Best crimp die for .30-30 boolits?

[FergusonTO35]

Hey guys. I cast up a bunch of .310 gas check slugs for my Marlin .30-30's. The boolits have a crimp groove. I have the Lee standard seat/crimp die and the factory crimp die. As you know, the standard die produces a rounded, radius crimp and the factory crimp die produces a flat, parallel crimp. Which one do you all prefer for this application?

[Tim357]

FCD. Without a doubt

[462]

The collet crimp die, because it can apply the crimp anywhere that's optimal (not to mimic Barry), instead of just the crimp groove.

[FergusonTO35]

Sounds good. Looks like the FCD is the way to go.

[Model29-2]

Ferguson,
The FCD die I use on my 30-30 works great. I adjust it so it just rolls the lip into the crimp groove on the bullet, as I like to know that nothing is going to move inside the tubular magazine.

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks! I tried some of my 150 grain slugs today. I had crimped them with standard crimp die, which bulged the brass below the case mouth and caused some to chamber with difficulty. They still fired very well though, with accuracy as good as anything else I've ever tried.

[williamwaco]

Thanks! I tried some of my 150 grain slugs today. I had crimped them with standard crimp die, which bulged the brass below the case mouth and caused some to chamber with difficulty. They still fired very well though, with accuracy as good as anything else I've ever tried.

This is caused by die adjustment error. You have the die screwed too far into the press. Back it out 1/8 turn at a time until the bulge disappears. Note that longer cases will bulge at a die setting that works fine for shorter cases. This on one of the reasons for trimming cases.



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[FergusonTO35]

Yep, that sounds likely.

[popper]

FCD but I don't give a hard crimp, just remove the flair. No setback in 30-30 or AR-308.

[izzyjoe]

i use the FCD, cause i don't bother trimming cases on 30-30's for awhile. don't go overboard on crimp, it could slightly size you're boolit's back down some, and you don't wan't that.

[Junior1942]

In case nobody mentioned it :smile: the Lee FCD is the way to go.

[fouronesix]

If I had a choice, I'd use a Lee FCD (rifle type- not the pistol type!) for everything I load. As others have posted, too much crimp can be counter-productive.

[wallenba]

I'm using the RCBS cowboy seater die to roll crimp mine. Nothing against the Lee FCD, I use them a lot, but the 30-30 FCD I have, leaves a raised 'pinch' where the collet splits are. I can't seem to figure out why. My others don't do that.

[fouronesix]

but the 30-30 FCD I have, leaves a raised 'pinch' where the collet splits are. I can't seem to figure out why. My others don't do that.

That appearance is common with the FCD. And how much may depend on how much crimp is being applied. If you look at a lot of factory ammo you'll notice the same raised ridges around the crimp ring. It is the nature of the split collet design "squeezing" down on the brass- it is not sliding or pushing down to form the crimp- thus one of the advantages of the FCD design- squeezing not sliding or pushing.

[wallenba]

That appearance is common with the FCD. And how much may depend on how much crimp is being applied. If you look at a lot of factory ammo you'll notice the same raised ridges around the crimp ring. It is the nature of the split collet design "squeezing" down on the brass- it is not sliding or pushing down to form the crimp- thus one of the advantages of the FCD design- squeezing not sliding or pushing.

Yes, all my FCD's leaves those marks, but the 30-30 FCD is the only one that grabs the brass and folds it at one of the gaps, squeezing the brass into the gap. I need to replace the collet.

[MtGun44]

The benefit to the Lee rifle type FCD is that it is much less sensitive to case length than a
shoulder type crimp die. Case length variation is what causes the over and under crimping
that is common with the conventional shoulder type dies.

Bill

[geargnasher]

The benefit to the Lee rifle type FCD is that it is much less sensitive to case length than a
shoulder type crimp die. Case length variation is what causes the over and under crimping
that is common with the conventional shoulder type dies.

Bill

Agreed.

I use the FCD on my plinking and practice loads with mixed brass. I trim all my brass, but some are shorter than the mean, and some stretch more than others after just one firing, so the FCD is a big time saver. It also works great for crimping tumble-lube boolits like the Ranch Dog designs.

For serious work on targets and game, I use a boolit designed for my specific chambers and a certain trim-to length, and carefully roll the mouth *just* under the crimp groove to prevent setback, but I don't roll them hard into the bottom of the groove since there are no "pull" forces on the boolit in the magazine. I get better results that way because it damages the boolits less both during crimping and during firing.

Gear