Lee 9mm dies

[WebMonkey]

really depends
the 4th die also "post sizes" the case.
so if you're feeding a really tight chamber, the 4th die might be useful to smooth the case so it will fit easily.

if the cartridge chambers easy after the 3rd die, then no, not really.

is it worth it? it's an issue if you have a 3 hole turret, not much of an issue with a 4 or more turret.

[bradley.moss72]

It all really depends. As was said earlier, it does post size the case for reliability. Also it will give you the extra capability of crimping in a separate step. This is especially useful if your dies are mounted in a progressive tool head or turret and you change the tool head instead of each individual die. That way you adjust for the bullet seating on one die and crimp on the other. Sometimes it can be a pain to adjust for bullet seating and then readjust for crimp, then fine tune the seating again.

BW

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[1hole]

Don, "Is it worthy the extra step?" You get "I do this" and "I do that" and usually with no justification for what they do. Obviously both methods work so what is "best" depends on how YOU prefer to do things - and THAT is your best choice.

Hand guns are not bench rest accurate no matter how you reload, the biggest difference in accuracy will be your own shooting skill, not the crimper. The advantage of Lee's FCD for hand guns is the 100% reliable chambering in any gun it's used in because it insures the diameter won't exceed chamber tolerances. IF your ammo is isn't too large to chamber - and that can happen - the post seating carbide sizing ring will do nothing and the crimp itself will be everything you'll need.

Depth of crimping depends on case length, it would be great if we case trim every case every time (but I won't ever do that) for handgun ammo! A shorter case will be lightly crimped and a longer case can easily be over crimped. Rimless (autoloader) ammo head spaces on the case mouth so all you really need do is remove the mouth flare. Lee's crimp ring is sufficiently large to accept any cartridge and crimp it lightly no matter if the case is long; I like that so I added a FCD to my conventional 9mm/.45 ACP die sets and I put up with doing the extra step to get it done the way I want to do it.

[james nicholson]

One thing on 9mm. European guns tend to have looser chambers / throats than American guns. My old Brownings, Walthers and Sig like .358 to .3585 boolits, using the FCD die post sizes them down to .356. This causes inaccuracy in the Brownings and tumbling in the Sig. Although I use the Lee 4 die set in my turret press, I crimp with the seating die and leave the FCD out of the turret when loading for Euro guns. The FCD die is definitely easier to use and I use it for my Glock.

[Don Fischer]

I been thinking about it and maybe it was that lock ring that screwed it up. My other handgun dies have a hex nut drilled through the side of the die and I have then set there, never re-adjust them. Matter of fact, I don't even remember how I set them the first time! If I recall, hard chore at this age, I first set the seating depth and then adjusted the crimp. But those die's got locked in there.