Reloader
Ultimate Member
I always seat and crimp in separate steps and consider it a must for cast bullets. I use the Lee factory crimp die for all my 9mil and 45...I never have any feed problems
I always seat and crimp in separate steps and consider it a must for cast bullets. I use the Lee factory crimp die for all my 9mil and 45...I never have any feed problems
I favor myself by trying to learn something new every day .....
Again ... I would treat plated and jacketed the same as far as they both should be taper crimped as I implied. I do realize the differences as far as load/velocity limitations.
Cast bullets ... I prefer roll crimping ... especially .45 ACP.
Differences in loads was not part of the topic of this thread.
This. I think a lot of folks above misunderstood the question. You "can" seat and crimp with the third die, but I personally think it's worth doing it in the extra step.Crimp your pistol rounds in a seperate step instead of setting your seating die to crimp and seat at the same time. Especially if you are loading a cast bullet.
Handloader mag had a pretty good article a few issues back showing the damage done to bullets that are seated, and crimped in one step.
That's an interesting observation, and something I hadn't thought of. on the other hand, I have yet to have any cycling issues out of my .45 ACP with myy reloads, and I can't really say that for some of the factory ammo I've bought. don't know if it's due to the FCD or not - honestly, I've never checked it out, but that's my theory from an anecdotal perspective.A roll crimp needs not be so drastic as to prevent a cartridge from seating on the case mouth and will hold the position of the cast bullet better than a light taper crimp.
Taper crimping in a FCD chances reducing the diameter of the cast bullet, decreasing accuracy and increasing leading .... IMHO
Several of my reloading manuals recommend a using only a slight taper crimp on 45 acp and 9mm, since they headspace on the case mouth. The recommend, AGAINST roll crimping those calibers.
I figure the guys that wrote those books know more than I do.
Unless I've missed something, it would be impossible to roll crimp either a 45 ACP or 9 mm due to the fact that roll crimps and taper crimps are completely different types of crimps, and therefore a set of dies for either 45 or 9 mm are going to be set up for the type of crimp they need before they ever make it onto your reloading bench.Several of my reloading manuals recommend a using only a slight taper crimp on 45 acp and 9mm, since they headspace on the case mouth. The recommend, AGAINST roll crimping those calibers.
I figure the guys that wrote those books know more than I do.
Unless I've missed something, it would be impossible to roll crimp either a 45 ACP or 9 mm due to the fact that roll crimps and taper crimps are completely different types of crimps, and therefore a set of dies for either 45 or 9 mm are going to be set up for the type of crimp they need before they ever make it onto your reloading bench.
Likewise, it would be impossible to taper crimp a revolver cartridge - those are specifically set up for roll crimps.
In short, the crimp type isn't something that needs to be worried about by the handloader.
I favor myself by trying to learn something new every day .....
Again ... I would treat plated and jacketed the same as far as they both should be taper crimped as I implied. I do realize the differences as far as load/velocity limitations.
Cast bullets ... I prefer roll crimping ... especially .45 ACP.
Differences in loads was not part of the topic of this thread.
Fair enough. I must have missed Soundman's post because I'm curious to know how one goes about roll crimping 45 ACP when to my knowledge 45 ACP dies are not set up to do so, even with cast lead bullets. You couldn't even do it with a set of 45 LC dies due to the fact that the diameters are different. (Well, you "could" I suppose, but it would be something that no manual anywhere would recommend.)This is why I brought the point up.
You don't "have" to use the FCD to do the crimp in a separate step with either 38 or 9 mm - it "can" be done in the seating step with that die - it's perfectly capable of doing the crimp, but the die has to be dialed in to do it. From what I've read, many people claim to get better accuracy using the Lee FCD, and IMO it's produces a better round because of the fact that each step is separate.If these helps, I'm loading 38 Special, the seating die was adjusted to provide a roll crimp on the bullet ring of 125 gr Hornady HXP's.
After additional bench time will load 9mm copper jackets bullets as if I'm under standing all the posts correctly will have to use the Lee factory crimp die to taper the case for crimp including COL as bullet/mouth of case head spaces on the chamber?
Also used Power Pistol for the 1st time and it meters perfectly
I've loaded rifles for many years but 1st attempt loading revolver/pistol ammo.
I'm sure I'll be back when loading 9mm ..................
How do you like that Lee Pro1000? (I know - hijacking the thread, sorry about that.) The thing that has always kept me from looking into it a bit more thoroughly is that it does only have 3 stations, and I would want to have the fourth station for the FCD. (Ok - it's kind of in line with the discussion at hand.) Seems to me they'd do well if they created a 4 station version of it for that very reason, although if the FCD doesn't make that big of a difference then I can understand why they aren't doing much R&D for it.I have reloaded 9x23mm in both Major and Minor power factors using Ranier plated bullets for several years without having to use the Lee factory crimp die. I put a very slight crimp in the seating die and both my STI open gun and my Bul M-5 Limited gun have no problem. I use a relatively short OAL of 1.254 for FMJ and 1.215 for HP rounds (115-124g bullets). Because the Lee Pro1000 only has three holes in the plate I initially mounted the crimp die on a single stage Lee press, however after settling on a load I found the results were essentially the same doing both crimp methods so I dropped the 4th stage fairly soon. The only rounds I do use the crimp dies on is 41mag because I do reload lead bullets in those sometimes.
How do you like that Lee Pro1000? (I know - hijacking the thread, sorry about that.) The thing that has always kept me from looking into it a bit more thoroughly is that it does only have 3 stations, and I would want to have the fourth station for the FCD. (Ok - it's kind of in line with the discussion at hand.) Seems to me they'd do well if they created a 4 station version of it for that very reason, although if the FCD doesn't make that big of a difference then I can understand why they aren't doing much R&D for it.
Is it a press you'd buy again? It reviews SO much better than the Lee Load Master 5 station press that I've always considered it as an economical alternative to the Dillon.