Lee Pacesetter Die Set

tkcomer · February 17, 2008, 06:42 AM

Anybody familiar with these dies? I have the 44 mag set and bought some oversized (.431) cast bullets for my Puma levergun, as the barrel seems slightly oversized. I figured I couldn't use the Factory Crimp Die as it post sizes the round. I was right, couldn't even fit a round in that die. So I figured I'd use the other die to seat and crimp. No go. Is this a seat die only? The die will push the bullet into the case before any crimp can occur. Or is the oversize bullet the culprit again? Of course it's Sunday and I doubt that there would be anybody to answer the phone at Lee, so I'd thought I'd check in here first.

blackhawk45 · February 17, 2008, 10:47 AM

I'm no expert, but I do load 44Mags,for my Mod.94 Win. 44Mag bullets are,
.429" and .430" , I would say your .431" bullets are oversized. JMO. Try crimping an empty case,with no bullet, in your seater die,to see if you can get a roll,or taper crimp. If that does'nt work ,then you will have to use .429" or .430" bullets. P.S. Lee Dies are as good as any others. I use Hornady,Lee,RCBS, and Lyman dies and can see no difference, they all load Quality ammo.

tkcomer · February 17, 2008, 11:14 AM

I took the seater plug out and the die will still push the bullet in before I'm even close to crimping the case. If I back the die out, I can seat the bullet with the seater plug. That was the first thing I noticed. I backed the seater adjustment out to set up for this bullet and the die still shoved the bullet too far into the case when I first started. I put my old RCBS seater/crimp die in, but that little play in the turret is causing problems. That or it doesn't like this press. That last little bit of movement on the handle kinda makes a ring on the bullet as it crimps. You can see it in the crimping groove. Back the RCBS die out a little and it won't crimp. The RCBS die will seat and crimp, I just don't like the results. Gun likes 'em. I will call Lee on Monday, just wanted to know if anyone else had this problem. I see they make a custom FCD. Might have to go that way.

tkcomer · February 18, 2008, 11:54 AM

Well, Lee seat/crimp die was full of lube. I called Lee up and they had me take it apart. I felt like an idiot on that one. But, they do have FCDs on oversizes and I ordered one. I could have sent the old one in and had it reamed out, but I decided to keep it for my pistol rounds. Lee all the way!

BigJakeJ1s · February 18, 2008, 10:15 PM

If you use a lot of cast bullets, the Hornady seater die comes apart for cleaning while still in the press, and goes back together without affecting the settings. Don't know about oversize bullets, though. They have a sliding alignment sleeve that fits pretty close around the bullet to align it with the case mouth before starting to seat it. The Lee has more room in there (another reason I like the Hornady better than the Lee, but then I don't use oversize bullets either).

Andy

February 17, 2008, 06:42 AM	#1
tkcomer Senior Member Join Date: November 23, 2006 Location: Maysville, KY Posts: 200	Lee Pacesetter Die Set Anybody familiar with these dies? I have the 44 mag set and bought some oversized (.431) cast bullets for my Puma levergun, as the barrel seems slightly oversized. I figured I couldn't use the Factory Crimp Die as it post sizes the round. I was right, couldn't even fit a round in that die. So I figured I'd use the other die to seat and crimp. No go. Is this a seat die only? The die will push the bullet into the case before any crimp can occur. Or is the oversize bullet the culprit again? Of course it's Sunday and I doubt that there would be anybody to answer the phone at Lee, so I'd thought I'd check in here first.

February 17, 2008, 10:47 AM	#2
blackhawk45 Senior Member Join Date: December 15, 2007 Location: Millersville Pa. Posts: 114	I'm no expert, but I do load 44Mags,for my Mod.94 Win. 44Mag bullets are, .429" and .430" , I would say your .431" bullets are oversized. JMO. Try crimping an empty case,with no bullet, in your seater die,to see if you can get a roll,or taper crimp. If that does'nt work ,then you will have to use .429" or .430" bullets. P.S. Lee Dies are as good as any others. I use Hornady,Lee,RCBS, and Lyman dies and can see no difference, they all load Quality ammo.

February 17, 2008, 11:14 AM	#3
tkcomer Senior Member Join Date: November 23, 2006 Location: Maysville, KY Posts: 200	I took the seater plug out and the die will still push the bullet in before I'm even close to crimping the case. If I back the die out, I can seat the bullet with the seater plug. That was the first thing I noticed. I backed the seater adjustment out to set up for this bullet and the die still shoved the bullet too far into the case when I first started. I put my old RCBS seater/crimp die in, but that little play in the turret is causing problems. That or it doesn't like this press. That last little bit of movement on the handle kinda makes a ring on the bullet as it crimps. You can see it in the crimping groove. Back the RCBS die out a little and it won't crimp. The RCBS die will seat and crimp, I just don't like the results. Gun likes 'em. I will call Lee on Monday, just wanted to know if anyone else had this problem. I see they make a custom FCD. Might have to go that way.

February 18, 2008, 11:54 AM	#4
tkcomer Senior Member Join Date: November 23, 2006 Location: Maysville, KY Posts: 200	Well, Lee seat/crimp die was full of lube. I called Lee up and they had me take it apart. I felt like an idiot on that one. But, they do have FCDs on oversizes and I ordered one. I could have sent the old one in and had it reamed out, but I decided to keep it for my pistol rounds. Lee all the way!

February 18, 2008, 10:15 PM	#5
BigJakeJ1s Senior Member Join Date: August 8, 2005 Location: Arlington TX Posts: 663	If you use a lot of cast bullets, the Hornady seater die comes apart for cleaning while still in the press, and goes back together without affecting the settings. Don't know about oversize bullets, though. They have a sliding alignment sleeve that fits pretty close around the bullet to align it with the case mouth before starting to seat it. The Lee has more room in there (another reason I like the Hornady better than the Lee, but then I don't use oversize bullets either). Andy