.44 cal. Crimp Question?

[Bushrod]

What is the difference between the crimp I can put on my cast bullets using the Lee bullet seating/crimp die ----or a Lee factory crimp die? I want a nice crimp but don't want to be shaving lead as they come out of the case!!I've been at wits end to find the difference between Factory crimp-Roll crimp-Taper crimp??

[hiram]

The factory crimp die uses a collet to press or pinch the mouth of the case into the crimp groove. The crimp feature in the bullet seating die rolls the mouth of the case into the crimp groove. If you set the bullet seating die too deep to crimp on a case with a shoulder, i.e. .308 win, you can put a bulge in the shoulder and the cartridge will not chamber. There is a another style crimp die that tapers the mouth closed. None of these crimps shave lead. If you are having a lead-shaving problem, flare the case mouth open a little so the mouth of the case doesn't run up the side of the bullet while seating it.

[Throckmorton]

using 2 seperate dies is the best way to stop shaving lead.
Think about it.
as the one die is crimping the case mouth,it's also still pushing the boolit into the case because the ram is still moving upward.
for pistol calibers,the FCD has a carbide sizer ring,just like a regular sizing die,and is supposed to size the bollit and brass onemore time as it crimps. I don't care for it as it bounces the top off of my dillon powder measure,so I just bought a seperate seat/crimp die and use it to crimp only.

[1hole]

Seating and crimping seperately is the best way to achieve good accuracy but it depends on what and how you shoot if it really makes any practical difference.

They work differently. The rifle FCD has an inner collet that squeezes the case mouths down, the handgun FCD is pretty much a conventional type roll or taper crimper. Actually, for handguns, the FCD accomplishes about the same thing in the same way as the crimp ring in seaters do.

The BIG difference is Lee's handgun FCD "post seating" carbide sizer ring. Many cast bullet shooters size their bullets a bit larger than "normal" and, with thick brass, that sometimes swells the cases to large to chamber reliably. The post seating sizer ring simply insures the ammo will chamber; if the load diameter is too large the ring will bring it down, if it's normal the ring will do nothing. It's just good reliablity insurance without having to run each round though the chamber before putting it away for use.

[mousegun]

An important point about the Lee Pistol Factory Crimp Die: many cast bullet users seat their bullets with a diameter either as cast, sized to groove diameter or .001" larger. In the case of the 44Mag, I size to .431". Crimping with the Lee FCD caused the bullet to be sized down to .429"-.430" as measured on pulled bullets, depending on the case brand. Starline cases seem to be thicker. I had Lee grind the carbide ferrule open .002" and now I get .431" diameter bullets when pulled.


YMMV