45 acp dies

[wch]

Decided to reload for my 45 acp, considering 4 die Lee carbide die set- has anyone any experience with these dies?
Thanks for your reply!

[Guesser]

I've got a set; they do what they are designed for. But; follow the Lee instructions.........untill you get used to their idiosycracies.

[mdhillbilly1]

Decided to reload for my 45 acp, considering 4 die Lee carbide die set- has anyone any experience with these dies?
Thanks for your reply!
I prefer the Hornady Custom Titanium-Nitride Coated 45 AUTO-AR-WIN MAG (.451) TAPER CRIMP 3-DIE SET



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[Gillie Dog]

Decided to reload for my 45 acp, considering 4 die Lee carbide die set- has anyone any experience with these dies?
Thanks for your reply!

Have run them for a long time and thousands of rounds. They work just as advertised.

Even with carbide dies I run a very light lanolin lube on all pistol calibers just to make it easier on my old tired arm to crank them through.;-)

GD

[tazman]

I am using the Lee 4 die for 45 acp set with great results.

[mdi]

I would not suggest the use of Lee's FCD for handgun cartridges. The three die set is enough, but if you are using a turret or progressive press you may want to purchase a dedicated taper crimp die. As a new reloader you will need to learn how to fix any problems that may arise and not just covering them up. I have reloaded 45 ACP for 20+ years and have never needed an FCD to resize my finished ammo (jacketed, cast, PCed, plated and coated bullets). I got one out of curiosity and it ruined my carefully sized .44mag. bullets so it now resides in a landfill somewhere in So. Oregon...

Nope, not a Lee hater, just don't think the FCD for handgun cartridges is good for much...

[W.R.Buchanan]

The Lee FCD for pistols is nothing more than a Taper Crimp Die with a carbide ring installed to iron out any bulges that might occur.

If you don't want that feature then another brand of dies with a dedicated taper crimp die would be the way to go.

I am a firm believer in separating the seating and crimping operations. This requires a 4th die to perform.

on most 3 die sets for pistol ammo they size the case with the 1st die then Flare and Deprime with the 2nd. I never have liked that method.

Some Lee Flaring dies have a hole thru the punch so you can charge the case at the same time. Since I load most rounds on my C&H 444 press using the three front stations, this feature works best for me. .45 ACP would go the same way on that press, but it goes much faster on the 550B!.

You would size and deprime on the center rear station, prime, flare and charge on the left station, seat in the front center and taper crimp on the right front station.

198336

Randy

[big bore 99]

Having good results with the Lee set.

[ioon44]

I prefer the Hornady Custom Titanium-Nitride Coated 45 AUTO-AR-WIN MAG (.451) TAPER CRIMP 3-DIE SET



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That is the best .45 ACP dies I have used and I have tried several over the years.

[DerekP Houston]

All my dies are lee, and they've all been working fine for my needs in my turret press and LNL AP. Adjusting the dies is always the longest part of setup for me.

[mdi]

The Lee FCD for pistols is nothing more than a Taper Crimp Die with a carbide ring installed to iron out any bulges that might occur.

Randy
Thar's the problem. Rather than find out why and fix the bulging it just irons out the mistake, no remedy. Actually I have no feelings pro or con if an experienced reloader wants to use one, but I believe it's a disservice to a new reloader to suggest one as a "fix all" tool...

[JBinMN]

That is the best .45 ACP dies I have used and I have tried several over the years.

Vote # 3 on the Hornady set above. I have 3-4 sets of them & they are worth the $.
Right now they have a deal going where ya buy one set & you can get a free box of 100 jacketed bullets from them for paying the shipping ( about $7 US or so). I think that is about a $25 or so, return on your buying the set.
:)

http://www.hornady.com/promotions/get-loaded-2017

[Kevin Rohrer]

You get what you pay for. If you want quality dies, look elsewhere. And make sure the sizer is Nitride or similar so you don't have to lube cases. I am happy w/ my Dillon, Hornady, Redding, and RCBS dies.

