Leading with my cast reloads

[gloob]

So I went back to my reloading press and did some testing. This is what I figured out.
Started with one of my cast and resized bullets that was measured to .401 above and below the lube groove.
I ran it through the press to made a dummy round, using the FCD then pulled it to take another measurement. This time it measured .394 just above the lube groove where it was tapered and .399 at the base of the bullet,

Yes, the pistol FCD usually ruins cast bullets. Some people use it on cast, but they are more the exception than the norm, and it's possible their FCD's are significantly larger than normal and/or their bores are smaller than normal, and/or they prioritize chambering reliability over accuracy and lead fouling.

and stated earlier my slugged bore is .395.

As stated by several people, you are measuring wrong. There's no way your bore is 395.

So yes the FCD is swaging them down as someone has suggested. I then tried another one this time not using the FCD, just seating the bullet to an COL of 1.124 then racking it through my pistol 3-4 times and re measured and still read 1.124.

Beowolf has suggested the following:

How do you know if this swaging thing is happening to you or not? Pull a finished loaded boolit, and then measure that boolit.

You did with with an FCD post-sized round. You have stopped using the FCD, which is prudent. You have not measured a pulled round that was made without the FCD. The FCD is not the only thing that swages a bullet. Did anyone mention yet that size of the bullet is everything? You really ought to measure a pulled bullet from a variety of your brass, because some cases are thicker than others. A thinner underexpanded case might not damage the bullet, where a thicker case will. As you have done before, be sure to measure all the way around the base at various points. Even one point that is smaller than your bore can create fouling, smoke, and decreased accuracy.

So could I just skip the last die all together being it is held in place well enough with just the case tension? or do I still need to use some type of die. Just a side note when I bell my case the inside of the mouth reads .393 and the outside reads .423 just to give you an idea of how wide im belling it, then after the FCD the case mouth reads .420.

1. Many responders have already told you that crimping has nothing to do with neck tension. The taper crimp is done to make the round fit in the chamber. If the completed round drops into your gun's chamber, then you don't even need to taper crimp unless it causes feeding malfunctions.
2. Any seating die will do a taper crimp. You are seating your bullets with a seating die. It performs a taper crimp. Read the instructions. And note that with cast bullets you will often need to seat your bullets without any crimp, first. Then run them through the die a second time (after adjusting the die) to add the crimp in a separate step. If you try to do both at the same time with cast bullets, you will usually shave lead off the bullet.

The FCD is a special die that taper crimps AND sizes the bullet down if the bullet/brass combo happens to be oversized, and it's calibrated for jacketed bullets. It's kinda like a chamber check of your ammo, except instead of catching the bad rounds and setting them aside, you are squishing the bad rounds to make them chamber, anyway. Even with jacketed bullets, most reloaders do not use an FCD. Lee is the only company that makes it, and even they sell die sets with or without it. It is entirely optional.

[dubber123]

Gloob provides you will a lot of good info. I have not read every single post, so forgive me if any of what I say is repetitive.. If you are not water dropping, consider doing so. It will produce a much harder boolit that is much more resistant to deformation. I rarely water drop or heat treat, but I have my dies dialed in to preclude swaging during the loading process. A harder boolit may just help get you shooting sooner. Neck tension is not achieved with the FCD. It is achieved by your sized brass being smaller than the projectile you are seating. In fact, if you over crimp, or otherwise squeeze a case after a projectile is seated, you will LOSE case neck tension. The brass will spring back at a greater rate than a lead boolit will, and can actually make for a looser fit, which is not good.

You are on the right track, you will get there. Do away with the swaging, just straighten out the bell on your case mouths, and give it another try.

[bigboredad]

When I first started casting my first experience was just like yours and what I've learned since then to now is start with the easiest fix and proceed from there what I found out after slugging the barrel and measuring thus that and the other was quite easy and quick. U started by cleaning the barrel until all lead and copper was gone I kept using my water dropped we lead kept using the Lee fcd all in all my first biggest change was switching from tumble looking I took 15 bullets spread some lube with my fingers all over my tumble loobed style bullet loaded and tested. When I pulled the barrel I was so excited to see a shiny barrel. After that I dropped tumble lubing all together and started pan lubing. Since then I have been able to come up with a lubrisizer and a star and u continue to have shiney barrels hope this helps