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Johnny Guest · January 18, 2001, 09:10 PM

Hey, WESHOOT2 and Hutch---

I am truly not arguing with you here--I just want to know. (Seldom a day goes by I don't learn something new on TFL.)

Do your negative replies to the question have something to do with the design of the Lee brand dies, or the crimping shoulder, or what?

Reason I ask goes back a few decades, when I was an impoverished deputy sheriff and was doing a lot or experimenting on a tight budget. I was using, I believe, a set of well-used-when-I-bought-them Pacific dies labeled ".45 ACP/Auto Rim." I had saved my pennies and purchased a Lyman Carbide size die for .45 ACP, and had loaded a bunch of .45 auto with that combo on an old CH single-stage press. I got lucky in a trade and got a 2nd generation Colt SAA and two boxes of factory ammo. When that was gone, and factory ammo was a whole seven bucks a box, I began experimenting. I found that I could utilize the Lyman .45 ACP sizing die, and, by backing out the expander stem, I could bell the cases properly. Then, of course, I had to back out the seating die body a lot, seat the bullet properly, and then crimp as a separate step. The crimp was not a classic roll crimp, but it held everything together, and I shot a BUNCH of loads assembled with this combination.

In the intervening years, I've obtained a lot of different dies. I own proper RCBS .45 Colt dies and Dillon .45 ACP dies, and load with a Dillon 550B. Everything has its own setup on a separate toolhead, and I occasionally reminisce about the makeshift, jury-rigged setups I sometimes utilized back in the dark ages. (Remind me to bore you with tales of how I used to load .45-70, .380 ACP, .38 Special, and .38 S&W ammo.)

Best regards,
Johnny
MOLON LABE!

January 18, 2001, 09:10 PM	#4
Johnny Guest Moderator in Memoriam Join Date: August 28, 1999 Location: North Texas Posts: 4,123	They Won't Work??? Hey, WESHOOT2 and Hutch--- I am truly not arguing with you here--I just want to know. (Seldom a day goes by I don't learn something new on TFL.) Do your negative replies to the question have something to do with the design of the Lee brand dies, or the crimping shoulder, or what? Reason I ask goes back a few decades, when I was an impoverished deputy sheriff and was doing a lot or experimenting on a tight budget. I was using, I believe, a set of well-used-when-I-bought-them Pacific dies labeled ".45 ACP/Auto Rim." I had saved my pennies and purchased a Lyman Carbide size die for .45 ACP, and had loaded a bunch of .45 auto with that combo on an old CH single-stage press. I got lucky in a trade and got a 2nd generation Colt SAA and two boxes of factory ammo. When that was gone, and factory ammo was a whole seven bucks a box, I began experimenting. I found that I could utilize the Lyman .45 ACP sizing die, and, by backing out the expander stem, I could bell the cases properly. Then, of course, I had to back out the seating die body a lot, seat the bullet properly, and then crimp as a separate step. The crimp was not a classic roll crimp, but it held everything together, and I shot a BUNCH of loads assembled with this combination. In the intervening years, I've obtained a lot of different dies. I own proper RCBS .45 Colt dies and Dillon .45 ACP dies, and load with a Dillon 550B. Everything has its own setup on a separate toolhead, and I occasionally reminisce about the makeshift, jury-rigged setups I sometimes utilized back in the dark ages. (Remind me to bore you with tales of how I used to load .45-70, .380 ACP, .38 Special, and .38 S&W ammo.) Best regards, Johnny MOLON LABE!