Noelf2 wrote:
Bill, you said you're looking at the 3 die set. Years ago I bought the 45lc Lee Deluxe 4 die set from Cabelas (the deluxe set is carbide also). I like to seat and crimp in two steps and the 4 die set has the factory crimp die in it. The 4 die set is on sale also, and for the 11 or 12 bucks more you are getting a crimp die.
and....
Hardcase wrote:
I also use the factory crimp die for roll crimps because it makes the process so much easier than having to adjust for both seating depth and crimp. It gets two really big thumbs up from me.
Noelf2 and Hardcase thanks for that info and advice, as always I appreciate your helpfulness, but I have several questions for both of you.
All my revolver die sets are three. First I decap the cartridge and and resize the case with one operation using one die. The next die bells the case mouth so the bullet goes in more easily. The third die seats the bullet and crimps it according to how deep I set the bullet depth and how more or less I set the crimp to crimp. If the bullet isn't seated as deeply as I'd like, I simply screw the seating shaft of the seating die down a little bit more. I've found that on setting the depth for the first bullet I reload, even after the bullet is already crimped, naturally that crimping slightly decreases the length of the case and on occasion I've found my bullet needed to be seating just a teeny tiny bit deeper, and I didn't realize it until I had already crimped it. I set the crimp to be very moderate at first just so if I need to seat the bullet a teeny bit deeper, the crimp is not hard to overcome for seating the bullet deeper. Then once I get it to the depth I want it, I increase the crimp and I'm ready to go for the rest of my cases.
True, to increase the crimp it requires the case to go up higher into the die and that will also seat the bullet deeper. So if I need more crimp I have to back off just a bit on the seating shaft. So I do my seating and crimping adjustments in small increments until everything is set just right.
After that everything just becomes repetitive motion and I get "into the groove" of manual reloading. It takes very little time and has never been a problem for me to get both the seating and crimping adjusted for the one die.
So my question is....besides the negative (for me) aspect of a fourth die taking up unnecessary space on my press's six position turret as well as comprising making me turn the turret to another fourth position that I never previously had to use before, as well as requiring an extra movement of the press lever arm over what I currently do.....what exactly is the advantage of having one third die that only seats and a fourth die that only crimps when I can do both procedures in one operation with just one die and have no problem setting up my single die that does both operations of seating and crimping?
I completely understand what you both said Noelf2 and Hardcase, but I just don't see the advantage to an extra die when I've been using three to load my revolver ammo for years. Am I overlooking something perhaps neither of you mentioned that would give me more of an advantage by having four dies instead of the usual three I've always used other than it separates the functions of seating and crimping from one operation to two separate operations requiring an extra turn of the turret and an extra movement of the press lever arm?
Also is there some difference between what you are calling "factory roll crimp" from the regular crimp I've always used in my single seating and crimping dies?
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