[Larry Gibson]

The Lee dies for 45 ACP will suffice.

I also have found the Lee 45 ACP FCD to be useful. My Colt M1911s, S&W M1917, Uberti SAA spare cylinder, M98 Mauser with Rhineland conversion and Contender eat everything loaded on the 3 die set or those loaded on my Dillon SDB just fine. However, my Para Ordinance P-14 has a tight match chamber and will not fully chamber some rounds so loaded. A pass through the Lee FCD cures that and all such Lee FCD sized cartridges feed with 100% reliability.

Larry Gibson

[tazman]

Apparently quite a number of people have trouble with the Lee FCD swaging down the boolits inside the brass, making them smaller than required for best usage. I have FCD dies for all the handgun cartridges I load for and have never had this problem. I use the FCD as a crimping die and a safety net.
The carbide ring in the FCD only touches the case when there is something oversize with that particular cartridge. Maybe my boolit didn't get sized properly or the brass is too thick. In my usage, the ring only touches the case maybe 1 in 20 or so. If the case bulges where the base of the boolit sits after seating, the bulge will still be there after running through the FCD if all else is right.
Maybe I am just lucky and got the only FCD dies that are the proper size.

[bgw45]

Been loading 45 since '95. I've used Lee & Dillon. I prefer the Dillon because they are easier to clean without removing them from the press. $20 more but the benefits last the life of the dies.

[Johnny_Cyclone]

Lee 4 die set is fine.

[Drew P]

I went through 3 sets of 45acp dies before finally breaking down and buying the Dillon set. They have several gimmicks that I like. The spring loaded primer pin is the main one. But the quick change seating and crimp clips are also nice, as is the flared mouths, the hex lock rings and the reversing seat plug. Just nice dies.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Thar's the problem. Rather than find out why and fix the bulging it just irons out the mistake, no remedy. Actually I have no feelings pro or con if an experienced reloader wants to use one, but I believe it's a disservice to a new reloader to suggest one as a "fix all" tool...

Oh I agree that it shouldn't be a fix all, but what it fixes is generally isolated to either a small Case Bulge caused by a loose or unsupported chamber or when the guy seated the bullet cockeyed.

I don't have either of those problems but a new guy might. However Lee Tools are made with a large allowance for newbie protection engineered in. This is due to the fact that Lee Tools are used by more Newbies than all others combined. The fact that he might not know what the problem was is probably due to the fact that he didn't even know it existed in the first place, as the die took care of him. I would expect that if the problem with a given round was so bad that it might be unsafe that he would notice that the side of the bullet was shaved off. If he didn't notice something that bad I'm afraid he maybe should pick another hobby?

Sometimes you have to design things to a certain intelligence level, and not everything is going to work for everyone. Really Lee comes closer to a broader cross section of users than anyone else.

I use the .40 s&W FCD with the taper crimp removed to Debulge all my .40 S&W cases before they get reloaded, and I use the same die to Taper Crimp the cartridges as they flow thru the 550B.

Since they were debulged first the FCD carbide ring does nothing the second time thru as the sizing die has reduced the case dia. smaller than the FCD did.

I don't think it is a substitute for paying attention, but it is there if you needed it.

Randy

[mdhillbilly1]

Decided to reload for my 45 acp, considering 4 die Lee carbide die set- has anyone any experience with these dies?
Thanks for your reply!I want to note one thing about bulging during reloading. It was pointed out to me that to much lube can cause a type of an bulge.

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[big bore 99]

I have that set and it works fine for me.

[Char-Gar]

I have been loading the 45 ACP since 1961 and have always used either RCBS or Lyman dies with complete satisfaction. I don't use Lee dies due to a bad experience many years back. Many think Lee is the way to go and others do not hold a positive opinion about their dies. Your money, your choice.