .380 auto example because that's what I've been loading. I use the Lee FCD on my 9mm and .380 Auto loads and as has been mentioned above, it's not a problem if you just use it to remove the bell you created to seat the bullet.

I think most of us use the formula of case wall thickness x2 + bullet diameter = what your loaded round diameter should measure at the case mouth after crimping.

I pulled one of the bullets from a dummy test round I did last year when I got some new Berry's .356 hollow base bullets. It got a little dinged up in my storage drawer and when pulling it, but it will do for an example. Based on the above formula, my case diameter was 0.009 x2 = 0.018 + 0.356 = 0.374 at the case mouth. My loaded rounds were at 0.374.

Sorry about this picture of the pulled bullet but light on the copper was hard to get rid of. The black at the front and left side is glare. The important thing to note is that there is no crimped in ring around the lower part of the bullet where the case mouth would be.


The only other thing of note is that, according to my original notes, the bullet at the base was indeed 0.356 as advertised. But, the pulled bullet at the base was 0.355. This could be from the Lee FCD or it could possibly be just from pulling the bullet. I did pull another one and the digital on my calipers went between 0.356 and 0.355. To me, the most important thing with the plated is to not damage the actual plating. When I loaded about 1K of the Blue Bullets in 9mm a couple of years ago my results were similar, No real deformation of the bullet. I think the breaking of the coating/plating is the most important thing to avoid with the Lee FCD, along of course with not reshaping the bullet.

Dave

LiveLife said:

I see another myth busting thread in the making titled, "To FCD or not to FCD ..."

Click to expand...

To make it fair one has to use the CFCD according to the directions.

D Rock said:

I think most of us use the formula of case wall thickness x2 + bullet diameter = what your loaded round diameter should measure at the case mouth after crimping.

The only other thing of note is that, according to my original notes, the bullet at the base was indeed 0.356 as advertised. But, the pulled bullet at the base was 0.355. This could be from the Lee FCD or it could possibly be just from pulling the bullet.

Click to expand...

I should have had the presence of mind to measure one of the offending round's bullets, that would have answered a lot of questions. I think I was just too frustrated at the time.
As the FCD makes no reference to what type or diameter bullet it is intended for, I was only assuming that it was crushing the larger diameter plated.

In reality, I'm fairly convinced now that I created the problem. First, by over flaring, then secondly by trying to compensate by over crimping with the FCD.
I had processed a good amount of cases like that, but have since resized them. Naturally other concerns have kept me busy lately but I should be able to get back at it pretty soon.

I will note that an associate ordered 0.356" dia RN and received Blue Bullets that were 0.358".