Lee FCD take 2?

BigMoby

BigMoby

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I am beginning to think this die is more trouble than its worth. I read the direction and used the die to seat a new load up of Hornady 115 gr RN FMJ bullets in winchester brass. Raised ram, brought the die down to meet case holder, then locked down, installed loaded round raised ram and ran stem down until met case mouth then dropped ram and gave 1/2 turn for crimp. Seem pretty simple right? After inspecting the crimped rounds (1/2 turn crimp) I am seeing thin brass clipping from around the case mouth on all crimped rounds. I have never se n this with my rcbs TC. I liked the idea of this die to make sure I wouldnt have any chambering issues but its really giving me a run fo my money. Anyone seen this? Any suggestions; besides putting it aside?
Thanks,
Jim
 
I approach those dies like any other crimp die.
Screw it in till it touches the case mouth then adjust slowly till I reach the desired crimp.
The whole 1/2 turn thing is BS
There was a good article that someone posted about crimp in the reloading section a couple days back.
They explain what you need to do with a crimp die.
The Lee FCD for pistols is basically a carbide sizing die that crimps too.
If you sized your brass (I’m sure that was the first step) then the FCD isn’t needed.
Get a regular TC die.
 
Those brass clippings are most likely from the brass being shoved through the sizing ring inside the die.
I put mine aside and bought a regular taper crimp die

You don’t need that much crimp for 9mm. You’re simply removing the bell/flare at the casemouth. Good way to test it would be to make dummy rounds (no powder). After it touches the casemouth, screw the stem in ~1/5” increments then pull the bullets and check to make sure you’re not deforming the bullet or leaving significant crimp rings around the bullet. You don’t need much at all.
 
Sounds good I also put a small mark on the adjustment screw because that screw moves to easy. that way when I change caliber turrets I know if it has moved on me.
 
tomp said:
Sounds good I also put a small mark on the adjustment screw because that screw moves to easy. that way when I change caliber turrets I know if it has moved on me.
Click to expand...
your rings turn easy? do they have the oring on the bottom side of the ring. I love the lee rings none have moved on my yet
 
I’ve had great luck with the Lee crimp dies. Much easier to use than the usual combined seater/crimp die. Just loaded up some .357 tonight and after mucking up a few trying to crimp with an RCBS die (was seatung the bullet deeper while crimping even if I took the seating plug out) I gave up and went to the Lee die. My OAL was un-affected by crimping.
 
BigMoby said:
I am beginning to think this die is more trouble than its worth. I read the direction and used the die to seat a new load up of Hornady 115 gr RN FMJ bullets in winchester brass. Raised ram, brought the die down to meet case holder, then locked down, installed loaded round raised ram and ran stem down until met case mouth then dropped ram and gave 1/2 turn for crimp. Seem pretty simple right? After inspecting the crimped rounds (1/2 turn crimp) I am seeing thin brass clipping from around the case mouth on all crimped rounds. I have never se n this with my rcbs TC. I liked the idea of this die to make sure I wouldnt have any chambering issues but its really giving me a run fo my money. Anyone seen this? Any suggestions; besides putting it aside?
Thanks,
Jim
Click to expand...
How much are you expanding the case for the bullet? Expanding too wide and too deep can create some issues that would lead to shaving brass when crimping the cartridge. Not enough case expansion can lead to bullets being shaved during seating. Lead bullets will tend to swell a case up too that could lead to some small bits of brass to be shaved off. If you are loading lubed cast lead bullets you will need to clean the seating die and Lee CFC die occassionally as bullet lube will tend to build up over time.
 
When I first used the Lee 9mm crimp die, it felt funny to me, too. I suppose there could be slivers of brass if the flare is excessive, but I don't recall this being a constant occurrence. Once I re-read the directions and felt confident that it was adjusted correctly, I have not looked back. Although I rarely, if ever, trim pistol brass, I suppose it may not hurt to inspect your case lengths for consistency.
A micrometer tells me if the finished case dimensions are within specs and a chamber drop-in check and firing verifies the rest.
Can't say I've ever had issues due to use of this die (I believe I have the same type of crimp die in my .40 S&W die set, too).
 
My general rule when it comes to reloading is “YMMV, too many factors to trust manufacturer instructions verbatim”.

In that, when I read instructions like, “touch die to shell plate, turn die 1/2 turn” I interpret that as “seat till die touches, test with dummy round, caliper measure crimp, do setback push test”. Fail? ...or not as desired? Ok, “turn 1/4 turn, rinse and repeat with dummy round”. Found desired setting? Great. Lock in. Proceed. If I took generic manufacturer instructions as gospel every time I reloaded using new equipment I’d probably have some pretty suboptimal rounds or at worst have produced borderline dangerous rounds.

I’ve had excellent luck with the FCD’s but you really need to dial them in using a process. In my experience less is more.
 

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