A lee factory crimp die from a 4-die set..
A lee bullet seating die from a lee 4-die set.
The directions for the lee 4-die sets.
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In the directions lee provides with their 4-die sets (link posted above). You can actually seat and crimp the bullet with nothing more than the bullet seating die. If you look at the picture (posted above) of the lee bullet seating die (picture from lee website) you can see a pinch point in the die where the top of the case mouth and the bullet meet.
Also pictured above is the lee fcd (from lee's website) it has a sizing ring in the bottom and a stepped crimp ring in the top of it.
Something to keep in mind:
Reloading die mfg's make reloading dies to reload jacketed bullets. You have to buy special dies like "cowboy action" dies to use with lead bullets for example. Other mfg's use different names for their dies that are designed for the larger lead bullets. Typical jacketed bullets for the 9mm are .355" in diameter. Die makers use case expanders that will flare the case mouth enough to start a .355" bullet in a 9mm case while still keeping enough neck tension on the bullet aid in holding the bullet in place/preventing bullet setback. A picture of a factory lee 9mm expander plug next to a custom plug I made to reload cast .358" bullets in 9mm cases.
That custom expander has 3 things different about it than the factory lee expander:
The custom plug body is longer than the factory lee expander
The custom plug is larger in diameter than the lfactory lee plug
The custom plug has a small step in it to flare the top of the case.
A lyman m-die expander plug. Both those bullets are 124gr 9mm bullets. As you can see different bullet shape designs have different seating depths.
Typically, lead/cast bullets are longer than their jacketed counterparts of the same weight. Expanding the case deeper helps protect the base of the longer bullets.
What happens when you use the lee factory 4-die set to load the oversized .358" bullets that are longer bodied than their jacketed counterparts. Sizing the brass isn't affected 1 way or the other. But most lee 9mm dies will size the 9mm brass to around .374" at the case mouth. When you expand the cases with the factory expander die the expander plug will not go deep enough. Nor does it expand the case wide enough & the end result is a .358" lead bullet that has it's base and body swaged down when it is seated in the under expanded 9mm case. The secondary spin off that the 9mm case base will sometimes start to collapse from the extreme pressure of the over sized bullet being jammed into the case as it's being seated. The other thing that happens is anything under pressure will go to the least point of resistance. The end result is some of the bullets will be seated crooked. That step in the m-dies & custom die on the expander plug makes a shelf at the top of the case that aids in the bullet sitting straight and starting straight as it's being seated. So when you run a reload in in your lee fcd you will feel resistance if the case started to buckle when the bullet is being seated. Or the bullet is crooked and 3/1000th's more bullet ='s a lot less margin for the bullet to be straight.
Myself, I use a .358" bullet in all of my firearms chambered in 9mm. I use a custom expander (a lot of reloaders use a lee 38s&w expander) and I seat the bullet in 1 step and use a taper crimp die (lee or custom) to crimp the bullets.I found that if I use the correct expander for the diameter/length bullets I'm reloading, there's no need for the lee fcd. I don't shoot a lot of 9mm's anymore, several 1000 a year. I can't remember the last time I've had a jamb or ftf in any 9mm.
Anyway, there's a lot going on with using/reloading over sized 9mm bullets long before you even get to the fcd/taper crimp only/seat & crimp in separate stages decisions. Got to seat those bullets correctly with the correct tool for the job.
Casting and coating bullets for the 9mm. Used 9bhn/10bhn range scrap and cast bullets for the 9mm. Coated them with a dry powder coat (polyester), sized them to .358" and loaded them using a custom expander and a lee taper crimp die.
The load is 5.0gr ow wst pushing a home cast/coated bullet. That's a 9bhn/10bhn bullet with a 25,000+psi load doing 1100fps+ from a 5" bbl'd nm 1911. A 10-shot group @50ft doing test loads, those are 1" squares.
Good luck with your 105gr .358" bullets. I know a lot of people over on the cast boolits website use that same bullet in their 9mm's along with their 38spl's & 357's. Must be doing something right, there's a pretty good following with that bullet, economical & accurate.
