What did you do in the reloading room recently?

Are you taking rifle or pistol dies? Pastera was taking pistol dies.
A Lee Pistol FCD uses a collet style crimp die teamed up with a carbine sizing ring just like a sizing die.
The result is usually an undersized cartridge that in turn squished down the bullet inside the case. It’s pretty well documented over on castboolits.
A Lee Rifle FCD is different. It uses a collet style crimping die with no carbide sizing ring.

If you set up your sizing die properly and you load the right size bullet the chances of needing a Lee Pistol FCD are pretty slim. I load some well oversized bullets in different cartridges and have never run into a round that was too fat to chamber.
I use both .....I have had not had any major issues?
Take out the taper crimp/roll crimp part out and run just the carbide through, see if it "over crimps" ? In the posted picks it looks like a roll crimp mark?

Another thing to do is take your loaded round and insert into the FCD and see how far the case actually goes into the die ? You might find that the "carbide ring" is really not the problem.
now if your cast bullets are over sized--- more than .002" over you might have some issues.

I do think for the most part that the lee pistol FCD are not generally designed for "cast" bullets. figure lee takes a "average " of case wall thickness and a "451" bullet diameter to figure out its carbide ring size.
Now toss in a cast bullet at .452" plus coating plus case wall variation...ugh, you might end up with a squished bullet
 
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No reloading at all for the foreseeable future. Working 12 hour shifts 6 days a week. My company makes frozen food for a few grocery store chains. .....can't make enough to ship it's so busy. Being a salary distribution manager......and also able to run the hell out of a forklift has me spending all my days on the dock with the crew. I'm just glad to be working! I'll hit the reloading bench eventually.
 
I use both .....I have had not had any major issues?
Take out the taper crimp/roll crimp part out and run just the carbide through, see if it "over crimps" ? In the posted picks it looks like a roll crimp mark?

Another thing to do is take your loaded round and insert into the FCD and see how far the case actually goes into the die ? You might find that the "carbide ring" is really not the problem.
now if your cast bullets are over sized--- more than .002" over you might have some issues.

I do think for the most part that the lee pistol FCD are not generally designed for "cast" bullets. figure lee takes a "average " of case wall thickness and a "451" bullet diameter to figure out its carbide ring size.
Now toss in a cast bullet at .452" plus coating plus case wall variation...ugh, you might end up with a squished bullet
I think your last statement sums it up.
They factor in for a jacketed bullet.
Also it depends on the cartridge design. For a true straight walled cartridge you would run into more of an issue than one with a slight taper.
Like 45 Colt. It’s .480 at the base and .480 at the neck. Run a .478 carbine ring the whole way and you have undersize the whole thing, in tune undersizing the bullet.

.45ACP is a .473” or so neck with a .476” base. If you ran a .474” carbide ring Down to the base you shouldn’t undersize the Bullet.

That being said my carbide ring diameter numbers were pulled out of thin air to illustrate a comparisons between the cases. In reality the rings are probably a smaller ID than that to allow for brass spring back. Of course you stated the obvious variation in neck thickness too.

Moral of the story is check your dies and your bullet size and your alloy and your expander to make sure they all jive. There are reports that the FCD is an implement of the devil and then some people say it’s a godsend.
 
Have 1k of Armscor 223 FMJ 55gr bullets that i picked up somewhere awhile ago. Boy do these suck. Weight and length are all over the place. Seating to mid cannelure is impossible. If you ever come across these and think you might save a penny, eff that! Plinking ammo but my OCD is making it hard to feel good about these.

Use these in .30 caliber sabot loads, if all else fails.
 

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why not a lee factory crimp die ?

What I see is either a factory crimp die that was not adjusted correctly, or was adjusted at some point for non coated bullets or the brass is not trimmed to the same dimensions<<< this is not supposed to be a big issues with the lee FCD but with a the lee seater/crimp die it can be.
This can also happen with assorted brass and some brass walls are thicker.
I should have been more clear - never use a FCD for non-bottle neck.
I actually like the way the pistol FCD crimps with the adjustable crimp sleeve.
What I don't like is the carbide sizing ring.
The sizing ring squeezes the round down to an 0.008" wall case and 0.451" bullet. An operation that should be completely unnecessary if you use jacketed 0.451 bullets and your cases are prepped properly.

If you are using cast bullets or thick wall cases it will undersize your bullet AND reduce neck tension.


I'll run another set without the crimp sleeve if you want to see the effect without any crimp
Wrote this before reading the entire thread
I'll check the ID of the sizing ring but I think my position will hold - for pistol rounds the FCD doesn't fix anything that can't be fixed correctly earlier I'm the process (as an engineer early fixes are good fixes)
 
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I should have been more clear - never use a FCD for non-bottle neck.
I actually like the way the pistol FCD crimps with the adjustable crimp sleeve.
What I don't like is the carbide sizing ring.
The sizing ring squeezes the round down to an 0.008" wall case and 0.451" bullet. An operation that should be completely unnecessary if you use jacketed 0.451 bullets and your cases are prepped properly.

If you are using cast bullets or thick wall cases it will undersize your bullet AND reduce neck tension.


I'll run another set without the crimp sleeve if you want to see the effect without any crimp
Please do!
 
I should have been more clear - never use a FCD for non-bottle neck.
I actually like the way the pistol FCD crimps with the adjustable crimp sleeve.
What I don't like is the carbide sizing ring.
The sizing ring squeezes the round down to an 0.008" wall case and 0.451" bullet. An operation that should be completely unnecessary if you use jacketed 0.451 bullets and your cases are prepped properly.

If you are using cast bullets or thick wall cases it will undersize your bullet AND reduce neck tension.


