Confused about lee factory crimp die 357

Status
Not open for further replies.
QuietMike

QuietMike

Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2019
Messages
49
Hey all, i have been reloading 9mm and .40 only until now, on a lee pro 1000,
but i am planning to get a 357 / 38spc chambered lever action rifle that i also want to reload for.

I noticed that some of the bullets you can buy have a cannelure, which i'm not really familiar with, and i started looking around, and people seem to be saying that you have to buy the separate Lee Factory Crimp Die and use that on the cannelure bullets in a seperate operation after you have seated the bullet.
But some of the bullets have the cannelure and some don't,

The standard die on the pro 1000, seats the bullet and puts some kind of crimp on it. I plan to reload .38spc and .357 for a revolver and the lever gun.
Now i am worried about bullets being pushed in, and cases exploding etc... thanks internet.

So any clarification would be much appreciated.
 
QuietMike said:
I noticed that some of the bullets you can buy have a cannelure, which i'm not really familiar with, and i started looking around, and people seem to be saying that you have to buy the separate Lee Factory Crimp Die and use that on the cannelure bullets. . .
Click to expand...
Exactly backwards. Crimping in the cannular is best done with a roll crimp, which your 38/357 seater has built in. It's also perfect for preventing setback, a concern in tube-magazines.

Read the instructions in the front of your reloading manual(s) on crimping revolver rounds.
 
The Lee FCD will do a roll crimp, as will the seating die. If you're loading cast, I'd skip the fcd, as it may swage the bullet to an undesired size.
Setting the seating and fcd, follow the directions. If using the fcd, back off the seating die and use the stem for OAL. The fcd can do a light to heavy crimp, depending on your bullet type. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: mdi
The standard die in the Pro1000 (or any press), puts a roll crimp on the cartridge - if the die is properly adjusted.

I prefer to purchase a second crimp die, which allows me to seat and crimp in separate operations. Lee offers a "taper crimp" die for just a few bucks. installed in the press after the seating die, it does a wonderful job - if one has the open slot for it.

https://leeprecision.com/taper-crimp-die-38spl.html

They call it a taper crimp die, but it does a roll crimp if properly adjusted. I use this die for all my revolver cartridges, it makes a very good roll crimp.

Lee also makes a collet crimp die, but I recommend that only for more advanced handloading, heavy long-range shooting, etc.

https://leeprecision.com/357-magnum-custom-collet-style-crimp-die.html

Lee also makes the controversial "Factory crimp die" for handgun cartridges. Some love it, some hate it. It would be more accurately described as a "post-loading sizing and crimp" die. It has a carbide ring, which squeezes the loaded round down to minimum specs, to assure fitting in anything.

https://leeprecision.com/carbide-factory-crimp-die-38-357.html

Personally, I don't use the Lee FCD. I don't want it messing with my carefully crafted home cast projectiles. I've tried it, but discarded the thing as unusable for my way of loading.
IMO, if one needs to smush down the loaded cartridge to fit in a cylinder, one needs to revisit their reloading procedures.

In short, anyone telling you that you MUST use the FCD is either mis-informed, lying, or has one to sell.
 
Lee FCDs do roll crimps for REVOLVER calibers
and do taper crimps for autoloader calibers.

You can easily use a FCD for a final crimp station after a seating station. They CAN resize a cast lead bullet or plated bullet, or possibly a jacketed bullet if the cartridge brass is on the thick side.

True statement: People either love the FCD or hate it.

It is a useful tool if you know how to use it. If you find it constantly swages bullets down to undersize, you are doing something wrong. I like using the FCD for my purposes (I like to crimp after seating in a separate step). I have not found my bullets swaged down to undersized. I use the FCD in auto and revolver calibers on a LCT press. If you are concerned about the FCD swaging the bullets down, you can easily knock out the carbide sizing ring from the FCD, leaving a seating-only die. YMMV
 
Hooda Thunkit said:
In short, anyone telling you that you MUST use the FCD is either mis-informed, lying, or has one to sell.
Click to expand...
Not sure I'd go that far; it is pretty cool for compression-crimping (not roll, or taper) independent of case length. Fixed-length crimp dies are only as consistent as case length, and consistency takes time.

