AR-15 Do you crimp your loads?

[Marco Califo]

If Lee's FCD is so wonderful and necessary to properly reload why doesn't RCBS, Hornady, Lyman, Redding, Foster, Dillion, and whoever else that makes dies jumping on the band wagon and selling them as well?

They should. And I wish they did. Then, I could ogle the fine workmanship of the Redding version and covet it more than my nayboors wife.

BTW, it works so well because it is designed and functions completely differently than the industry standard crimp ring in the seating die: those are nothing more than a tighter spot, perhaps rolled, perhaps tapered.
The Lee FCD uses collet fingers that press in sideways, and you literally watch it looking down into the die and seeing the bullet nose. You have excellent control of where and how much crimp you apply. I like it especially using 55gr FMJ w/c; once adjusted you crimp the brass into the cannelure. For bullets with no cannelure, you need a consistent lighter touch or you will deform your projectiles.

I really respect Lee's innovative spirit and products. I DO NOT like everything they make, but the FCD is a very good one.

[Bamashooter]

I use a Lee FCD on my .223 reloads which I shoot in a mini-14. I usually apply a very light crimp. One, it gives me peace of mind. Two, it gives all my loads the same neck tension which I think aids in consistency and accuracy.

[EmptyHull]

I do. I use a light crimp with the Lee FCD. Tim

[snuffy]

People were reloading .223/5.56 for 40 plus years before Lee introduced the FCD. If they were successful in reloading before it came along why would it be needed now?

There's a wide gulf between need and want. A lot of reloaders/shooters are gadget-tool heads, WE/I need all the tools/gadgets made for a particular job. The lee final crimp die in the bottleneck version is NOT a gimmick, it's a well designed and thought out tool that works precisely like it is supposed to.

If Lee's FCD is so wonderful and necessary to properly reload why doesn't RCBS, Hornady, Lyman, Redding, Foster, Dillon, and whoever else that makes dies jumping on the band wagon and selling them as well?

Reason 1. Because they weren't smart enough to design it, or thought it wouldn't sell.
Reason 2. There's these things called patents. If you have a new idea, you get it patented, then when it succeeds, nobody else can make it without permission.

Back to the original question; I don't crimp any of my AR-15 reloads. I rely on neck tension alone. BUT I don't do much precision shooting with my AR. I shot it @ 600 yds. once. I did okay for an old fart with poor eyesight. If I were a kid with sharp vision, I might work harder at precision shooting. My AR is a fun range gun and an occasional varmint rifle. I do own a LFCD. Just had to find out what all the hype was about. Tried it on an established load,it made no difference!

Here's something else to ponder. IF you don't have every case trimmed to the same exact length, you're wasting your time crimping. Now, I know that lee say case length is NOT critical, but they're wrong. Yes, you CAN crimp a case of almost any length with their LFCD, but consistency will only be obtained by having the OAL of the case uniform.

If you're using the built-in crimper in the seater die, then the cases MUST be all the same length, AND you have to be loading a bullet with a cannelure.

Yes , i use a Lee factory crimp, very very lightly, then rotate 90 degrees and very very lightly crimp again. I get my best concentricity that way.

To what purpose? The slots in the collet are oriented at 90 degrees. Turning the shell 90 degrees simply aligns the collet with the first crimp. If you're trying to make the crimp more uniform, you should rotate only 45 degrees.

[tpcollins]

What snuffy says makes the most sense at least to me. I have used only Lee collet dies for bolt actions but I'm concern about bullet movement in my Colt AR. I have a Lee die set on order in .223 and I'd like to refrain from using a FCD but I'd like to maximize neck tension. I saw a video on using a "Consistant Crimp Arm" that regulated the force for non-Lee presses (I have a Rockchuker Supreme) but not sure if I want to cough up a $100 for one.

The mandrels on my .204 and .243 collet dies run .0025" under the bullet diameter so I assume the .223 will be about the same. Would turning down the mandrel an additional .0001" work better should I stand on the press arm to maximize neck tension? Thanks.

[snuffy]

TPC, it's generally not a good idea to use a lee neck sizing collet die for semi auto .223 loading. The reason is you may have problems with the shoulder NOT being set back, causing chambering problems. Same goes for the "normal" type neck sizers, they don't touch the shoulder.

You MAY get away with using a neck sizer for one loading on a case, but the second one will most likely fail to chamber, then stick in the chamber!

[tpcollins]

The .223 set I ordered is the 3 piece set which includes a full length sizer. Can I:

full size first and then neck size or,
just full size only or,
return it when it comes and order something different?

Thanks.

[Marco Califo]

Yes.
Yes.
Why?

You full length size about one in four times. Necksize in between until extraction or chambering suffer. If you shoot different guns in the same caliber, or load for an semi-auto you may want to full length size every time as neck sizing is good for fire formed cases for that gun only.
I would add the Lee FCD, especially for semi-autos for $10 for a 4 die set.

[eldorendo]

OK let me rephrase this. If Lee's FCD is so wonderful and necessary to properly reload why doesn't RCBS, Hornady, Lyman, Redding, Foster, Dillion, and whoever else that makes dies jumping on the band wagon and selling them as well?

Probably for the same reason that they don't make a p.o.s. press like a Loadmaster!!

[Striker1]

Probably for the same reason that they don't make a p.o.s. press like a Loadmaster!!

I've never used one. Have you had a bad experience with the Loadmaster?

[Edward429451]

I do not crimp for my AR, unless it has a cannelure, then I use a FCD. I crimp all my 223 rounds for my Mini-14 because there's more slam banging around of the cartridge when feeding as opposed to the AR, plus, my Mini's manual said reloads should be crimped for the Mini. On the few match bullets that I've loaded for my mini, they get lightly taper crimped with a Dillon die, having no cannelure.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Nope, don't crimp my .223 loads. Now if I was going to drop them out of helicopters, ship them 20,000 miles on a ship, and then stake my life on them, sure. To shot targets on the range? Nope.

[mohr308]

Love the signature! lol