has anyone ever polished out the carbide ring on a Lee FCD?

[MBTcustom]

That's very true, but I didn't seem to have any problems with the boolits falling out or setting back, and if that is working correctly, then the only other consideration is the boolit size.
If the die is sizing the boolit, I want it to make the boolit the correct diameter inside the case.

[Fatdaddy]

There is a you tube video showing how to knock the ring out of the die.

take care,

r1kk1

Doesn't the factory crimp die crimp just like the seater/crimp die? What would be the advantage of doing this over say just not using the FCD and using the seater/crimp die?

[MBTcustom]

It is similar but not the same. The seater/crimp die has a taper crimp all right, but no carbide ring (I dont think, I have never seen a Lee seater/crimp die) However. if you try to seat and crimp lead boolits in the same operation, you get lead rings on the rim of the brass that contribute to leading (I think), can hurt reliability of your favorite slide iron (the 45acp headspaces off of the rim), and besides that, your ammo looks like dog. In order to correct this egregious problem, you should seat in one operation and crimp in another. No problem. Irregardless of how you do it though, if your die has a ring that sizes down the outside of the brass to factory specs (like the Lee FCD does) then it will try to size the boolit inside the case, which can cause an undersized boolit, which will cause a leaded barrel, which will cause missed targets, which causes big frowny faces.
In case you dont know, cast lead boolits need to be .001-.002 over groove diameter in order to shoot without leading the barrel. That's the issue we are dealing with, and why I am trying to grind/lap my carbide bigger, and others are taking the 'ol ball-peen hammer to 'em.

Fatdaddy,
Let me be the first to welcome you to the forum! We are all either experts or working on becoming experts! You will learn many many things if you keep asking. I just got on here one day cause I wanted to know how to paper patch a boolit and it was down hill from there! Castboolits is the single most valuable resource for reloading that I have ever found. Heck if I have a problem with my truck, I think about asking in the off topic section! These guys know everything!!!

[Fatdaddy]

Thanks for the warm welcome goodsteel.
I've been using the Lee seater/crimp dies with good results, I just figured when I saw the little lead turtleneck I was crimping excessively and backed off a little.
It is a tightrope act with cast boolits to get a good crimp without the shaving.

[MBTcustom]

It is a tightrope act with cast boolits to get a good crimp without the shaving.

Yes it is. I loaded for years and just tried to compromise between a lousy crimp and a lead shaving. I eliminated this problem when I read that you should make the crimp in a separate operation. Since then, I am making beautiful reloads that function flawlessly, but I want to tune this Lee die so that it works with my military brass (I have thousands and thousands of them) as well as it does with the PMP brass. The PMP brass is thinner so I dont have the trouble with undersized boolits, but I have only a few hundred of those.

[Catshooter]

Tim,

I think that from the sounds of it your die is unusally tight. .450? I wonder if Lee would replace it for you? I use the same die (I have three of them) and none of the three will mash my boolits. They are .4525.

Or you could just gamble and order another. The 45 is my go to round so I try to have more than just the minimum to load. If something breaks I don't want to be down for the count.

I also use the Lyman M die for flaring the brass. I hate shaving a boolit.


Cat

[MBTcustom]

My buddy has the same die. I measured it and it is exactly the same.
You have to understand that I dont run modern production brass. All my brass is 1970's vintage military, and it is exceptionally thick. I can get many many reloads before it cracks. Usualy, I never see a problem but the Lee die was made for modern brass and if they can shave .002 off the thickness, that saves them thousands of pounds of brass in the long run, kind of like construction lumber.
Anyway, I have probably got 10,000 pieces of this good brass so it is in my interest to tune the dies for it.
By the way, Fiocchi brass is made to the original specs and I have the same trouble out of it. (sure is good brass though!)

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

goodsteel,

I think you're on the right track with your thinking and how you want to modify the die. I'm envious of the old good brass. You'll never wear it out once you get things dialed in for your brass and bullet. Polishing the carbide ring to suit your situation is the way to go.

[MBTcustom]

I used some 600 grit diamond lapping compound and I lapped the ring out from .473 to .4745. The chamber on both my pistols is .479-.481 so I think that will do nicely.
I would like to mention that I had trouble with the ring spinning in the die as it was being lapped. I had to be very careful about the pressure on the steel lap as it was pushed in and out of the ring. I ended up getting it opened up to .4742 with the mandrel, and then took off another couple tenths by polishing at high speed with diamond compound on a cotton tipped cleaning stick. I ended up with a fairly good finish. Not quite the mirror finish that was originally on the ring, but 600 grit is the only stuff I had at work.
Anyway, I'll stab in some boolits in tonight and see how the ring works and then see if they will function in the slide iron.

[gasboffer]

I have one in .45 ACP. Tried all the suggestions to enlarge the carbide ring to no avail. Took a hacksaw to it and have loaded a lot of rounds since with not a lick of trouble. I thought I might have trouble with the case not being centered, but have not had one lick of trouble.