Roll Crimping- how often do we need to?

[Walks]

As a kid I learned the only rifle rounds to be crimped were those shot in a Garand, M1 Carbine, or similar auto loading rifle. And Lever Action rifle.
Case Neck tension held bullets in w/o any crimp. Still do it that way.

Revolver ammo is roll crimped only enough to keep the bullets from moving forward in the case.
The only time I ever had any trouble was with a .454 Casull. It needed a heavy roll crimp and a Taper Crimp after that.

Auto loading handgun ammo got A very light TC.

[charlie b]

I like the Lee Factory Crimp Dies. They are all I use since almost all my reloading dies are made by Lee.

But, a roll crimp is just a roll crimp. Any manufacturer's roll crimp die will work. Yes, the Lee FCD has the carbide ring in it, but, like stated above, it has never touched any of my resized cases unless I flared the case mouth too much.

I do wish Lee had a collet crimp die for revolver cases. It works really well on rifle cases.

[Bronzepocket]

I've loaded a bunch of different handgun loads with lyman, rcbs, and lee dies. They all do a nice roll crimp and I have never needed more. I think the trick is to match the crimp to the cartridge. 44mag needs more crimp than a 38. I don't crimp any rifle loads other than the 30-30 I load for a family heirloom.

[380AUTO]

I crimp EVERYTHING never had an issue I do prefer the LEE FCD for bottle neck cartridges brass seems to last forever but I do not load on the higher end loads

[onelight]

Isn't there an old saying about, "if a thousand people do something wrong, that don't make it right...".

I also have loaded 10s of thousands of loads without a FCD but I also now load 8 to 10 thousand rounds a year with them . The statement that every one that uses them are doing it wrong would be like saying don't buy Dillon dies I loaded six with one and the neck expander was to tight . That's just silly you would find an expander that works for your out of spec gun and bullets to make it work , you wouldn't say every one that buys Dillon dies does is it wrong. You would find what works for that application .

[charlie b]

Isn't there an old saying about, "if a thousand people do something wrong, that don't make it right...".

And if one person is doing it wrong that doesn't make it right either

[JM7.7x58]

The carbide lower ring in a LFCD in 40 s&w will reduce my cast bullets to .399”. It depends on the gun you are loading for. It depends on the cartridge. It depends on what type of bullet you are loading.

The LFCD works fine for jacketed in 40 s&w. When disassembled it can be used as a bulge buster. It is however a complete failure when used to crimp lead in my gun.

JM

[Three44s]

With respect to revolver loading:

Sometimes I crimp with the crimp function that comes with the seater die I am using.

Often it’s with a Lee FCD.

Sometimes it’s a Redding Profile crimp die (the best for just crimping).

Once in a while I stage my crimping operation as in reducing the degree of belling or eliminating it with one die, say my seater set down and finishing the crimp with a dedicated crimper.

I am a farmer. I understand the concept of bending bailing wire until it breaks quite well. Brass is no different.

I only bell to the point it’s necessary and roll crimp the same for the load and bullet at hand. When the brass lets go, it’s done. I do use a VLD inside neck case chamfering tool to facilitate bullets and boolits seating with less grabbing and catching.

My crimping etc varies with the load and I trim my cases to a uniform length, once at the begining to get consistent crimps and bells.

I saw a fellow loader on U Tube using a cordless screw driver with a wrench socket installed and fine steel wool stuffed in it. After trimming and chamfering he stuck the mouth of his cases in there and spun the steel wool to polish and smooth the case mouth inside and out. I think I will try that to ease starting lead and jacketed bullets. Makes sense and like trimming it’s pretty much a one off task much like trimming revolver brass is.

Three44s

[onelight]

Three 44s I also remove the bell in 2 stages I set my seating die to remove most of the bell and then finish it and crimp in a separate die .

