Still not quite clear on this...

Yoosta B. Blue · May 22, 2008, 08:50 AM

I've been reloading only a few months and I'm loving every minute of it. This is almost as enjoyable as going out and shooting a bunch of them!

I have a 4-die set of Lee dies for .38/.357. Up till now, I've been adjusting them back and forth to suit the caliber that I'm loading. While this is not a big deal at all, I happened on to a used ridiculously-low priced 3-die RCBS set (even has those really nice lock rings on them), and am loading some .357 with them this morning. My question -- does the RCBS bullet seating die also do the crimping, or do I still need to use the Lee FCD and adjust it back and forth each time? Thanks!

Yoosta B. Blue

WESHOOT2 · May 22, 2008, 09:12 AM

If you look inside your RCBS seat die you should see a shoulder; it does the crimping.
Adjust.

Sevens · May 22, 2008, 10:02 AM

Yes, the RCBS does a fine roll crimp as long as you have the die adjusted properly. That is -- keep screwing the die body down until it's giving the roll crimp you desire, while backing the bullet seater out to give you the proper bullet seating depth.

Note the the Lee FCD is an entirely different animal than a standard revolver roll crimp. It'll squeeze a crimp ring at almost any point near the case mouth or short of it. A roll crimping die will only roll crimp the case mouth.

Some folks have found great use for the Lee FCD, especially those loading semi-auto calibers, where using the carbide sizing ring "smooths" up the case body. Many others of us don't use it, and don't feel a need for it.

You can make perfectly good (great?) ammo without using the Lee FCD at all, especially in .357 Magnum.

Yoosta B. Blue · May 22, 2008, 10:19 AM

I appreciate the helpful replies from you good men. I've magnified (via a jeweler's loupe) the cannelure area on these .357 rounds that I've just loaded, and they appear to have a desirable crimp at the right place. I loaded 50 and will see how these perform the next time I go to the range...

As to the Lee FCD -- my first efforts at loading .45 ACP were not as good as I had hoped. They didn't feed well.

I later found that by seating them about .003 of an inch deeper than I had been doing, did away with most of the feeding issue problems. Encouraged, I later began running each round through the FCD. No more problems at all in the last few hundred rounds that I've fed it. Ya gotta love this stuff!

Later edit: I meant .03 of an inch deeper. I had been seating those rounds at 1.26 and changed it to 1.23.

Yoosta B. Blue

May 22, 2008, 08:50 AM	#1
Yoosta B. Blue Senior Member Join Date: February 12, 2008 Location: Just a tad NE of the Alamo... Posts: 252	Still not quite clear on this... I've been reloading only a few months and I'm loving every minute of it. This is almost as enjoyable as going out and shooting a bunch of them! I have a 4-die set of Lee dies for .38/.357. Up till now, I've been adjusting them back and forth to suit the caliber that I'm loading. While this is not a big deal at all, I happened on to a used ridiculously-low priced 3-die RCBS set (even has those really nice lock rings on them), and am loading some .357 with them this morning. My question -- does the RCBS bullet seating die also do the crimping, or do I still need to use the Lee FCD and adjust it back and forth each time? Thanks! Yoosta B. Blue

May 22, 2008, 09:12 AM	#2
WESHOOT2 Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 1999 Location: home on the range; Vermont (Caspian country) Posts: 14,324	looksee If you look inside your RCBS seat die you should see a shoulder; it does the crimping. Adjust. __________________ . "all my ammo is mostly retired factory ammo"

May 22, 2008, 10:02 AM	#3
Sevens Senior Member Join Date: July 28, 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 11,756	Yes, the RCBS does a fine roll crimp as long as you have the die adjusted properly. That is -- keep screwing the die body down until it's giving the roll crimp you desire, while backing the bullet seater out to give you the proper bullet seating depth. Note the the Lee FCD is an entirely different animal than a standard revolver roll crimp. It'll squeeze a crimp ring at almost any point near the case mouth or short of it. A roll crimping die will only roll crimp the case mouth. Some folks have found great use for the Lee FCD, especially those loading semi-auto calibers, where using the carbide sizing ring "smooths" up the case body. Many others of us don't use it, and don't feel a need for it. You can make perfectly good (great?) ammo without using the Lee FCD at all, especially in .357 Magnum. __________________ *Attention Brass rats and other reloaders:* I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss.

May 22, 2008, 10:19 AM	#4
Yoosta B. Blue Senior Member Join Date: February 12, 2008 Location: Just a tad NE of the Alamo... Posts: 252	I appreciate the helpful replies from you good men. I've magnified (via a jeweler's loupe) the cannelure area on these .357 rounds that I've just loaded, and they appear to have a desirable crimp at the right place. I loaded 50 and will see how these perform the next time I go to the range... As to the Lee FCD -- my first efforts at loading .45 ACP were not as good as I had hoped. They didn't feed well. I later found that by seating them about .003 of an inch deeper than I had been doing, did away with most of the feeding issue problems. Encouraged, I later began running each round through the FCD. No more problems at all in the last few hundred rounds that I've fed it. Ya gotta love this stuff! Later edit: I meant .03 of an inch deeper. I had been seating those rounds at 1.26 and changed it to 1.23. Yoosta B. Blue Last edited by Yoosta B. Blue; May 22, 2008 at 11:44 AM. Reason: Didn't do the math initially....