They are useful in their place.
 
QuietMike said:
... you have to buy the separate Lee Factory Crimp Die and use that on the cannelure bullets in a seperate operation after you have seated the bullet.
Click to expand...

Two separate statements rolled together there. No, you don't have to buy the Factory Crimp Die (FCD). Yes, you do have to use it separately - after you have seated the bullet. The FCD does not seat the bullet.

It is optional. Knowing the pro's and con's - I use it on my .357's, sometimes on my .38's...
 
edwardware said:
Not sure I'd go that far; it is pretty cool for compression-crimping (not roll, or taper) independent of case length. Fixed-length crimp dies are only as consistent as case length, and consistency takes time.

They are useful in their place.
Click to expand...

Lee makes the Collet Crimp Die for "compression" crimping. It makes a fairly consistent crimp independent of case length, within reason.
The Lee FCD does NOT "compression crimp". It roll crimps, or taper crimps.

Lee's own advertising states that the FCD is for post-loading sizing - from Lee's website
https://leeprecision.com/reloading-dies/hand-gun-dies/lee-carbide-factory-crimp-die/

"A carbide sizer inside the Carbide Factory Crimp die post-sizes the cartridge while it is crimped so every round will positively chamber freely with factory like dependability. The adjusting screw quickly and easily sets the desired amount of crimp. It is impossible to buckle the case as with a conventional bullet seating die. Trim length is not critical so this extra operation takes less time than it would if cases were trimmed and chamfered.

Revolver dies roll crimp with no limit as to the amount. A perfect taper crimp is applied to auto-loader rounds. The crimper cannot be misadjusted to make a case mouth too small to properly head-space. A firm crimp is essential for dependable and accurate ammunition. It eliminates the problems of poor ignition of slow burning magnum powders."

You can have an opinion all you want. Lee tells us what the die is designed to do.
 
I can't offer you much info, but this is what the Lee FCD does on Gold Dot/Deep Curl Speer bullets.

IMG_20190825_165726529.jpg

They fed well through my rifle, unlike the same bullets in Double Tap .357 ammo which had enough bullet setback that I decided never to try it in that gun again. I actually had to disassemble 3 of the DT cartridges because they wouldn't chamber in anything after the bullets got rammed down in the case mouth.

No issues with my own loads using the FCD though.
 
I own a number of FCD’s but can tell you with certainty that you don’t have to buy one to load safe ammunition.

If you can’t push the bullet into the case you are good to go, in most cases.

Take your calipers shooting with you and load a tube full in your lever action. As you fire you are subjecting he remaining ammunition to the recoil and have a way to measure them to see if they are getting shorter than when you loaded them in the tube.

Revolver bullet issues I have had were the opposite of getting shorter. You take a light weight heavy recoil revolver and it recoils so sharply it pulls the bullet from the case like a kinetic bullet puller.

That said, millions of rounds a year are loaded with all sorts of different die manufacturers all over the world and produce functional ammunition.
 
Do you need a separate crimp die for revolver ammo, no.

Do I find it easier to use one, yes.

The Lee FCD works fine for me but any die that crimps can be used if you want to crimp in a separate operation.

Most bullets meant for a revolver have a factory supplied crimp groove. That is where you should crimp that bullet no matter what the load data tells you. It is the proper position for that bullet.

Plated bullets don't usually have a supplied crimp groove. I prefer coated or jacketed bullets instead.

It's not all that difficult to load revolver ammo, easier than semi-auto ammo IMO.
 
I like to trim my brass in the first loading, set the crimp for in the seater and forget about it.
There is no real need for the factory crimp die unless you want to add a step because you were sloppy on a previous one.
Read the first few chapters in the manual. It answered a lot of questions that I had and helped me to ask the ones that I needed clarified.
 
