Lee FCD crushing 380 due to spring on LNL

[SeabeeMan]

This is my first time reloading 380 ACP, but I've ran well over 20k on my LNL AP. Getting the Lee dies all set up with shellplate 16 this evening and all is well until I go to use the FCD in the last station. The first couple cases go in then get totally mangled. I take a much closer look and realize that the final station in the LNL has the retainer spring starting to shift down into the groove to clear the case for ejection. On a larger case, this doesn't seem to be an issue, but with the little 380's it is enough to tilt the case at a slight angle as the outboard edge of the brass ends up sitting on the top of the spring. It then enters the die slightly crooked and proceeds to get torn apart against the flat base of the carbide sizer portion. It's tearing streaks down the case from the mouth on the inboard part of the case as it is at enough of an angle to not catch the angle entry cone on the die.

The solution seems to be moving everything back a station. Since I'm not running a feeder and am using a PTX on the powder measure, that is fine, but I'd be in trouble if I was trying to run a separate expander or a feeder. The ergonomics to place the bullet aren't the best but I'll survive. Has anybody seen this or heard of a solution?

[onelight]

It seems it would do the same thing with any die you had in that position , not sure how the die would cause it .
Are you sure you have the correct shell plate in your LNL ?

[SeabeeMan]

True, depending on the intake cone of the die, it could happen with any design. I wasn't necessarily blaming the Lee die, just identifying all the parts at play. I have shell plate 16 on, which is what is listed for 380 ACP. At first I had 8 thinking that it would be the same for 9mm, and caught that mistake pretty quickly.

[Half Dog]

That’s a great thought that I’ll have to remember. I’ve had issues caused by the shell plate tilting slightly. If each station didn’t have a round in it the load wasn’t evenly dispersed, which caused the slight tilt.

[onelight]

True, depending on the intake cone of the die, it could happen with any design. I wasn't necessarily blaming the Lee die, just identifying all the parts at play. I have shell plate 16 on, which is what is listed for 380 ACP. At first I had 8 thinking that it would be the same for 9mm, and caught that mistake pretty quickly.
I think with a lot of shell holders 380 and 223 are the same. But if the spring is getting under the case on one side and making it cock to one side i would think the any die would have a problem. But would not be the first time I was wrong :)
But you are dead on about the bevel on the bottom many of my older dies do not have near as much bevel on the bottom as newer dies from the same manufacturer I would guess a change due to the popularity of progressives.

[cheese1566]

I have the same issue in the first station doing 9mm. The spring doesn’t seem to push the case right into the shell holder recess. I have to carefully seat it with my finger while raising the ram.
No issues with others (40/38/357/380/223)

Tried several dies too. I did find my ProJector converted shell plate works better than a new LNL one.

[SeabeeMan]

I have the same issue in the first station doing 9mm. The spring doesn’t seem to push the case right into the shell holder recess. I have to carefully seat it with my finger while raising the ram.
No issues with others (40/38/357/380/223)

Tried several dies too. I did find my ProJector converted shell plate works better than a new LNL one.

Agreed, I've seen that on a few calibers on the first station as well. I can't figure out the mechanics of it, but I've also noticed the issue with tilt when the shell plate isn't fully loaded. I've even seen posts where guys were getting measurable variation on seating depth in the first and last rounds loaded due to this. To the point that they were running empties around to help make up for it.

[SeabeeMan]

UPDATE and SOLUTION (sort of): I just got back to the press after the last post and realized that in the end, this is a bit of a non-issue. With a bullet in place, that has enough slope to it to be able to enter the die without snagging. I can run progressively with no issues related to that die.

[onelight]

That's good news . Easy fix:)