Lee 45acp crimp die for 45-70?

[barnabus]

do yall think a Lee 45acp crimp die would work for crimping a 45-70? I dont want to use the LFCD 45-70 and perfer not to use a standard die set that seats and crimps in one operation.Your thoughts?

[44MAG#1]

Why would you want to? I would like to know as I may want to try it. For what reason I don't know but am willing to learn new and better ways to do things. I have loaded 45/70 for years and can think of no good reason to do it. Besides the 45/60 case is larger than a 45 Auto so what would be the advantage?

[Boolseye]

You can always pull the innards from the LFCD and put them in the expander body.
That gives you the crimp feature without the post-sizing. I do that with .45 ACP and 9mm.

[Tackleberry41]

You can always turn the die out so it seats, then come back and crimp it after.

[Scharfschuetze]

I don't think that you'd be able to get a 45/70 into a 45 ACP die. If you size your 45/70 to .460 like many of us, you have a .008" larger boolit than the .452" boolit that the ACP uses. At best, even if you can, you'd probably swage down the diameter of your 45/70 boolit and loose any semblance of accuracy. I'm traveling right now so I can't confirm that, but I'd be surprised if it would work.

At any rate, the suggestion above by Tackleberry makes the most sense if you don't have a dedicated crimp die for your 45/70.

[44MAG#1]

I still would like to know why one would like to do this. I'll admit I am probably one of the dumbest most disliked people on here but I am curious.

[Mk42gunner]

I agree with Scharfshuetze and 44MAG#1. I don't think it will fit and why do it if you already have a .45-70 seating die?

I haven't loaded any .45-70 in years, but the RCBS die set that I have did just fine seating and crimping in one step. It is just a matter of taking the time to adjust the dies correctly.

I have tried the seat the boolit then readjust and crimp, or even using a separate crimp die for various straight walled cartridges; I honestly saw no improvement in my ammo either way, so I went back to using the simpler seat and crimp in one step method.

Robert

[44MAG#1]

I just tried it and know but let each find his own way.

[barnabus]

thanks everyone for ur help. I'll stick with the one step method.

[Boolseye]

Not a problem! Definitely just crimp separately as suggested with seater die.
Simple fix.

[JimA]

do yall think a Lee 45acp crimp die would work for crimping a 45-70? I dont want to use the LFCD 45-70 and perfer not to use a standard die set that seats and crimps in one operation.Your thoughts?

You say you would prefer to crimp in a separate step from seating as many do. Why do you not want to use the 45-70 LFCD? You do know that the rifle factory crimp dies do not post size the cartridge right. They use a collet to crimp, there is no carbide sizing ring involved. If you are going to use the ammo in a lever gun a crimp makes sense.

[JimA]

You can always pull the innards from the LFCD and put them in the expander body.
That gives you the crimp feature without the post-sizing. I do that with .45 ACP and 9mm.

There is no post sizing with the 45-70 LFCD. It is not made like the pistol dies.

[44MAG#1]

I use RCBS dies and occasionally seat and crimp in separate operations depending on the crimp groove and when I do I use the same seating die.
Why make something complicated out of something simple?

[Char-Gar]

Folks get their knickers in a twist about using the same die to seat and crimp, but never seem to ask the question why not?

The purpose of using a separate crimp die is to prevent shaving of lead from the body of the bullet as the last bit of seating and crimping take place at the same time. However, if the bullet is being crimped in a good crimp groove, there is plenty of space for the bullet to be seated the last bit before crimping without shaving lead.

Sometimes it is wise to use two different dies and other times it is a waste of time. There are mantras and myths aplenty in cast bullet shooting, that won't bear up under a critical analysis by folks who understand the mechanics of the thing. Seat and crimp in two different operations is one mantra that is sometimes true and often times not.

[W.R.Buchanan]

For the .45-70 I simply bought an extra Lee Seating die for $10 I seat with one and crimp with the other. I do this with a lot of cartridges as I have always liked seating and crimping in separate operations.

Since I only shoot cast boolits in my .45-70 I roll crimp into the crimp groove, thus I do not have a FCD for that caliber. If I used jacketed bullets with a cannelure I would.

I load my .303's with both cast and jacketed, and I have an extra seating die (RCBS as Lees doesn't crimp for boolits) and a Collet die for my Jacket Bullet loads.

In a Levergun a crimp is mandatory! to prevent the bullets from being pushed back into the case by the Magazine Spring.

I crimp pretty much every round I load.

Randy

[Boolseye]

There is no post sizing with the 45-70 LFCD. It is not made like the pistol dies.

I was thinking of the pistol dies. Yeah, the rifle factory crimp dies are a simple pressure-actuated collet, crimp as much or as little as needed. I use them for all my rifle reloading.

[MT Chambers]

I wouldn't waste money on crimping dies, seat the bullet with seating die, them remove stem and adjust die in press to crimp, don't overthink this or overspend, but a good set of dies like Redding is not a waste of money.