[supercrew]

In reloading for .45 and 9mm I am using the RCBS dies which provide for taper crimping. Would there be any advantage in going with the Lee Factory Crimp die?

I have been applying a minimum crimp to my LRN bullets and have had no problems. Seem to feed well with no evidence of bullet setback. Would it be worth trying the Lee FC die? What will it do that the RCBS won't?

Thanks......

 

[Wayward]

The LEE FCD is a carbide sizing die with a crimp plug. I use one in the last station of my Dillon 550 as kind of a fail safe.

 

[GTI]

I have had a little better accuracy when I switched to Redding Competition Seating Die followed by a separate taper crimp die. I use and OAL of 1.251 and a taper crimp of .471

[This message has been edited by GTI (edited 12-08-2001).]

 

[Dan in Alaska]

I use the Redding Pro Series pistol dies in my Dillon 550. There is a bullet seating die and a separate crimping die.

For years I used RCBS dies, and still do for some pistol calibers. I performed the seating and crimping in the same step. After switching to the two-die set-up, I now prefer this method. I can't really say one way is better than the other for what I do, but the press seems smoother to operate and I notice less bullet "shaving."

I have used the Lee factory crimp dies for pistol calibers. The pistol caliber dies are o-kay, but I prefer Redding crimp dies.

However, I really like the Lee factory crimp die for reloading .223 rifle rounds. The die makes uniform crimps without being overly picky about case length. I only use it to crimp cannelured bullets, and I only crimp the rounds I make for my AR.

 

[Colt Man]

I use a Redding Competition Seating Die and a Redding Taper Crimp die as well. I agree also agree with GTI that it slightly improves accuracy. Also, both the Nosler and Sierra reloading manuals recommend seating and crimping the bullets in separate operations despite the fact that many die sets come with a combination seating and crimping die. These manuals will describe how you can seat and crimp in seperate operations using the combination die. Basically you back the die out far enough so that it doesn't crimp when you seat the bullet. Then you can turn the die back down and back out the seating stem to crimp the bullets.

Question for GTI. How do you measure the amount of crimp? I have tried using a pair of calipers but I get different readings depending on where I measure the crimp on the case.

Supercrew, I believe that the investment in a sepparate crimping die would be a worthy investment. I prefer the Redding but I know that their are many who like the Lee. I am sure both do a good job.

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100% NRA

 

[REDDAWN]

IN 45acp I use a Redding crimp die and crimp at .470

 

[Ralph]

If you do want to set to seat and crimp seperatley,maybe look around for a used T.C. die, and try it, I bought one a few months back, a RCBS T.C. die(.45 acp) cost me $5.00, I cleaned off the dust and it looks like new, works great on my 550, the advantage of doing it this way as I see it, is that your seating die just seats, so if you want to go to H.P.'s from S.W.C.'s all you have to do is adjust your seating die up or down, once your crimp die is set you shouldn't have to adjust it again, this works great on a progressive press, but if you are using a single stage press, crimping is a extra step, So, wheather or not it's worth it is up to you,