What Crimping die?

[TimM]

I am just getting back into reloading after several years and this will be my first time reloading handgun cartridges. I am probably going to have a lot of question so I thank you in advance for your patience.

I need to buy a crimping die and when I looked online to order one I was surprised to see that there are different types. I am wondering what type of crimping die that I need for .38, .357 and .45 ACP?

 

[ReloaderFred]

For crimping .38 and .357, you should use a roll crimp die. For .45 acp, use a taper crimp die. The same die should work for both your .38 and .357. The Lee Factory Crimp Dies work well, if you're just buying a separate crimping die.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[herohog]

+1 on the Lee Factory Crimp dies

 

[BigJakeJ1s]

I've tried the Carbide FCD for 45 colt, and did not like it. Went back to crimping while seating with my Hornady seater. The Hornady seating dies are the only ones I'm aware of that have a sliding alignment sleeve for bullet/mouth alignment, and can crimp while seating.

Haven't tried the taper crimp CFCDs, they may work better. IMHO, if you need the post-sizing the CFCD performs, something else is wrong with your setup, and you're just treating symptoms.

Lee FCDs for rifle and bottleneck pistol rounds are a whole different animal, using a collet to apply the crimp, and they work great.

Andy

 

[Uncle Chan]

I compete in CAS and load hundreds of 45LC/mon. I've tried nearly every crimp die on the market. IMHO, the Lee FCD is head and shoulders above the rest.

 

[swiss7.5]

+1 lee factory crimp die

 

[zxcvbob]

I've tried the Carbide FCD for 45 colt, and did not like it. Went back to crimping while seating with my Hornady seater. The Hornady seating dies are the only ones I'm aware of that have a sliding alignment sleeve for bullet/mouth alignment, and can crimp while seating.

I also bought a Lee .45 Colt FCD and it was a waste of money. I went back to crimping with the [RCBS] seating die. The FCD is a solution in search of a problem.

The Redding profile crimp die might be worthwhile, I dunno. It sounds interesting.

 

[jhansman]

Well, just to muddy the waters a bit more, I am a Lee FCD convert (from RCBS), and it works wonderfully for me. There are many here who will echo this, and we all can't be wrong.

 

[paperpuncher49]

I'll further muddy the waters.

"There are many here who will echo this, and we all can't be wrong."

Not trying to disparage anyone, or anger anyone, but there have been a multitude of times that "the many" ruled the day when it was the minority who were really in the right.

That's not to say the FCD is a good or bad product, even though I personally (IMO) agree it is a solution searching for a problem. When I read Modern Relaoding by Richard Lee, it came across first as a overwhelmingly blatant attemp to glorify (and sell) Lee Products and only secondly as a "informational reloading guide." I mean, and I paraphrase, the powder measure we designed was "just perfect" so we decided to call it the Perfect Powder Measure. When we developed the FCD, others in the industry were shaking in their boots. Read between the lines......Everything we make is better than RCBS', Redding's, etc. For some time, I have thought of Mr. Lee as a reloading "legend in his own mind."

Sometimes people get caught up in hype and parrot it themselves as if it were the gospel truth. I have seen people run down Imperial Sizing Wax on this site, and others glorify Hornady Quick Shot. I believe ISW is a great product, although somewhat slow to use, and I believe that HQS sucks, to put it mildly, but that is just my opinion. If you use the FCD and like it, continue using it. But I wouldn't recommend buying one for every caliber you plan to reload. Try one first. Then if you think Mr. Lee FCD is in fact God's gift to the crimping world, buy any other you might need.

 

[Walkalong]

The FCD is a solution in search of a problem

Yep, and it found one. Oversized, crooked ammo which needs to be squashed to fit.

Then again, on properly assembled pistol ammo, they probably do no harm, and it will crimp as well as any other crimp die, although I still don't like the idea of squeezing springy copper and dead soft lead at the same time. I think you risk ruining your neck tension.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Aaah Phooey!!!(just for Walkalong ) Used for the purpose of crimping and not for smoothing out your mistakes. (One should strive to solve those mistakes) The Lee FCD is an excellent choice. For the .45 ACP I would recommend letting the seating die do the crimping work though. For .30-30 it's the best way to go

 

[herohog]

I used a Lee crimp die on my .303 with great results and I got one for my 9mm WinMag loading as I had buckled the cases on several rounds trying to get a firm crimp. Turns out my biggest issue was the RCBS sizing dies had the I.D. too big! I used my 9x19 dies to size the cases and they tightened right back up! I still use the Lee crimp die and run the seating die "loose" to avoid damaging that very valuable brass.

 

[rcmodel]

I actually like the Lee FCD collet crimp die very much for certain calibers.
Namely, the 25-20 WCF, 32-20 WCF, 38-40 WCF, 44-40 WCF, and the 30-30.

The thing all these calibers have in common is very thin case-necks.
You can crimp them in the regular seating die all right, but you can do a much better job of it with no danger of collapsing a case with the Lee FCD.

I see no real need for the Lee FCD roll-crimp die, or the FCD taper crimp die.
Your standard reloading dies, if adjusted correctly, can do that very nicely, thank you!

And I agree with paperpuncher49's assessment of the Lee reloading book.
The only thing that comes to mind when I read it is thoughts of George Leonard Herters fantastic claims in his wonderful old catalogs I used to love so much!

IMHO: Richard Lee is just a George Leonard Herter wannabe, and an amateur one at that!


rcmodel

 

[moooose102]

+ 1 on the lee factory crim die also, they work great!

 

[jenrob]

To answer the ? a roll crimp on the revolver ammo and a taper crimp on the Auto ammo.
I have Lee FCD for most of the cals. I reload and most of them collect dust. I do use it when I load lead bullets in 45ACP. I had (stolen) another 1911 that had a pretty tight chamber it didn't like the 452 diam. just running the sizer ring over it helped it. I think it is a good die but has it's place. I seat and push the bell straight with a seater on a lead bullet and then only use the sizer ring with maybe a little crimp. I don't use the FCD on plated bullets. I do use them when I set-up loads just to try things out for accuracy. Sometimes they help sometimes they don't.

 

[jfh]

I've got two or three takes on the FCD.

Last summer, I bought one to try with my old 10mm ammo--I had no small amount of 200 LSWC (actually, what we would now call LTCs) that had chambered just fine in my SA Omega or 1006--but wouldn't feed for beans in the new Kimber ST11.

Those were .400 bullets--and the FCD smoothed out the bump from that extra-long bullet that was happening--and, in all the guns, my groups shrank.

Wow, says, I. I ordered out two more--one for the .45ACP, and one for the .38 / .357 die sets.

With the .38 / 357 dies, I wanted the flexibility of separate crimping, so I could carefully control the LOAs and put down a heavy crimp if desired. It worked just fine with the factory .3565 bullets and the .357 LTCs. Then I decided to try lead .358s--and I get active post-sizing from the FCDs with new or used / once-shot Starline brass, in both calibers. (note that all the crimping is in the cannelure, and usually near to top to get min LOAs / max pressure.

Meanwhile, my ESs have ballooned up. I think my 640 likes 358 lead, and the M60 and 686 is unknown yet; not shot enough. But, to find out I'll have to go back to a 3-die set up. Since it's -10F in Maple Plain, with a wind blowing, I think I will set up another turret--

Jim H.

 

[Don't Tread On Me]

Lee because it doesn't matter what the trim length is - always crimps the same.

I don't like crimping at the same time as seating. Not as good, and only complicates matters.

Lee all the way.