45-70 reloading HELP!

[Okie2]

So....I bought the 45-70...bought the brass, the mold....cast my bullets (Lyman 457122....330 HP...casts 460 & weighs 345). Purchased new starline brass....resized 200...primed 200.... Tried to put some together tonight & I can't get the crimp to seal. I can push the bullet in & out by hand.... Using RCBS cowboy dies & the Lee Factory Crimp...neither the Lee or 3'rd RCBS Die will crimp & force the brass to seal around the bullet (on any band). I can take a "loaded" cartridge & fit it all the way up the Lee by hand...no crimp.... It's as if the brass is too short for the dies. Mic'd the brass & measure 2.10...just like they are supposed to be. Been reloading 30 years & 10,000's of rounds....this is a new one on me! Please help!!! I want to go shooting! Scott

[Captain*Kirk]

Did you try adjusting the FCD by the "numbers" (per instructions) i.e. take the loaded cartridge on the ram all the way to the top of the ram stroke, then adjusting the FCD down until you feel it contact the shoulder of the case...then turn down an additional 1/2 to 1 turn?
This is exactly how I did it, and I could feel a very solid contact point, and it left a very prominent crimp groove. If you can run the die all the way down (until you run out of threads) then I would first check to ensure you got the right die, that it is inserted with the correct end up(sounds stupid but can be done) and if all else fails, mic out the ID of the die to ensure you didn't get a dud. Good luck!

[Okie2]

Yup...did that. I can take a "dummy load" brass & bullet pushed inside brass & push both all the way up the Lee without resistance. It's killing me! The RCBS isn't much better.... I can actually turn the bullet by hand with little or no resistance AFTER these operations? Do I need a different brand of crimper? Going to suck going another week without shooting. ****! Any other ideas?

[garandsrus]

Okie2,

I believe that the problem is with your resizing and neck tension, or possibly the bullet size, not the crimp. The boolit should not be able to move with just neck tension holding it. Either your cases are not getting sized enough, the expander ball is too large, or the boolit is too small.

Did you try seating a boolit into an unsized case, which was probably sized at the factory? What do your boolits measure? What does the inside of the case measure before seating a boolit?

John

[Frozone]

Unless the Lee FC die is in the press it won't function correctly.
It also must be setup properly.

Raise the ram.

Screw the die in until it firmly contacts the shell holder.

Lower the ram.

Now screw the die in about 1/2 more turns.

You can go to LEE's web site for videos of all their die setups.

There is likely problems with the resizer also however.

I have a FCD from LEE they work perfectly.

[Okie2]

Finally found the problem...the 2nd die (expander)....the part the expands & bells the case mouth has two separate diameters & was set too deep so the instead of just belling the mouth...it was belling way too much of the cartridge. thanks guys.