Lee loader die question

[vinny77]

I have a loadmaster and it came with 3 dies: case sizer/decapper,
powder/expander, and a bullet seating die. The bullet seating die is marked"45acp G5". does this die give a taper crimp as well as seat depth? Im not seeing it. Do i need an additional Factory crimp die for the last stage? thanks for any input

 

[arjay]

If it came with a 3 die set,it should be a bullet seating/crimp die

 

[littleriver1]

Yes and no. I was not happy with the crimp I was getting with the seating/crimp die. I was over crimping. The factory crimp die will give you the correct crimp every time. I don't have any way to measure the pressure, so I made up some rounds without primers and powder to see how hard it would be to pull the bullets. They were all over the place and some never did come out. I got the factory crimp die and now they are all the same. Not only that but it affects the way they chamber in an Auto. No crimp or not enough crimp and they may fail to feed. I could be wrong but the die that came in the set does a roll crimp and you will probably find you need a taper crimp in an auto. I use the roll crimp for 38 sp. SWC.

 

[littleriver1]

Ok I looked it up in the Lee book. The die number for the 45ACP taper crimp die is 90785. The factory crimp number is 90864.

 

[jwalts27]

Yes and no. I was not happy with the crimp I was getting with the seating/crimp die. I was over crimping. The factory crimp die will give you the correct crimp every time. I don't have any way to measure the pressure, so I made up some rounds without primers and powder to see how hard it would be to pull the bullets. They were all over the place and some never did come out. I got the factory crimp die and now they are all the same. Not only that but it affects the way they chamber in an Auto. No crimp or not enough crimp and they may fail to feed. I could be wrong but the die that came in the set does a roll crimp and you will probably find you need a taper crimp in an auto. I use the roll crimp for 38 sp. SWC.

The die that comes in the set should be a taper crimp die. i have never heard different. In my opinion if you have to use the FCD then your have something adjusted wrong in your dies. You should not have to use it. Im sure alot of others would agree. Alot of people that need/rely on the FCD are usually belling the case too much during the charging stage. My dad always relied on it until i adjusted his dies and then he never needed it again.

 

[littleriver1]

Your probably right, but adjusting it was the problem. I could never get it right. I didn't have any confidence in it so the FCD solved the problem.

 

[RonS]

I never had any problems with my Lee .45 ACP dies, but I load only 230 LRN so my die adjustments were minimal. When I bought my 9mm dies I got the Factory Crimp Die for that and am very happy with it. I would probably add the FCD to my .45 ACP set if I planned on doing a lot of loading for that caliber now or if I had a 625 or something where bullet pull was more of an issue.

 

[vinny77]

thanks to all, i loaded some rounds to lee factory specs and with out using an fcd all the rounds fired without any issues. I guess by the feedback here that the fcd is a "warm fuzzy" and would eliminate any loader anomalies. I'm loading 230g rn with NO 7 @ 9.0g. If i run into any issues in the future, I'll probably get a FCD. thanks for the input.

vinny

 

[vinny77]

The die that comes in the set should be a taper crimp die. i have never heard different. In my opinion if you have to use the FCD then your have something adjusted wrong in your dies. You should not have to use it. Im sure alot of others would agree. Alot of people that need/rely on the FCD are usually belling the case too much during the charging stage. My dad always relied on it until i adjusted his dies and then he never needed it again.

thanks, good explanation.
vinny

 

[SgtLumpy]

The two in one die (bullet seat + crimp) is a taper crimp if it crimps lightly. Crank it down farther and it's a roll crimp. I think Lee calls it a modified taper crimp.

When you buy a "Factory Crimp Die" it's a taper if you buy a die for auto cartridges, roll if you buy it for revolver cartridges.

One big benefit in the FactCrimpDie is that it full length sizes the outside of the case as the last step. That way if you have any bulges from any earlier steps (goofy bullet seat, bunged up mouth edge etc) the final die will size it down to appropriate diameter.

Another benefit is that if you fill all the die stations with a die, the pressure between turret and shell holder plate is more balanced (when the progressive press is full) than if you have an open station in position 5.

I just added a FCD to my LoadMaster.


Sgt Lumpy

 

[Trooperdan]

In Lee's 2006 catalog, they say this about taper crimp dies:

"These dies offer little or no advantage when used with 1986 or newer Lee dies as the crimp angle is already a modified taper crimp"
unquote

The factory crimp dies shown have a segmented collet that closed on the case mouth to crimp the case into the bullet but they also show a carbide factory crimp die for handgun calibers that also sized the cartridge and is either a roll or a taper crimp, depending on caliber, as someone stated above.

 

[pappylee]

listen, to sgt.lumpy, he's hype,