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I was looking for a neck sizing die in 45-70 for my single shot rifles and came across info that a Lee carbide crimp die in 45 Colt would work. Ordered one, tried it and it almost worked but did not size the neck down to hold .459 properly. Ordered a 45 acp one and it works great. You can size just the amount of neck that you want by putting a spacer over the case and adjusting the die. Make sure you order the "45 acp Lee carbide crimp die" if you need one.
“Spacer over the case”. I’m old and can’t visualize that. :)
You cannot back the die out far enough to only neck size with the ram all the way down so you need to put a stack of washers over the case or in my case I used heavy wall pipe cut off to correct length about 1" long.
I have bushing dies in my bpcr calibers Got them from Old West moulds. They size the neck and with the bushings you can adjust the neck tensions.
The 45-70 FL should be tapered. I back the die out till I get the amount of sizing I need to seat my .461 without creating a bulge in the case. It's enough that the expander plug doesn't touch the neck till it bells the case. It doesn't size the case at the head but has worked in my Marlin without any problems.
I have a Redding FL die . I post this with the qualifier that either the 1895 I load for is unusually tight chambered or the Redding FL and sizer that I bought with probably a relieved RCBS FL sizer was custom ordered . The standard RCBS FL in a second set only kisses the body .
In any case the Redding die only sizes about.600 down the neck and .220 or so of the base .
I don't know why the FCD in 45 ACP would be smaller than the 45 Colts. I use mine as a sizer for a really fat 45 Colts carbine . Even then it's plenty of hold on a .454 . Just an observation though.
The portion of the 45-70 that holds the slug is not tapered.
My RCBS FL die way over sizes the brass for my single shots even if I back it way off.
The Lee carbide FCD just sizes the neck of the 45-70.
I am sure the Lee dies do fine for the proper cartridge but if you are looking for a cheap 45-70 neck sizer try one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Harter66
The reason the ACP die is smaller is the brass is thinner.
Good idea guys. If you have multiple die sets do some measuring or trials with different ones. Just in 45 Colt, I have 3 or 4 different diameters and they are all carbide. That doesn’t include steel dies. Allows some mix and match. Granted the Colt size die likely be too small but the 4 th die that does the body is likely about 475”or so in acp
You need to resize about .9" in order to properly hold 400+gr bullets. I use Lyman's necksize die.
I made my sizer die to just size the neck and the expander too. It's nice when you have a lathe. I'm a huge fan of bushing dies.
You may want to try the LEE powder through expander die #90089 for 45/70, cheap as chips and worth a punt. I use them for 357, and a M1 carbine for my 30/30 and a straight powder through for my 223 and have nothing but praise for them.
Lee even responded to my e-mail asking if the 30 M1 version would work on my 30/30 it does, just enough to get cast bullets started without shaving them and not using their universal expander which can overstretch the necks IMHO.
I have not resized a 45-70 case in years except recently purchased new brass as part of my case prep. Not needed in either of my 1874 or 1877 45-70 Shiloh rifles with either P.P. or greaser bullets.