Lee FCD's

[TXGunNut]

OK, I've read the factory hype and a few posts where they were mentioned but I'd like to focus on them for a thread. Pardon me if it's been beat to death. Crimp seems to be critical to leverguns. Three of my current projects are lever guns; .30-30, .35 Remington and .45-70. My Hornady .45-70 dies seem to do a decent job of crimping, .35 Remington dies by Redding also seem ok, haven't tried the RCBS .30-30 dies yet. I load everything from my own cast boolits to the latest FTX bullets from Hornady.
Here's what I want to know; are they necessary? Do they aid in accuracy? Dependability?

[wncchester]

The only effective difference with the Lee FCD is that case length is less critical for good crimping.

I love 'em but they have a moving part and that seems to over complicate them for some folks. ??

They are just tools, not magic. If they help or not depends on the load, the rifle and the skill of the user.

[TXGunNut]

I think my issue may be more about neck tension. My 45-70 dies resize leaving the case a bit too tight. I'm trying to minimize resizing but with only slight neck tension things actually loosen up with a moderate crimp on lead bullets. Think I need to increase neck tension by resizing a bit more. Crimp seems to be uniform, probably not my problem.

[Don P]

Here's what I want to know; are they necessary? Do they aid in accuracy? Dependability?

I say yes. I use the fcd on all my re-loads, 38/357, 9mm, 40s&w, 45acp

[BigJakeJ1s]

Lee FCDs for rifle and bottleneck pistol cartridges (the type the OP asked about) are completely different from the carbide FCDs for straight wall pistol cartridges like 38/357, 9mm, 40s&w, 45acp.

The former use a collet to crimp the case mouth, and work great.

The latter have a conventional crimp ring, and a carbide post-sizing ring that irons out any buckling as the cartridge is withdrawn from the die. Mine in 45 colt does not do a good job of crimping.

The ones I have in 8x57, and 7.62x25 Tokarev work very well, after I replace the lock rings with cross-bolt Hornady or Forster lock rings.

Andy

[Edward429451]

Not all LFC dies are made the same way, so some are good and others will damage your ammo. I run fat cast bullets in some of my guns and do not needto post size them so they will fit in your gun or your friends, if I do that performance in my gun suffers. I popped out that carbide sizer ring and just use thier crimp feature on 44's.

[Farmland]

45-70

I use a Hornady die set and it can do a good job but for me it take a lot of time to set it up right for the crimp. Of course if you are over aggressive you bulge the case. If you are too conservative the bullet is not crimped.

I now use the Lee FC and it does a great job and is fast to set up correctly for a nice crimp. You can see the crimp die work so it is easy to set up.

I use Missouri lead bullets and the die does not damage the bullet. The crimp appears uniform but I have never taken time to measure it.

Accuracy is very good, how ever you also has to take into consideration the loading data I use along with the Lee FC die. I have never made a measurement between the Lee FC die and not using one. I really did not notice a difference in the groups.

[TXGunNut]

I'm using Hornady dies also, results similar to yours, Farmland. There seems to be so little difference in adjustment between not enough and too much crimp.

[Jim243]

TX

I use them on almost all my loads. The Lee FCD is extreemly easy to set for just the amount of crimp you want, from just a light touch to a heavy crimp. And there is no shoulder set back by using them.

Do you need them? - I would say no, they are not absolutly needed and will not give a tapered crimp. That is best done with the seating die.

Do they aid in accuracy? - That question will start a war. Millions will say no and Millions with say yes. Some will say it deforms the bullet and hurts accuracy. Some will say it gives the powder time to come up to full pressure and help accuracy. The truth lies somewhere in-between and depends on how much crimp you use and how hot your loads are. All I can say is that for 223 in my AR, I use the FCD, for 223 in my bolt gun I don't, for my 243 I will put a touch of crimp on them, for 270 and 30-06 yes a full crimp and for 35 Remington in a lever gun heavy crimp no matter what.

Are they dependable? - Yes, you will get the same amount of crimp on each and every case once you have set the amount you want.


It is each person's choice weither to crimp or not and few understand that every commercial round they buy has some sort of crimp on it.

Good luck on your choice and yes they are worth purchasing.

Jim

[TXGunNut]

May be worth a try on my .45-70 Guide Gun. Crimp die seems to work OK on my .35 Rem. No loads yet for my .30-30, kinda worried about that one. Thanks, Jim.

[Xfire68]

I use them on .380, 9mm, .40 S&W and just bought one for .223/5.56. I think they are a great tool for reloaders.

On the pistol the dies makes the loads camber reliably in any gun and not just mine and for the .223 it gives me some more piece of mind when loading military surplus bullets that sometimes have inconsistent dimensions.

If you already have dies in the caliber your loading you can just buy the FCD by it's self for around $15-$17.

[CrustyFN]

They are just tools, not magic. If they help or not depends on the load, the rifle and the skill of the user.

I agree with wncchester. I use them for every caliber I load. I like to use the post sizing ring as a case gage and not to fix bad ammo, for me it works great for that. I can go shoot a match and know my ammo will be fine and not have to spend a lot of time after gaging every round.