Taper v. Factory crimp die for .45 ACP

[mikld]

No flames. Remember "three on the tree" with vacuum shift? I drove a '47 Chevy business coupe for a couple years that had the vacuum assist stick, made a hissing noise with every shift.

Dunno about others but when I mention how many/how long I've done something isn't bragging nor reminiscing about the "good old days", it's more of the "in my experience" qualifying my post. In regards to the Lee FCD for handgun ammo, "new and improved" us just new and not an improvement. Using a crimp die for resizing after the crimp is totally unnecessary if one has reloaded the round correctly. IME, I have had no, none that I can remember, failures to feed in any of my semi-auto pistols (from 32 ACP to 45 ACP) with just using a taper crimp die to deflare the case mouth. Now, again, that's my experience and of course others think differently. Some post "I shoot XXX in competition and I need the insurance that I won't have a misfeed", and that's cool. But I have shot paper many thousands of rounds, and even when younger I did "magazine dumps" as fast as I could pull the trigger, and had zero hang-ups.

But like all things done personally, if you wanna use an FCD, do it! Just sharing my experience with and without a Lee FCD for handgun ammo...

 

[LoboGunLeather]

I will add only a couple of observations:

1. There are big differences between jacketed bullets and lead bullets. No general rule can apply to every application. What works well with one may not do so well with another.

2. I became intrigued by the "factory crimp dies" and "taper crimp dies" when they first came on the market, read everything I could find on them. What I came away with was using a .30-06 sizing die (without expander button/decapping pin assembly) for taper crimping .45ACP, and it works just perfectly for both jacketed and cast bullets. 30-plus years and tens of thousands of rounds later I am still doing things the same way.

 

[Straightshooter2]

When I first started reloading .45 ACP I was using Lee dies and I was having a lot of fail to feed or fail to eject. I went and talked to the gunsmith who had done some custom work on my Commander and he asked what dies I was using. When I told him Lee, he reached up on the shelf behind him handing me a RCBS taper crimp die. I'm still using that die 30 years later and I haven't had a jam since.

 

[BC38]

I use the Lee FCD and have for years and thousands of rounds and never had a problem. You will get a mix of opinions I am sure as it happens every time this question is posted. Either way will work just find the way that works best for you.

I use the Lee FCDs on all my pistol rounds too.
FWIW the 45 ACP FCD is a taper crimp die.
So the either/or question really doesn't apply unless you are over-crimping.
FWIW the 45ACP FCD can be cranked down enough to almost approximate a roll crimp. I've done it for 45 Colt rounds until I got the real roll crimp die for them.