I was given a bunch for pistol, and I gave them away to people that wanted to try them, taper or roll crimp is fine.
I don’t crimp .223, neck tension is sufficient for my modest loads, but if I did I might try the collet style FCD.
I was given a bunch for pistol, and I gave them away to people that wanted to try them, taper or roll crimp is fine.
I don’t crimp .223, neck tension is sufficient for my modest loads, but if I did I might try the collet style FCD.
With a case gauge, you would find the problem and then fix it for future rounds. The FCD "fudges it" on the fly. This reduces neck tension and makes the bullet size variable, dependent on the thickness of the brass. If you want to use it like an automatic case gauge, you can do this by feeling for resistance as the cartridge is pushed through the pistol FCD. It should barely touch and glide right through the carbide ring at the opening of the die. If there's any significant resistance/force/dragging, this is a "fail." If you set aside the "fails" and examine them, you might find a common headstamp of case that is causing the problem.[The pistol FCDs] work like a case gauge to verify the diameter of your completed cartridge. If your cartridge is out of SAAMI spec it will size it down.
I use the Lee Crimp die on 45 ACP, 357 mag, and my 223. with no complaints.
I had roll crimping problems with a 257 Roberts rifle die when seating bullets long to reduce bullet jump to the lands. With moly coated cast bullets and a light roll crimp, not in the crimp groove, they would not stay put. Lesson learned: It is not fun going home early to clean powder out of the action & magazine!
I had good results with the Lee Factory Crimp Die which put on a firm taper crimp.
I also found my seating depths were more consistent when seating and crimping in two steps. Not a big deal for plinking ammo, but for accuracy I adjust my non Lee dies to seat without crimping then adjust to crimp without changing the seating depth.
When crimping hunting loads in the crimp groove the FCD seemed to do a better job. Nice smooth uniform crimps. I would not be surprised to find improved concentricity with Lee’s collet design.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |