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Posted: 9/23/2010 1:14:45 PM EDT
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Sell me one the benefits of the Lee Factory Crimp over my standard Dillon taper crimp.
Onibaba |
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Everyone raves about them, so I bought the .223 and 6.8, still need the .40 and .45.
Rifle rounds, people are split on crimping. Handgun rounds are almost universaly agreed upon to crimp. When I stated reloading, I crimped nada, then crushed some cases, it sucks building a round only to ruin it at the last stage. Yeah - all HG rounds should be crimped (or so I read). Who knew 
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I should have mentioned even though you're interested in rifle now, on pistol cartridges, most of the case is pushed through a carbide sizing ring at the bottom of the die. (Whatever part of the case is above the shell holder if set properly.) Fixes too much 'coke bottle' effect from having the bullets tilted slightly when seating. It can also fix not sizing enough to start with.
The part that puts the taper crimp on is hollow, I suppose you could push the cartridge way too far in and Lee says it won't over crimp. I've not measured the taper crimp part, so I don't know if you could actually taper crimp too much or not. However, I have crushed rounds in a normal seating/crimping die and I've not done that yet with the Lee FCD. If you have an auto-loader, I believe this die will make your ammo more reliable. Another thing I like about Lee, is on .380 auto, 40S&W and .45ACP, you can buy one $20 kit (a pusher rod and cartridge catcher) and use your FCD as a push through sizer to fix dinged up rims too. You can even push through fully loaded cartridges because the push rod has a hollow in the top so it can't touch the primer. This will NOT work on 9mm because they have too much of a taper. Down side is it doesn't work in a progressive press and is an extra step on single stage presses. |
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Its actually a two piece die.
The inner die moves within the threaded portion which enables one to have the same crimp on each round. I've always read not to crimp a bullet without a cannelure. So on those bullets I seat the die far up (relatively speaking) to only engage a little bit of the crimp section resulting in only a little bit of squeeze. The 'heavy' crimp pretty much maxes out when full on since that 'setting' is relatively indifferent to height. |
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http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lifetimepens.com/images/crush.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php%3Ft%3D410358&usg=__YShqO0mP9pyrUh2MoBVs1_ReUl0=&h=537&w=800&sz=62&hl=en&start=16&zoom=1&tbnid=9H2naqzPmadnfM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=181&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dreloading%2Bcrushed%2Bcartridge%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D578%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C570&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=390&ei=0u-bTN37K8L88AbfyM09&oei=zO-bTI7iE4L_8Aat_sSDDQ&esq=2&page=2&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:16&tx=86&ty=60&biw=1024&bih=578
shamelessly stolen from THR. This is obviously a worst case scenario and very visible. The ones I hate are the slight smooshes that just barely swell at the shoulder......can't see 'em, but they won't chamber. (yeah, yeah, yeah.....case gauge. I need one  )
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Quoted:
Sell me one the benefits of the Lee Factory Crimp over my standard Dillon taper crimp. Onibaba If your asking why you need one ? FCD. Then you probably aren't in need of one. Listen up, some of you guys. FCD isn't a " special needs " tool for the impaired or inflicted reloader. I know that's not the premise of your op onibaba. How ever that is the tone some have when FCD is mentioned. It is for, specifically. Buckled cases and over dimension case mouths. Buckling of case occurs on brass that's a little long. Over dimension case mouths when loading with .452 lead, as example for 45acp. FCD can be adjusted to accommodate your gun's chamber where in the past your only option was chamber reaming. Result of which, that's all the barrel was good for. .473, .474... in the case of a 45acp barrel. If your shooting .451. Again 45acp as the example..... You really don't need it except as insurance. Revolver requires a roll crimp. Semi auto a taper crimp. When used your taper crimp die should be adjusted to bullet seat only..Loading 45acp lead, or loading lead in any caliber handgun. I feel it's important. Since advocating it's use in this forum.. I've noticed pistol, feed related issues drop to almost zero... whereas before. We had reload related feed failure spilling over into hand gun forums. May as well post in GD as to post in hand gun forum. Most don't run reloads, don't want to understand the process and make fun of any one reloading. That's how this forum first gained my attention. Following the feed related problems to here. So, to sum things up. You'll know when you need one without asking the question posed. For those new to reloading it shortens the learning curve, measurably... If your loading quality.... note that word, " quality " in dimension bullets and you have zero feed issues. You don't need one. If you like the idea of value added insurance. You might consider one because that's what the FCD is to most of us using..... If your loading the cheaper lead bullets like we get from Missouri Bullet Company.... In my opinion you shouldn't even open the box without a trusty FCD by your side. For rifle, in gas operated semi-autos, like my AR15.... I like to use it. Insurance against set back. For bolt gun, not needed. