Lee 45acp die problems, I'm going nuts!!!

i had the same problem initially, and found i wasnt putting enough "bell" prior to seating/crimping.

Simple fix . . . not enough bell on the case mouth. Adjust the bell so the first 1/8 to 1/16 slips in.

Red dog you need to flare the case mouth more.

I had the same problem. Add a little more bell and the problem will go away.

Keep screwing the die in incrementally, flare, try a bullet. When you get the flare you want, hold the die in position, then tighten the lock ring. For what it's worth, I use Forster lock rings on all my dies (have to for rifle dies, since I use a Coax press), but I liked them so much, I converted all my other dies, also. I like LEE dies for some rounds, but don't like the lock rings.

My fingers probably are weaker than yours--

but I have found that when I 'finger tighten' the nut I can still turn the die a bit.

To adjust the bell some more, try turning the DIE BODY in about 1/4 turn--no more. Take a couple of cases and experiment a bit--try adding more belling. Remove the case from the ram and look at it from the side--on one adjusted well, you can see a 'flare' but it shouldn't be so much as to look like a funnel.

You'll soon get an idea of what you need. If your bullets are square on the bottom, make sure the bullet fits inside the flare 'a bit.' If the bullets have a bevel base (the edge is beveled), you can apply a bit less belling. As you gain experience, you will probably find that you can back off a hair on how much the case is belled--but for now, have enough so you can reliably set the bullet on top and run it into the seater / crimper.

Unless you change bullet types / sizes, you probably won't have to change it. However, do disassemble the die "every so often" and clean it: brass can get shaved off and dirty up the die a bit. Pay particular attention to the powder-through insert; that has to operate smoothly for the die and measure to work reliably.

Once this die is all set up, now double-check your seater-crimper die. Lee has good instructions for that, so I won't go into that here unless you ask for it.

Jim H.

My experiences with Lee seating dies, and their lock(less) rings, has not been good. I switched to Hornady and Forster seating dies, and Hornady Lock rings. These dies have a sliding alignment sleeve that aligns the bullet with the case mouth before it enters the case mouth. There are others with the same feature, but not Lee. I like these two because they're good, and you can skip the micrometer adjuster to save money (not particularly useful for pistol ammo). The Hornady Lock rings combine clamping action with wrench flats, for an unbeatable combination. I have a lot of different brands of dies, but they all wear Hornady lock rings.

The other posts are also correct: you need a tad more bell on the casemouth.

Andy

Bell more

I shaved a few with mine but never deformed the brass. Be sure it is timed right on the stop point. After the second bell attempt it could be a bullet out of round [Berry's] Just try another bullet. Or your little plastic square cam guide is hosed. Two come with the kit. Common problem with the Lee.

You might give the Lyman (M) expander die a try.Eliminates shaving also.

When I set up my various die sets this spring

after a ten-year hiatus, I went through each die set.

Note that the above instructions for the powder through / expanding die do depend on the proper adjustment to the sizer die. You might want to double-check you have that set up satisfactorily, then proceed. Removing the index bar while doing this makes the job easier.

Once you have all the dies adjusted to your liking, then try constructing one round with the rod out. Check the LOA. Then, insert the rod and do one with indexing. Check the LOA. There should be little or no difference.

Once you have the belling sorted out, you will want to check your crimping--but that's another topic for now.

And, for those damaged rounds in the pictures--take them apart with an inertial hammer. There's little doubt in my mind that the bullets are still usable, and the powder certainly is. Forget about the primer and the brass; at your level of experience, do NOT try removing primers, and the brass cannot be fixed.



Jim H.

I guess by now you know that you need to put a bit more bell on those cases so I'll not say it too...

Turn the flaring die in until it touches the shellholder, then back out 1/2 turn. Done. Make sure you have the seater/crimper set properly too so you make it do what it's supposed to. Lee has some videos on the website that shows how to properly set the dies.

http://www.leeprecision.com/html/HelpVideos/video.html

What I don't see in this thread is to seat the bullet and crimp in two different steps. I have to do this with my 10mm when shooting plated bullets. The crimping and seating at the same time closed the belled portion too tightly before the bullet was fully seated. Trust me, I belled a couple beyond belief and still had problems. But not with the 45ACP.

More bell first, but if it continues, seat the bullet and crimp in two steps intsead of one. Move the seater die body up 2 or 3 turns (it has the crimp in it) and move your bullet seater plug down to your required COL. Then seat all your bullets.

Now unscrew the bullet seating plug up out of the way. Run the die body down until you have the crimp you need. Be sure your seating plug is out of the way and does not push the bullet in more.

On your last image you see that it deformed your case some. This is probably in part due to the alignment of the bullet when the seating begins. Push the bullet into the case a little bit so it stays put and runs up into the seater pretty straight.

I used Lee .45 ACP dies for a few thousand rounds but switched to a set of Hornady dies with my LnL press. I find the floating seating stem that aligns the bullet with Hornady dies means I don't have to flare the case nearly as much as I did with LEE dies.

If the above doesn't work try using less crimp with your seating die, you could be crimping while seating the bullet.

Fixed my errors

Glad you got it sorted-out. Happy reloading AND shooting!