[Jniedbalski]

For auto pistole rounds I have very few Of the lee FCD sized down my bullets. The ones That do size down I only push the round in Past the carbide sizer just Enuf to get the bell To straighten Out. If I really want more crimp I just use my seater die for more crimp. To me the lee Fcd and the seater dies both use the same style crimp. Some 38 special I have loaded at .360 .361 and in thick cases will size the bullet down .002 to .003. But they won’t usally chamber any way so

[dragon813gt]

II do wish Lee had a collet crimp die for revolver cases. It works really well on rifle cases.

They make them for some cartridges: https://leeprecision.com/lee-collet-style-crimp-die/

In regards to the FCD, they aren’t all the same. Some will size oversize bullets. You are technically shooting oversize bullets w/ cast since they are above SAAMI spec in most cases so you can’t blame the die. Other FCDs will not size oversize bullets. None of mine will size an oversize bullet so I use them as a crimp die.

Back to the original topic. I roll crimp everything since the die is already setup and I shoot a lot of H110/W296. So even if I switch to HP-38/W231 I leave it as is. If cases fail “prematurely” I will simply buy more. I don’t want to buy a new case after one firing. But if it lasts ten firings the cost would be $0.0147 per firing at Starline’s current pricing. Double the life and cost falls under a penny per round. Primers are more expensive so the cost is negligible. Components are consumables that I expect to have to replace.

[fcvan]

My opinion is only worth what you paid for it, but here goes. As stated in the many posts above, various cartridges and the various weapons they are fired in, call for a crimp or they don't. I only have Lee dies, majority straight wall pistol, some rifle, none of them FCD (shout out to Mal Paso) and I did not know the term was not to be used in this, um, church service. Hey, I go to church, but isn't this the place where we cast religiously?

Humor, or attempt thereof aside, I crimp as little as possible for all of the calibers I shoot. Yes, I crimp more for the actual hand cannons and lever gun. Well, I did that anyway as it is a 41 Magnum. Let the cartridge/gun tell you what it wants, then make dummy rounds so you can re-set your dies to the established standard. I used a turret press with individual turrets for each caliber because I like that. Still, when I change turrets I re-verify they are set.

The only dies I kind of change around are those for making gas checks, they have to be re-set anyway. The push through sizing dies are also on turrets but don't need any adjusting other than TDC. I hope you got your money's worth, Frank

[jsizemore]

So if you are going to roll crimp, does everyone agree that Lee Factory Roll Crimp die, is the best way to go?

Never used one. I've always used the crimp die that came with my die set.

[farmbif]

I put a firm roll crimp into everything that could be loaded into one of my lever actions, no need to roll crimp things that don't need it like 30-06, 308, 243 etc.

[Walks]

My experience with lee has been mostly poor.
In particular the crimp dies. I bought a fcd almost 20yrs ago on a rather insistent recommendation of a Fellow Cowboy Shooter. For .44-40; it worked like garbage. I soon discovered I had a .44mag die in a .44-40 package. called lee. They accused my of an untruth. I called Graf & Sons; who I had purchased the die from. They sent the correct die and a "call tag" to return the incorrectly packaged die.
I also tried the .38Spl & .45Colt roll crimp dies. My .45Colt .454 Bullets were squeezed down to .452dia, the .38Spl, well I just didn't like the crimp. Do Blasted hard to adjust.

I was given 2 lee die sets, so I could load ammo for handguns that I share in kind with a friend.
They are .38 S&W and .32S&W(S), they are a mixture of dies for .38Super and .32ACP respectively. They work like garbage too.
In My experience if you want a really good roll crimp ? Buy a Redding Profile Crimp Die.

The only lee die that has worked right for me has been a Taper Crimp Die for 40S&W. And the bullet size dies work well too.

And before anyone accuses me of being a lee hater, I do have some lee products.

Reloader press, 10 bullet size dies, 5 6cav molds, 8 2 cav molds, 2 taper crimp dies, Prod pot #4.
And the hand punch decappers, Large & Small.

But I'll never buy another new 2cav mold. They've cut away so much of the blocks, that they overheat within 2-3 pours.