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Sell me one the benefits of the Lee Factory Crimp over my standard Dillon taper crimp. Onibaba If your asking why you need one ? FCD. Then you probably aren't in need of one. Listen up, some of you guys. FCD isn't a " special needs " tool for the impaired or inflicted reloader. I know that's not the premise of your op onibaba. How ever that is the tone some have when FCD is mentioned. It is for, specifically. Buckled cases and over dimension case mouths. Buckling of case occurs on brass that's a little long. Over dimension case mouths when loading with .452 lead, as example for 45acp. FCD can be adjusted to accommodate your gun's chamber where in the past your only option was chamber reaming. Result of which, that's all the barrel was good for. .473, .474... in the case of a 45acp barrel. If your shooting .451. Again 45acp as the example..... You really don't need it except as insurance. Revolver requires a roll crimp. Semi auto a taper crimp. When used your taper crimp die should be adjusted to bullet seat only..Loading 45acp lead, or loading lead in any caliber handgun. I feel it's important. Since advocating it's use in this forum.. I've noticed pistol, feed related issues drop to almost zero... whereas before. We had reload related feed failure spilling over into hand gun forums. May as well post in GD as to post in hand gun forum. Most don't run reloads, don't want to understand the process and make fun of any one reloading. That's how this forum first gained my attention. Following the feed related problems to here. So, to sum things up. You'll know when you need one without asking the question posed. For those new to reloading it shortens the learning curve, measurably... If your loading quality.... note that word, " quality " in dimension bullets and you have zero feed issues. You don't need one. If you like the idea of value added insurance. You might consider one because that's what the FCD is to most of us using..... If your loading the cheaper lead bullets like we get from Missouri Bullet Company.... In my opinion you shouldn't even open the box without a trusty FCD by your side. For rifle, in gas operated semi-autos, like my AR15.... I like to use it. Insurance against set back. For bolt gun, not needed. 1911Smith, I'm loading 308 for an Armalite AR-10 with a tight chamber. My fired cases are alway short and the don't lengthen much after resizing. I don't want to trim them too much. I feel like the taper crimp will crimp them differently as the vary. I have the trimmer set to trim them at 2.005 but many of them fall short of that. This might explain why I've had a large spread in my average deviation and velocities. Will the FCD in theory help here? Onibaba |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Sell me one the benefits of the Lee Factory Crimp over my standard Dillon taper crimp. Onibaba If your asking why you need one ? FCD. Then you probably aren't in need of one. Listen up, some of you guys. FCD isn't a " special needs " tool for the impaired or inflicted reloader. I know that's not the premise of your op onibaba. How ever that is the tone some have when FCD is mentioned. It is for, specifically. Buckled cases and over dimension case mouths. Buckling of case occurs on brass that's a little long. Over dimension case mouths when loading with .452 lead, as example for 45acp. FCD can be adjusted to accommodate your gun's chamber where in the past your only option was chamber reaming. Result of which, that's all the barrel was good for. .473, .474... in the case of a 45acp barrel. If your shooting .451. Again 45acp as the example..... You really don't need it except as insurance. Revolver requires a roll crimp. Semi auto a taper crimp. When used your taper crimp die should be adjusted to bullet seat only..Loading 45acp lead, or loading lead in any caliber handgun. I feel it's important. Since advocating it's use in this forum.. I've noticed pistol, feed related issues drop to almost zero... whereas before. We had reload related feed failure spilling over into hand gun forums. May as well post in GD as to post in hand gun forum. Most don't run reloads, don't want to understand the process and make fun of any one reloading. That's how this forum first gained my attention. Following the feed related problems to here. So, to sum things up. You'll know when you need one without asking the question posed. For those new to reloading it shortens the learning curve, measurably... If your loading quality.... note that word, " quality " in dimension bullets and you have zero feed issues. You don't need one. If you like the idea of value added insurance. You might consider one because that's what the FCD is to most of us using..... If your loading the cheaper lead bullets like we get from Missouri Bullet Company.... In my opinion you shouldn't even open the box without a trusty FCD by your side. For rifle, in gas operated semi-autos, like my AR15.... I like to use it. Insurance against set back. For bolt gun, not needed. 1911Smith, I'm loading 308 for an Armalite AR-10 with a tight chamber. My fired cases are alway short and the don't lengthen much after resizing. I don't want to trim them too much. I feel like the taper crimp will crimp them differently as the vary. I have the trimmer set to trim them at 2.005 but many of them fall short of that. This might explain why I've had a large spread in my average deviation and velocities. Will the FCD in theory help here? Onibaba FYI... I have loaded X Die Sized 223 Rem Cases that are all diffferent lengths and have still gotten excellent accuracy. The FCD works with or without a cannelure and has been proven to produce more consistent starting pressures than not crimping or roll crimping. I have never seen a comparison betwen taper crimping and the FCD. For $20 try it what do you have to lose? If it doesn't work to your satisfaction buy a Redding Taper Crimp Die. 
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Here is the FCD patent.
The pictures give an idea of how it works http://www.google.com/patents?id=J9ceAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false |
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