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Posted: 12/8/2006 4:25:19 PM EDT
[#1]
Maybe so, but WE didn't have to wait until January, did we???
 Thanks again! |
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Posted: 12/10/2006 5:04:35 PM EDT
[#2]
What? Are you saying everybody doesn't have one?  Mine is sitting right here. |
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Posted: 12/11/2006 7:00:21 AM EDT
[#3]
Wanna hear something sad? I don't even have a press and I bought this die. Am I jumping the gun?
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Posted: 12/11/2006 8:04:08 AM EDT
[#4]
Whew, I'm glad I ain't the only one.
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Posted: 12/11/2006 8:20:04 AM EDT
[#5]
Don't worry, you WILL have a press soon enough... Handloading 6.8SPC is fun, easy, and profitable! 
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Posted: 12/11/2006 2:00:39 PM EDT
[#6]
eBay is a great place to buy reloading stuff. All you need is a simple press, and a handheld primer do-hingy is nice. You can find guys seling used gear over there all the time, and wheeler-dealers selling new stuff cheap.
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Posted: 12/12/2006 9:31:33 AM EDT
[#7]
My Lee manual calls for a min OAL of 2.26" with 115 gn bullets. I've managed to load my first five rounds at 2.22". Anyone know if this is bad? Do I need to pull these bullets and try again? This is over the starting load of 27 grains of H4895, which gives pretty low pressures anyway, and however you load it, a compressed charge.
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Posted: 12/21/2006 5:14:41 AM EDT
[#8]
An OAL difference of 0.04" will not make it ka-BOOM. Go ahead and shoot them. The change in internal volume will mean a small diffence in the pressure curve, but only really maningful if you are striving for one-hole groups. In the future, set the seating die so that the case is not getting crimped at the top of the ram stroke. Then seat your first bullet in a little bit at a time, turning down the depth screw until you hit what work best for your rifle/magazine. Then check the OAL on the next three-four cartridges. I often find that it needs to be tweaked in a little after the first one. After that, you should get it to the same length all the time. It's a good idea to invest in a kinetic bullet puller. If you want to be picky, you can put the cartridge in the bullet puller and give it a few whacks to move the bullet out if you've gone too deep. Hope this helps... |
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Posted: 12/21/2006 11:00:57 AM EDT
[#9]
Personally I prefer the Hornady Cam Lock bullet puller. Not only is it quicker, your powder doesn't come out when you use it. And if you have a turret press, you flip over to the bullet puller -yank it - then flip back to the seater. All in less than 20 seconds w/o having to remove the case from the press. On the subject of the 6.8 Crimp Die - I got a Lee catalog in the mail yesterday and I noted the 6.8 Crimp die is being listed as a standard item. |
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Posted: 12/21/2006 11:59:04 AM EDT
[#10]
I've heard different opinions on this but how critical is the crimp when handloading for an AR-15? I've always been under the impression that just a small snug crimp was nice but not really required. Just curious on what everyone's thoughts were since this is a crimp oriented thread.
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Posted: 12/22/2006 9:49:46 PM EDT
[#11]
I am sure I will have a bunch next week. |
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Posted: 12/23/2006 2:33:59 PM EDT
[#12]
IMHO, and this advice is worth exactly what you are paying for it, any ammo for any semiauto needs to have a crimp. Bullet setback is a bad thing. Also with my reloads I have found that using the lee crimp die makes it easier to work up an accurate reload. And it will work even with bullets that dont have a cannular for crimping. I guess it allows pressure to build up uniformly before the bullet hits the throat, kinda the same deal with loading your bullets to allmost but not quite touch the beginning of the rifleling. |
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Posted: 12/26/2006 1:57:32 PM EDT
[#13]
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Posted: 12/30/2006 3:02:27 AM EDT
[#14]
Received a Lee crimp die recently. Tried it with my RP brass which is brand new. Case length is .001" below trim to length. I ran my loads into the die and can see no crimp on the case neck what so ever, even adjusted for max crimp? What gives?
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Posted: 12/31/2006 4:59:28 PM EDT
[#15]
The factory crimp die works regardless of the trim length of the case.
When you run a round up into the die, watch it from above. You can see the collet closing on the case neck. Take your calipers and measure the neck diameter near the mouth and you will see it gets progressively narrower. It is squeezing the whole top of the neck at once. The die is two pieces. The mouth of the die is pressed up into the body of the die by the shellholder and cartridge shoulder. The die mouth is part of the tapering section that encloses the neck, and is split so that the tapering part can be squeezed into the narrowing die body as it is pushed up. The effect is to squeeze the case neck from the outside, not by forcing the mouth into a small hole (like a roll or typical crimp does.) (THE ABOVE POST HEAVILY EDITED TO REMOVE EARLIER MIS-LEADING POINTS. APOLOGIES FOR THE CORN-FUSION!) |
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Posted: 12/31/2006 5:24:09 PM EDT
[#16]
Did Lee make this one different than any other factory crimp they've made? All of the Lee Factory Crimp dies I have do exactly what you're saying they don't do. They make a pronounced crimp for about the last 25-30 thou at the end of the case mouth. Unless the they did change it for the 6.8 SPC, I'd suspect he received the die with the wrong collet in it. Take out the collet (inner part of the die that just pushes out w/ a little force - push from the top) and if you have a set of calipers, the openeing at the top of the collet should be about .333" +/- .003. ETA: It's also possible they have the wrong length collet (.270 Win. maybe?) if the dia is okay. I'm not sure what the length of the collet is supposed to be because I made my own for my specific crimp height. |
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Posted: 12/31/2006 5:57:09 PM EDT
[#17]
The 6.8 FCD works just like my die for .223. A short crimp section at the case mouth. My 6.8 FCD works perfectly, just like it should. If it isn't doing this try reading the instructions.
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Posted: 1/3/2007 10:25:56 AM EDT
[#18]
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