Quote:
Originally Posted by jaymoore
I've had best results lately using the Lee Factory Crimp dies as noted above. ("LFC" in Post #4) Next best have been Hornady. But I crimp in a separate operation from seating, which may influence things somewhat.
|
I have found that seating and crimping at the same time requires one to do a lot of die adjustment. Once you understand what the die is doing and how to adjust it's like a major scientific discovery. It aint that easy. As a new reloader about 10 years ago I found that seating and crimping in separate operations was much easier then getting that adjustment just right. Once I had that mastered I started experimenting with seating and crimping with the same stroke. I learned how to do that but I'm not convinced it's better on some cartridges. It's really nice to be able to adjust a crimp as you load. You can't do that easily if you seat and crimp with the same stroke because the dies have to be adjusted for two operations where a crimp die only has one job.
Personally, I think the seat/crimp die was an effort to reduce the cost of a die set, not make better ammo or make it easier to reload. Lots of people have found that a progressive press with both seat die and crimp die is the perfect setup.