Aguila Blanca
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RoyceP said:
From your link:
Question for those who use a LEE FCD
- Thread starter FITASC
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From your link:
Matt Dardas made fantastic bullets and a lot of competitors used and loved his product. I was sad when he retired.
He was also correct with what he told you, and while there is a range of tolerance in most anything we do at the load bench, it helps to recognize that cast lead bullets (Dardas' forte) and modern jacketed component bullets act differently when used in conjunction with the the Lee FCD.
You're somewhat correct and quite a bit NOT correct. The Lee FCD dies for bottle neck rifle do not resize the cartridge. The Lee Carbide FCD for handgun cartridges is absolutely designed to post-size the loaded round. If you knew Dardas and his product line, he was a commercial bullet caster and he produces and sold millions of cast lead handgun bullets and his product and expertise was well respected in the industry.
And the product you linked directly is NOT named or marketed as a FCD or "factory crimp die" which is a very specific product name from Lee. You linked a Lee Taper Crimp die, definitely not a FCD.
For sure -- and best when you can separate the wheat from the chaff.
A Carbide Factory Crimp Die is not what you said in your post. Lee makes a lot of FCD's and only some of them resize the cartridge as the link I posted shows.
If you look at the original post the OP stated "pistol cartridges like 45acp". Based on this context the only factory crimp die that would be applicable would be the lee carbide factory crimp die. Thus most of this delineation is somewhat irrelevant.
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I use to call the FCD my "fix-it" die because those handloaded .38 and .357 that would not chamber could after be run through the FCD. But, that excess thickness had to go somewhere so it makes sense that the bullet got swaged. A good test would be to take some accuracy loads that did not have its cases resized to cartridges that were. Is anyone loading .38 or .357 and has a Lee FCD to set those aside.
Most of time the problem with chambering is caused by bullet not seated straight. The die will push the slight bulge back in. Will it deform the bullet? Perhaps. But it is better than stoppage on the firing line.
After switching from Lee die to Hornady die, this rarely happens. The seating die comes with a bullet sleeve to keep the bullet seated straight. I still use the FCD for crimping as a QA tool. It almost never rubs against the brass anymore.
-TL
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jetinteriorguy
New member
I used to have issues with bullets not seating straight in all my pistol calibers, .38sp, .357mag,.41mag, and 9mm. I’ve switched all of my powder through dies over to using the NOE powder through dies and no more crooked bulges. I still use the FCD/carbide die to crimp for 9mm and have no issues since I don’t shoot lead, in my revolvers for magnums I use the Lee Collet dies and in .38sp I just still use the FCD/carbide die with no problems.
I find myself drawn to the Lee FCD's that do not resize the round. I realize there are no carbide parts in them but the beauty of crimping (and nothing else) is a great thing. 44 WCF, 45 Colt, 32 WCF, 45 ACP, 9MM Makarov, 38 Long Colt and 41 Long Colt. All are either FCD's, taper crimp dies or heel crimp dies. All are made by Lee. Yes you need at least a 4 station (or more) press to use them.
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Aguila Blanca
Staff
What is "this type of crimp"? There are only two types of Lee Factory Crimp dies: those that apply a taper crimp, and those that apply a roll crimp. The ones labeled "Carbide factory Crimp Die" add a carbide resizing ring that has nothing to do with the type of crimp the die applies.BJung said:
no, no effect on accuracy in my experience.
Hard to say. I keep getting older so it appears the Lee FCD make up for my old age.
Supposedly the fcd (carbide factory crimp die) has 2 steps in it. It transitions from a taper crimp to a roll crimp depending on how far down you adjust it. I have never found it to roll crimp particularly well.
Depends on which Lee FCD you buy. A Taper Crimp FCD will do only that. Many different FCD's are available. I don't believe you have any.
That is a taper crimp die not a fcd. Not all lee crimp dies are factory crimp dies. They have 3 factory crimp dies, a taper crimp die, and a profile crimp die.
Wow you are clueless. Lee offers a lot of factory crimp dies, many more than you think. Many are not listed on their website - they are custom; for example the heel crimp FCD's. This is a Lee FCD in 41 Colt - it does short or long.
https://leeprecision.com/search?q=Factory+crimp+die
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That die appears to be a lee collet profile crimp die, not a factory crimp die.
Lee makes a lot of crimp dies but they fall into 1 of 4 types for their production dies. The factory crimp die, carbide factory crimp die, taper crimp die, and collet profile crimp. The latter 2 are not factory crimp dies.
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I think you are mistaken. Lee offers a lot of FCD's in many styles; even custom ones. The 45 Colt die is available in as many as 4 different FCD's that Lee stocks for example taper crimp, roll crimp, and the Carbide FCD plus any custom 45 Colt you could imagine. Automatic pistol calibers are typically in taper crimp like 380 ACP, 45 ACP, and 9MM Makarov (among the ones I own) plus any sort of custom FCD that you can imagine.
I own several carbide crimp dies that both resize the finished round while applying a crimp. These are available in lots of varieties from roll crimp to taper crimp and anything custom you might want.
Lots of choices and we don't even have to talk about rifle calibers because Lee makes lots of FCD's in those as well.
44 Special Carbide Crimp Die that does a roll crimp and resizes the finished round:
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