Lee die identity?

[TNsailorman]

I have a Lee die that I do not know exactly which die I have. It is a crimp die marked Lee -45acp-F1. It has the new Lee gear type ring on it. Looks almost new. It has a internal sliding sleeve. I went to the Lee site and tried to find it on their listings and finally tried to send them a message to ask them to identify it, no joy. I will try to put up a couple of pictures. I need help. Thanks, james .

[deces]

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...aper-Crimp-Die

[Sam Sackett]

Yep. Looks like a factory crimp die. Do you have a 4 die set?

Sam Sackett

[45_Colt]

Lee carbide FCD. Look into the bottom of the body, there should be a carbide ring. That part resizes the cartridge down to size. The die body is to be adjusted first so that it just contacts the shell plate/holder.

The floating sleeve and top part provides a taper crimp to the brass. This gets adjusted for the proper amount of crimp. And/or to remove any case mouth belling.

45_Colt

[TNsailorman]

The confusion I had was one of memory. I like to try out new things once in a while and when the Lee Factory crimp die came out I bought one in .45acp. I got it and tried it out on a 200 grain bullet. It left sharp ridges on the case mouth all the way around. I backed off the adjustment a little and tried another , same result with less ridge hiegth. I backed off again and tried another. Still faint ridges. Backed off one more time and no ridges but no crimp either. AT that point I decided the FCD was not for me. But I did take it apart to look at the inside and found if had a sliding sleeve collet(fingers) and that was what was making the ridges. I sold the die after cleaning it up and never looked back. Maybe I just did not understand the concept and adjustment well enough but it is what it is. The die I currently have has the sliding sleeve and not a collet and I think it is just another way of adjusting the crimp and probably would work very well. The .45 Lyman die set I bought does not have a expander die and I want to find me a Lyman M die for this set to keep the set all Lyman. I also think it is probably a taper crimp die but there is no marking to indicate whether it is or not. Lee's site is good if you want to buy something but it is little help if you need part number or marking information. james

[Sam Sackett]

Yep. Lee makes two crimp dies. Factory crimp and collet crimp.

Factory crimp has a carbide sizer in the base and a sliding collet. Set the die so that it contacts the shell holder, then screw in the top knurled stem to adjust the crimp desired. For 45 ACP this should be a taper crimp.

Collet crimp. Not sure. Have never used one, but from what I understand, the inner sleeve (collet) is what needs to contact the shell plate. The shell plate is what pushes the sleeve up, compressing the collet to get a crimp.

Hope this helps.

Sam Sackett

[W.R.Buchanan]

You have a Lee Factory Crimp Die for .45 ACP. As stated above you back off the top Knob and then with the Press all the way up you screw the Die Body down until it contacts the Shell Holder, then back off 1/8 turn and cinch down the Lock Ring.

Then you screw the top Knob down a little at a time until the proper amount of Crimp is achieved. The "Proper Amount" is a measured value. Not what you "Think Looks Right."

With the bullet seated, the case should measure @.474. or .452 + 2X .010-.011= 472-.474. The Taper Crimp should impress into the bullet @.002-.003 on both sides and thus the measurement at the very top of the Case Mouth should be @ .466-468. This will crimp the bullet in place and still provide a surface for the Case Mouth to Headspace in the Chamber.

The measurement is not easy to take and you should do it many times to insure you are getting a correct reading.

One thing in everyone's favor is the simple fact that the .45 ACP is the easiest and most forgiving round to reload there is.

Randy