.44 Magnum and Trail Boss...Which Crimp To Use?

[Southern Shooter]

I have a 6 1/2" barreled .44 Magnum Ruger Blackhawk. I am handloading 240 grain SWC with beveled bases boolits and 7.3 grains of IMR Trail Boss.

Which crimp should I use? The crimp that I could get in the regular Lee Seating and Crimp Die? Or, the crimp I get with the Lee Factory Crimp Die?

Thanks

[44man]

Use just enough roll crimp to fold the brass to the bottom of the crimp groove and no more.
It will depend on crimp groove depth. Here are a few of mine, notice I have to back off the crimp die for the little Lee grooves but can go a little deeper with my 330 gr. These are hefty loads for deer at over 1316 fps.
I actually seat and crimp at the same time, no need for two operations. Never founds a gnats difference.
No, there are no bulges, it is just the light and shine on the brass.

[mdi]

I knocked the carbide ring out of my Factory Crimp Die and use it for roll crimping. Standard seat/crimp die is used for seating only; fewer problems seating and crimping in separate steps...

[Adam10mm]

The FCD will swage your bullet which is not wanted. Do not use the FCD with lead unless you remove the carbide sizing ring first.

[gunslinger20]

Hey 44man what moulds are those they are good looking boolits

[rr2241tx]

I shoot that same load with LaserCast SWC in a Redhawk and an old size Vaquero. I seat and crimp just enough to smooth the transition from the bullet to the case and have had no issues with bullet movement in thousands of rounds. It is such a soft shooting load I'm not entirely convinced it even needs crimping, neck tension might be enough. Crimping does make cylinder loading easier though.

[44man]

Hey 44man what moulds are those they are good looking boolits

The left one is the Lee 310 gr with 21.5 gr of 296, Fed 150 primer.
The right one is from the mold I made with 21 gr of 296.
Either is deadly on deer.

[williamwaco]

Use just enough roll crimp to fold the brass to the bottom of the crimp groove and no more.
It will depend on crimp groove depth. Here are a few of mine, notice I have to back off the crimp die for the little Lee grooves but can go a little deeper with my 330 gr. These are hefty loads for deer at over 1316 fps.
I actually seat and crimp at the same time, no need for two operations. Never founds a gnats difference.
No, there are no bulges, it is just the light and shine on the brass.

Those crimps look perfect to me.

[1Shirt]

When it comes to things regarding revolvers, I doubt you can beat 44Man for real life experiance and information.
1Shirt!

[ZigZagMarquis]

I knocked the carbide ring out of my Factory Crimp Die and use it for roll crimping. Standard seat/crimp die is used for seating only; fewer problems seating and crimping in separate steps...

Anyone... This may sound like a simple (stupid) question... but any tips on how to go about (or not go about) knocking the carbide rign out of a LEE FCD?

[mdi]

If I remember correctly, I disassembled the die and used a long punch from the top. With the die clamped in a padded vise. I could see the top edge of the carbide ring and placed the punch ton that edge. Several sharp/hard hits on the punch and the ring came out. I wound up tossing the die anyway, 'cause I didn't like the crimp I was getting and went back to my Redding Profile Crimp Die...

[MikeS]

Anyone... This may sound like a simple (stupid) question... but any tips on how to go about (or not go about) knocking the carbide rign out of a LEE FCD?

I have another option for you. If you don't mind spending a little money, you can buy the die body for a Lee expander die, and just put the crimping ring and adjuster from the FCD into it, then you have basically an adjustable crimping die, without damaging your original FCD body. I say damaging it, as from what I've seen many people that try to remove the carbide ring end up breaking it. By getting a different body to put the crimper in you can always put it back in the original body if you have some reason to want to use it (say if you're loading jacketed bullets) as it was originally designed to be used. You might also want to check, you might be able to buy a separate crimping die (I know they make taper crimping dies, not sure about roll crimping dies), and just put away the FCD. I bought a taper crimp die (not FCD) for 9mm and it cost me under $10.00. Another option for a good crimping die would be to buy a rifle type Factory Crimp Die from Ranchdog. Mike has Lee make him special runs of their collet style FCD (the 'rifle' dies) in 357 mag, 44 mag, and 45 Colt, and they work really nice. I have one in 45 Colt and it comes in really handy, it makes it easy to use boolits designed for 45ACP that don't have a crimp groove, but that I still want to be able to crimp.

I just can't see possibly damaging a die when you can replace it (either with just a body to put the crimper in, or a whole separate crimping die) for not much money. I suppose if you're really set on removing the carbide ring, you could try soaking it in something to loosen up the glue that holds the ring in place before trying to knock it out so that it might be easier to get it out in one piece.

[ZigZagMarquis]

Thanks MikeS!