Trying Lee FCD in 45 auto

[dondiego]

Never needed one.

[fredj338]

I loaded 10s of 1000s of 45acp without a lfcd. I bought one just to see if it did affect accuracy & my tests show it does to some degree. Maybe not enough for the avg pistol shooter but it dies open groups a bit with mixed brass. Vs taper crimp.

[justindad]

I have a 3” Kimber 1911 with a match grade barrel. Getting this gun to cycle reliably has been (& still is) a fun learning experience. When I was loading with Berry’s copper plated bullets, the FCD was required. Now I’m sizing my hand cast boolits to .451” DIA and things work perfectly with a taper crimp after seating.

[gwpercle]

Never needed one.

I didn't either !
They didn't have them in 1967 when I started loading 45 acp ...
dondiegogary
if you ain't never had one ... you don't know you need it .

[charlie b]

And I still don't 'need' it. It came in the set of dies I ordered. It is just a taper crimp die that works very well for me. Just about any taper crimp die will do the same job.

[megasupermagnum]

You don't need carbide dies either, but what kind of fool would ever buy steel pistol dies today?

[agcannon]

I have a Lee factory crimp for 45 acp. Haven't tried it yet. never had any issues with .452 boolits. chambers are all throated in my 1911's. The LFC Die was a big help in loading 10 mm auto for my Glock 20. 10mm is the only round I load jacketed for.

I use the FCD for all my milsurp rifles, krag, 30-06, 7 & 8 mm. 45-70 too, just enough to take the bell out of the case after seating

[charlie b]

You don't need carbide dies either, but what kind of fool would ever buy steel pistol dies today?

True. And I don't need a taper crimp die either, but, I like to have one. The Lee is the one I happen to have and it works nicely for me.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

I know this is a dumb question, but are you belling the case mouth enough? Could that be what is causing the scraping as you seat/crimp? Just a thought, as I didn't see that mentioned in your initial post.

[charlie b]

The problem is typical with seating and applying a taper crimp at the same time. The case mouth is forced into the bullet as the seating stem presses down on the bullet.

If you do not crimp and only remove the 'bell' you can get away with this.

FWIW, in the old days I used to use a sizing die (std RCBS, not carbide) to remove the flare. Just run the case into the die about 0.1" Actually worked really well for me.

[Larry Gibson]

Never needed one.

I never needed one either....until I did.......

[onelight]

Shoot a bunch of the ones you ran through the FCD and see how accurate they are, how they feed, and if there are any leading issues.
You will then have your answer.
For me, the answer was to use the FCD and forget the other stuff since there were no issues at all.

My experience is the same , I use them on all my auto pistol loads , makes life simpler.

[gwpercle]

You don't need carbide dies either, but what kind of fool would ever buy steel pistol dies today?

Me !
A set of CH in 9mm luger because I find the carbide don't do a proper job on the tapered 9mm case , the Lee carbide sizer oversized the case straight . The CH does a nice taper size .
Also picked up a set of steel 41 Magnum Dies , made by Bonanza ... never been used , for $4.95 ...No one bid on them so I bid $4.95 and got them !
I guess I'm odd because I still load on a single station Pacific press , don't mind gas checks , like steel dies and not afraid of case lube .
I use Lee case lube mixed with alcohol and sprayed on ... no mess .
Gary
my Herter's 41 magnum were steel also but the Bonanza Dies were super nice .

[Backcut]

I got out to the range yesterday.
Recap:
Kahr P45, 3.5" barrel
MBC 230gr coated bullets
Redding dies

This time I ran all the bullets through through a .452 sizer
Adjusted expander die and ran all the cases through again making sure I have just enough flare
I added a Redding #94189 "pro series" seating die with *no crimp feature*
Seated bullets to 1.200" with no scraping and no trouble
All rounds are much too fat to plunk

Now how do I crimp?
I removed the seater plug from the original Redding taper crimp seating die that came with the set and adjusted that to give about the minimum crimp needed for rounds to plunk easily. The die features a very gradual taper pretty much the full length of the case.
Finally I crimped 10 each with the taper crimp or with the Lee FCD, over 231 or True Blue, 40 rounds total.
All 4 loads functioned well and were pleasingly accurate, though I pulled a shot or two with each of them.
The taper crimp gave slightly higher velocities than the FCD with both powders.

Powder	Die	Vel	stdev
RTB 6.9	taper crimp	790	12
RTB 6.9	Lee FCD	782	9
231 5.2	taper crimp	790	10
231 5.2	Lee FCD	771	17

Both the Lee FCD and the taper crimp worked fine and made functional and accurate rounds. According to the test I posted on 2/12, the FCD did swage my bullets down by around .0015" from .4528 to .4512, though I did not repeat that test with the taper crimp, and that was also before I ran all the bullets through the .452 sizer. The press lever offered less resistance with the taper crimp, and somehow it gave a little better velocity for the same powder charge, so I guess I'll taper crimp and set the FCD aside. But it worked as it should and I don't have any problems with it.
I didn't see any leading, but will keep an eye out.

Thanks to you all for the good advice you've given me in this thread,
Backcut