Lee M-1 Carbine/.32-20 factory crimp

[Newtire]

It appears that the Lee .30 carbine factory crimp die does a great job on the .32-20's I have been loading. Just thought it would be a good thing to know.

[BluesBear]

I discovered the same thing about my .44-40 FCD. It works great on .44 Magnum too. Sadly it's too long for .44 Special. It works especially well with cannelured bullets. Heavy loads will NOT jump during recoil.

I think the collet style Factory Crimp Die is the best thing Lee has ever made.
The ones they call a FCD for straight walled pistol calibers are nothing more than an oversized carbide sizing die. (They probably even make them out of their .003"+ rejects)

I think Lee is missing the boat by not making the collet FCD for straight walled pistol cases.

Even as anti-Lee as I am I'd buy real collet style FCDs for .32 S&W Long/H&R Mag, .38/.357, 41 Mag, .44 Spl and .45 Colt in a heartbeat.

[Newtire]

Don't get what you're saying about Lee not making a collet FCD? I have them for .32 mag & .44 mag as well as .444 and they are all a collet design.

[BluesBear]

Cool, That's good news. A few years ago I contacted Lee and tried to order ones for .38, .41, .44 Spl and .45 Colt and was told that the cartridges were too short to work and that I should purchase their carbide FCD.

Maybe they are waking up?

[Nueces]

Newtire, would you have part numbers for the pistol ones, please? No joy yet on the Lee site.

Thanks, Mark

Don't get what you're saying about Lee not making a collet FCD? I have them for .32 mag & .44 mag as well as .444 and they are all a collet design.

[BluesBear]

The latest Lee catalog I have is the 2006 issue so after reading the last post I also checked the Lee website and I could not find them either.


I did however find this mumbo jumbo on their custom services page;
http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/cata....html#CUSTOMFC

Rifle Factory Crimp Dies are cartridge specific and there are a few that cannot be made. Any handgun case that is of a bottleneck design qualifies because the die would have to made much like the rifle factory crimp dies but we do not make die bodies shorter than that you would find on a .223 Remington. Examples would be the 30 Mauser, 7.62 x 25 and the .357 Sig. The 50 AE also applies because the case is too short for the die bodies available.

So it seems that Lee does NOT make them in the pistol calibers I desire after all.

However, since they DO make them for .32-20, .38-40 & .44-40 (which are all shorter than a .223 case) why can't they make them for .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum and .45 Colt since all three share the same case length which is only .002" shorter?

Based upon how they work, the collet insert moves less than .010", I don't see why they couldn't make them for rounds as small as .32 Short Colt.

The only disadvantage to them is that they only work for a single length so you'd need a separate one for .38 Special than you'd need for .357 Magnum.
But even that could be worked around with threaded adapters.

[Newtire]

Hi You Guys. Maybe we aren't talking the same kind of dies but I have them in a variety of calibers. Here are some pics. I even have one in .30-30 Ackley Improved. I got all mine at Midway except for the AI which came with the gun. I got one for .30-06, 8mm Mauser, 7.62x54....Is this what you are talking about?

[Newtire]

Here's a few more...

[BluesBear]

If you notice your pistol caliber FCDs are CARBIDE. They are nothing more than an oversized TC resizing die ring installed into a regular crimp die. It sizes whatever part of the case that enters the die. They will work on different length cases.

Your rifle caliber ones have a moving collet inside that only squeezes the very edge of the case mouth.
The shell holder must press against the base of the collet assembly to make it crimp. They will only work on cases of a certain length.

[BluesBear]

Look closer.



Your Carbide Pistol FCDs don't have this.

[Newtire]

Look closer.



Your Carbide Pistol FCDs don't have this.

I see! they are just a taper-crimp die..kind of a rip.

[BluesBear]

kind of a rip.

yup, kinda