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Old May 27, 2012, 08:40 PM   #19
Lost Sheep
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Join Date: January 24, 2009
Location: Anchorage Alaska
Posts: 3,341
All true, but it stops there

Quote:
Originally Posted by mikld
The Lee Factory Crim Die is a solution looking for a problem. Personally, I believe the FCD just fixes sloppy reloading techniques. There, I said it!
True, sort of. It is the person who BUYS one that is looking for a problem. If you don't need post-sizing there is no problem. Separating the crimping operation from the seating operation does solve the problem some people have in adjusting their seat/crimp die by making it easier.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mikld
I reloaded mebbe 20 years, off and on, before I tried an FCD. I tried one for my .44 Magnum, being my favorite round, I thought I may be missing something. Nope, found out FCD did more damage than good to my ammo (swaged down my carefully sized .432" bullets to .430").
Definitely, you are one of those loaders who do not need the post-sizing function. Of course, if you ask Lee Precision to ream out the post-sizing ring to it does not squish your .432" bullets, they would have done it, for no charge, I am told.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikld
Then I thought about my .45 ACP reloads. Nope, all my ammo chambers without "post bullet seating sizing", as did the millions of reloads put together before Lee came out with their FCD. Not Lee bashing, just believe properly adjusted dies will make the use of an FCD unnecesary. A good roll crimp die for revolvers and a good taper crimp die for semi-autos is all that's needed. If your ammo doesn't chamber, find out why.
Absolutely, yes, if your ammo exhibits ANY problem, find out why and take whatever steps are needed to fix it/prevent it.

Separating the crimping operation from the seating operation (with or without the post-sizing) is a tremendous advantage if you shoot very heavy loads, which benefit from a really strong crimp. You may be able to get a stronger crimp than if you crimp while the bullet is still being seated (still moving into the case), which, to my mind is the primary reason for the production of the FCD.

I tend to agree that the post-sizing is an afterthought introduced to cure a problem that should not exist if the handloader did the bullet selection/sizing and insertion properly in the first place. But the fact is that some brass has thicker walls than others and lead bullets do tend to be a bit oversized but if you combine those slugs with that brass, the post-sizing solution does find a problem to solve.

Thanks for reading.

Lost Sheep
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