Is the Lee 9mm FCD necessary with the Lee 9mm die set?

[higgins]

I'll start a new thread on this subject. I have a Lee 3-die carbide set for 9mm Luger that I haven 't used yet. Will the crimp die included in the Lee set adequately crimp both jacketed and lead bullets in place without the use of the Carbide Factory Crimp die that has received so much discussion in the last couple of days in another thread? I understand how the carbide FCD works, and that it may or may not be needed for reliable chambering in a given pistol. What's been your experience with the crimp die included in the 3-die set? Thanks.

[MT Gianni]

Yes it will. The fcd ensures chambering, sometimes at the expense of bullet diameter.

[MtGun44]

In the overwhelming majority of situations, the normal sizing die and crimp die
will do a great job. I have never needed or purchased or used a Lee FCD for pistols,
which is entirely different in concept from a FCD for rifles. The pistol die intends to
size the finished round to make it 'fit the chamber', but in more than a few cases it causes
problems with boolit-to-case tension. As a general rule, consider the FCD pistol die
as a special tool to be used ONLY in the situation where normal use of the dies will
not produce ammo that will chamber properly.

OTOH, the Lee RIFLE FCD is a really perfect crimper, and is much less likely to cause
case collapse with a 'slightly longer than the die is set for' case than conventional rifle
roll crimp die.

Bill

[kawalekm]

Not for one of my 9mm's. I shot a Ruger P89 for years with no problems, all being loaded with a Lee carbide 3-die set. More recently I got a Wather which must have a tight chamber that wouldn't chamber my lead reloads no matter how I used the Lee crimp. Solved all my feeding problems with a 15$ Lyman taper crimper for 9mm.

Disassemble your pistol and hold the barrel upright. Drop one of your assembled rounds into the chamber. It is fitted properly if it drops right in and a slight metallic "click" as the case hits headspace. Use only enough taper crimp that you can hear the case hit the end of the chamber but there is no play in the cartridge sitting in the chamber.
Good luck,
Michael

[Firebricker]

+1 on Mt Gun44