I'll run another set without the crimp sleeve if you want to see the effect without any crimp
no need, punch out the carbide ring? Since I have switch to reloading on my pro 1000 ( only 3 positions) for my cast pistol loads I just use the lee seater crimp die now. Which work just fine for my needs. 90% of all my pistol brass is from the same lots and I dont see much in any case length variation so I dont have any issues.
Im in the process of loading up what I have for 38spl and I had a brain fart and seated a few bullets forgetting I set this die up to crimp last time and squished a few rounds!
 
I should have been more clear - never use a FCD for non-bottle neck.
I actually like the way the pistol FCD crimps with the adjustable crimp sleeve.
What I don't like is the carbide sizing ring.
The sizing ring squeezes the round down to an 0.008" wall case and 0.451" bullet. An operation that should be completely unnecessary if you use jacketed 0.451 bullets and your cases are prepped properly.

If you are using cast bullets or thick wall cases it will undersize your bullet AND reduce neck tension.


I'll run another set without the crimp sleeve if you want to see the effect without any crimp
Wrote this before reading the entire thread
I'll check the ID of the sizing ring but I think my position will hold - for pistol rounds the FCD doesn't fix anything that can't be fixed correctly earlier I'm the process (as an engineer early fixes are good fixes)

I agree that any time you squish a cast bullet while its in the case neck it will swage smaller but the brass will have some "bounce" back causing loose bullet/crimp. You can also run the same problem stuffing cast bullets into a case IF the cast bullets are on the larger side. I need to use the M die on my 54r cast loads and flare a bit more on the 8mm as I am running a little larger than normal bullet dia. .315" for the 54r.

Its all good , you need to look out for and fix problems as needed with reloading.
 
I found that building my reloading center was akin to giving my cat catnip , As soon as one piece arrived I was already in search of something new to make it all my own design and set-up in my own unique way. IT was highly additive . It has slowed down , but hasn't come to a complete stop even today.
 
Finished off some 303 British last night. Going to try "Precision Rifle" powder with them.
Thirty cases of 8mm Mauser prepped. A few of the primer pockets are starting to feel loose.

I got my order of powders. 2.5 lbs of H335 left. Got in some BL-C(2). Going to make some 7.62 NATO with it.
Would like to compare BL-C(2), IMR4895 and maybe one or two others to see which one to buy in bulk.
Will be trying the newly acquired Reloder19 with 6.5x55.

Actually, what I should do is list all the powders I use across the ten cartridges I load, and maybe pick the most common ones, or something.
 
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Finally finding some time off today, Don't need to go out anywhere or do anything house chore wise, So I'm headed downstairs to load a few hundred more 12 guage hulls . Then swap out that press for my turret press on the reloading bench.IMG_0067.JPG Both presses are on a MDF bases that swap out with just a change of 2 C clamps. See the little nub sticking out from the left side bottom of the Loadall? I found a 3d printed tray that collects the used primers, so that you don't have to rummage around under the press to clean them out, it holds about 50-60 spent primers before you have to dump it in the used primer waste can.
 
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Finished off some 303 British last night. Going to try "Precision Rifle" powder with them.
Thirty cases of 8mm Mauser prepped. A few of the primer pockets are starting to feel loose.

I got my order of powders. 2.5 lbs of H335 left. Got in some BL-C(2). Going to make some 7.62 NATO with it.
Would like to compare BL-C(2), IMR4895 and maybe one or two others to see which one to buy in bulk.
Will be trying the newly acquired Reloder19 with 6.5x55.

Actually, what I should do is list all the powders I use across the ten cartridges I load, and maybe pick the most common ones, or something.
Varget /H4895 - but really get what you can now. I dont see powder coming in anytime soon unless theres a few cargo ships waiting to come in already.
 
Varget /H4895 - but really get what you can now. I dont see powder coming in anytime soon unless theres a few cargo ships waiting to come in already.
Right, Varget is my favorite all-around rifle powder, but I don't expect to see any 8-lb jugs kicking around, at least not at a price I would pay.
 
Literally me if I ever hit the lottery. I've got a single 1050 with an Ammobot Rev 2 and I feel like a king. This is certainly something else! Also, this guy needs more shotguns, imo.
gun ownership and reloading on income less than average has its limitations. Im tickled when a old timer gives me a box of random lee presses that i can get up and running for less than $40.
Also nice when you stumble across deals to make this sport more affordable.
For what a dillon 1050 cost i have been able to outfit myself with all the gear needed to reload 11 rifle cals and 6 pistol cals. Yeah its all on cheap lee press and a hornady single stage but it works for now.

I keep saying Im going to get a LnL or a 650 when I save up another $500 or so. i juzt cant help buy more bullets /primers/powders when that happens.
Being on Unemployment for the next 4+weeks is really going to take away from the $21 week of me money i get from my regular pay.
 
gun ownership and reloading on income less than average has its limitations. Im tickled when a old timer gives me a box of random lee presses that i can get up and running for less than $40.
Also nice when you stumble across deals to make this sport more affordable.
For what a dillon 1050 cost i have been able to outfit myself with all the gear needed to reload 11 rifle cals and 6 pistol cals. Yeah its all on cheap lee press and a hornady single stage but it works for now.

I keep saying Im going to get a LnL or a 650 when I save up another $500 or so. i juzt cant help buy more bullets /primers/powders when that happens.
Being on Unemployment for the next 4+weeks is really going to take away from the $21 week of me money i get from my regular pay.
I'm fortunate (or unfortunate?) to be an essential employee at the moment. No loss of work, plus a nice little boost from the government. Lucky for me, I do suppose.
 
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