HangFireW8
01-23-2012, 03:49 PM
Hi all,
As an experienced reloader, this problem is a little embarrassing, I know the "usual" answers but they are not working- that is, try a different die, using a separate crimp die after the seater die on my progressive.
The issue is this. Since these are FMJ look-alikes, I'd like to load them all to 45ACP max COAL, 1.245". I can get them longer, no problem, where the crimp ring sits on top of the uppermost TL band. But when I set it to the "correct" OAL, the crimp pushes down on the top of the uppermost driving band, and sets the bullet back .010" or more.
Yeah, I'm a perfectionist. The 1.230-1.235" COAL cartridges will probably feed and work fine. If I dial back the crimp, the loaded case mouth diameter is about 1.273", has a definite edge to it, and seems like it will hang up on feeding. I like to taper it down to 1.269" for a nice smooth transition and easy feeding, while leaving the rest of the boolit unmolested so it fills the bore.
Whatever the OAL or crimp is, they don't suffer from insufficient boolit tension.
I've tried applying a little bit of crimp on the seating die and the rest of the crimp on the final die, but no luck. I'm using a standard Lee 45 die for seating, I've tried both my Lee Speed die (remember those?) and my Lee FC die for the final stage, with exactly the same results. I've also tried swapping the Speed die for the standard Lee seating die for initial seating.
The boolits are LLA lubed. I have some other dies I could try like RCBS 45 Colt.
Any ideas? Anyone else run into this? It's like it is messing with me, the COAL responds very nicely as I dial it down to the desired depth, until I get below 1.250", then it suddenly jumps down to 1.230-1.235" as the crimper starts shoving it down.
-HF
As an experienced reloader, this problem is a little embarrassing, I know the "usual" answers but they are not working- that is, try a different die, using a separate crimp die after the seater die on my progressive.
The issue is this. Since these are FMJ look-alikes, I'd like to load them all to 45ACP max COAL, 1.245". I can get them longer, no problem, where the crimp ring sits on top of the uppermost TL band. But when I set it to the "correct" OAL, the crimp pushes down on the top of the uppermost driving band, and sets the bullet back .010" or more.
Yeah, I'm a perfectionist. The 1.230-1.235" COAL cartridges will probably feed and work fine. If I dial back the crimp, the loaded case mouth diameter is about 1.273", has a definite edge to it, and seems like it will hang up on feeding. I like to taper it down to 1.269" for a nice smooth transition and easy feeding, while leaving the rest of the boolit unmolested so it fills the bore.
Whatever the OAL or crimp is, they don't suffer from insufficient boolit tension.
I've tried applying a little bit of crimp on the seating die and the rest of the crimp on the final die, but no luck. I'm using a standard Lee 45 die for seating, I've tried both my Lee Speed die (remember those?) and my Lee FC die for the final stage, with exactly the same results. I've also tried swapping the Speed die for the standard Lee seating die for initial seating.
The boolits are LLA lubed. I have some other dies I could try like RCBS 45 Colt.
Any ideas? Anyone else run into this? It's like it is messing with me, the COAL responds very nicely as I dial it down to the desired depth, until I get below 1.250", then it suddenly jumps down to 1.230-1.235" as the crimper starts shoving it down.
-HF