QuietMike said:
Hey all, i have been reloading 9mm and .40 only until now, on a lee pro 1000,
but i am planning to get a 357 / 38spc chambered lever action rifle that i also want to reload for.

I noticed that some of the bullets you can buy have a cannelure, which i'm not really familiar with, and i started looking around, and people seem to be saying that you have to buy the separate Lee Factory Crimp Die and use that on the cannelure bullets in a seperate operation after you have seated the bullet.
But some of the bullets have the cannelure and some don't,

The standard die on the pro 1000, seats the bullet and puts some kind of crimp on it. I plan to reload .38spc and .357 for a revolver and the lever gun.
Now i am worried about bullets being pushed in, and cases exploding etc... thanks internet.

So any clarification would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
You don't HAVE to buy a factory crimp die. The die set you have and others like it have been used to load cartridges for a hundred years before they invented Lee's FC die.

That said, you WANT to buy a Lee factory crimp die.
 
Thanks everyone, I should have mentioned that I would be reloading only fmj rounds, no lead or cast.
I did not know that it was possible for revolvers and tube fed guns can push the bullets around in the case. I will measure a few in each befor and after being in the cylinder or tube to make sure the first few times
 
I have Lee factory crimp dies for all the pistol calibers I load and many rifle calibers too. I am a big fan of them! They certainly are not a requirement for producing quality reloads through. You need to use what ever works best for YOU!

The only revolver round I reload is .44 magnum. I always use jacketed bullets and I am very anal about the OAL. (I shoot 44 mag in my Desert Eagle which can be a little picky and my Dan Wesson 744 which could care less and will shoot anything). I seldom have a cannelure that lines up where I need it if the bullet has one at all... hence I use the Lee factory crimp die and have never had bullets shift in the case.
 
The FCD helps form a firmer roll crimp that is desireable with some harder to ignite ball powders when used with standard (non-magnum) primers.

I agree the FCD is not necessary. I am not so sure all .357 seater dies form a roll crimp. I'm pretty sure my late-model, current-manufacture Lee .357 seater die forms a taper crimp. The crimp it forms works fine except where a firm roll crimp is necessary -- where the powder and primer require it, and where the gun has very low mass, recoil velocity is very high and crimp-jumping can be expected.
 
FYI if you have the FCD and like the separate crimping step but not the "post sizing" you can drive the carbide sizing ring out of the bottom of the FCD. I did for my .38 Special FCD.
 
Rule3 said:
Sure it will. If you set in tight enough it will indent the bullet but then all the discussion will begin on neck tension and the definition of a cannelure etc etc:eek:
Click to expand...
The horrors!;) That ought to give this thread another page! :D Remington Golden Sabers come to mind.
 
Last edited:
I’m a cowboy action shooter so am familiar with loading pistol caliber ammo for lever action rifles. We use lead bullets, never jacketed. Most of the lead bullets designed for revolver cartridges have a crimp groove into which the case mouth is roll crimped. If you are using a plated or jacketed bullet with a cannelure, that’s the point to which you seat the bullet and crimp the case. Make a few test rounds to be sure your rifle will feed them-lever action rifles can be particular about cartridge length. You may have to change bullets or use a .357 case.

I’ve loaded .38 Special ammo using standard three Die sets from RCBS and Hornady. The #3 die seats and crimps. Lots of Internet hand wringing over that but it works fine if you set up the Die properly.

That said if you have a Lee turret press with four stations just buy a Lee four die set.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
  • Locked
Lee Factory Crimp dies
Replies
21
Views
2K
ar10
A
E
  • Locked
Lee Crimp Die Question
Replies
4
Views
535
The Bushmaster
The Bushmaster
oldsnow
  • Locked
Crimping Off The Cannelure?
Replies
10
Views
1K
oldsnow
oldsnow
R
  • Locked
Crimp for 30-30 Single Shot Pistol Loads
Replies
8
Views
826
Bush Pilot
B
F
  • Locked
Lee rifle seating die crimp
Replies
11
Views
1K
stubbicatt
S
Back
Top