Who has a Lee 45 ACP Taper Crimp Die

[jh45gun]

Can you look at it please and see if it says 45 ACP? The one I got today I am sure is wrong as it seems like it does not do anything and I just looked at the die and it is marked 45 Colt C-2 I am sure they screwed up and put a 45 Colt die into a 45 ACP box.

[machanic]

Mine has LEE-45ACP-DO came in the deluxe pistol set 45ACP 45 Auto Rim hope this helps

[jh45gun]

I bought this as a separate die but I am sure it is the wrong die. I had the gun shop order it on Mon. The directions and label Tag in the single red box says Taper Crimp Die 90785 45 ACP 45 Win Magnum 45 Auto Rim.

But as said the die reads Lee 45 Colt - C-2

[machanic]

Yeah! sounds like you got the right box with the wrong die inside!!

[jh45gun]

Yea that is about my luck.

[machanic]

I just checked the Natchezss.com site they list a 45 colt - casull die must be what you received

[machanic]

I have several die sets that I have not used yet in various cals. now I have to check.

[rexherring]

Mine has LEE-45ACP-C2 on it.

[saz]

Do the work ok? I am guessing they are a seating/crimp die with the seating plug removed? I HATE my FCD- it swages everything down, and seating + crimping in the same step sometimes makes a little "booger" at the case mouth.

[Dale53]

SAZ;
I have (and do) use the Lee Factory Crimp die with excellent results in a variety of pistol calibers.

However, my bullets are not "oversize" (.32 is .313", .38/.357 is .358", .44 Special/Magnum is .430", .45 Colt/.45ACP is .452").

I use a four die set up. I am a BIG believer in the bullet seating die used JUST for bullet seating. Then, I crimp in the FCD. I especially appreciate the Lee method whereby fingers can be used to set the bullet seating depth AND the degree of crimp (both taper and roll depending on the die).

Currently, I am using Ed Harris' method with my .32's. I load an "as cast" Lee 90 gr wadcutter (TL) in unsized cases and use the separate bullet seating die to seat and the Lee Factory Crimp die to profile the bullet inside the case and crimp at the same time. It is an unconventional method, to be sure, but works quite well. I can tumble lube a thousand bullets in about ten minutes (using Recluse's 45-45-10 lube) with no sizing required (sizing is done inside the case when loading - thanks to the Lee FCD).

My other rounds are lubed conventionally on the Star luber/sizer.

It seems to have become fashionable to damn the Lee Factory Crimp Die but when "normal" sized bullets are used can be quite useful. If your revolver or pistol requires bullets larget than normal, then a conventional crimp die may work better. However, this is NOT a fault of the FCD but of the need for larger than normal bullets.

That old saying applies here, "Courses for horses"...

FWIW
Dale53

[saz]

Dale,
I agree with you 100%. My SBH needs to be sized at .4325, so the FCD is out- swages the boolits to .430-.431. Now for my 45ACP's, I shoot mostly the lee H&G #68 copy, and they drop from the 6 banger mold right at .452 and get tumble lubed with Recluses lube loaded as cast. But when I used the FCD in the past I would get leading. When I pulled the boolits they were swaged down to .449-.451. Maybe I got a tight die? I dunno. I got much better results (no leading) without the FCD, but I load all my 45ACP on the Lee turret press, so a seperate crimp die would be perfect for my situation.

I guess I was a little harsh speaking of the FCD, it just was not the right tool for the situation. I have had excellent results with it using j-word bullets.

[jh45gun]

Well the die went back to the gun shop today and they will send it out today back to Lee. I called Lee this morning and they said send it back and we will send the right die back. Not sure why the 45 Colt would use a taper crimp die when in most cases they are roll crimped?? I knew something was goofy when I did not feel any resistance even when the die was turned in all the way. Thanks for your replies.

[jimkim]

As usual I ended up with the oddball. My TCD is stamped 45ACP-H1. My FCD's are stamped 45ACP-H8 and 45ACP-F1. I'm thinking the codes are used more for tracking purposes than for a part number.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Good that you sent it back to Lee; they will make it right. The 45 ACP round needs a slight taper crimp but it still has to seat on the case mouth so it can't be overdone. i use a mic to set mine and have found that .471 works fine for me. A cardinal rule for crimping anyway is that the less of it that you do....the better in terms of brass life. LLS

[jh45gun]

I don't have a mic but I do have a caliper

[9.3X62AL]

I'm not a big fan of taper crimp dies of any make, and my 9mm and 45 ACP RCBS T/C sets are old enough to have conventional roll-crimp shoulders like a revolver seating die. I just let the crimp shoulder give the case mouth end a light "kiss", and the flares are straightened nicely without squeezing down the boolits. I do have seperate taper-crimp dies in thse calibers, but I can't see that their use gains any advantage over the process lined out above.

My RCBS 40 S&W/10mm die set is much newer, and came with a taper-crimp seating die. That might be OK for seating J-words, but a cast boolit is very prone to being reduced in diameter if the seating and taper-crimping takes place in one die operation/stroke. I seat boolits first, then use another discrete die step to flatten the flare--as Larry spoke of above.

[rintinglen]

Like Al, I do "the two-step."
Most of my volume pistol loading is done on my old 450 Dillon, and I seat in the third station and crimp in the 4th. In straight sided cases, I use and like the Lee FCD, but have had issues with the 9mm, so I don't use one there. I bought an old steel crimp die that sits in the 4th station with the seating stem removed when loading 9mm.