rcbs taper crimp as a 4th step.

[modrifle3]

I am not a big fan of the seating and crimping in one operation because I pick up all types of brass and never trim. I already have rcbs 9mm carbide dies and thought about getting another taper crimp and removing the seated plug. I have looked at the lee fcd, but my lyman 4 die seems to do basically what I am looking to do.

Anyone use the lee fcd? I hear either good or bad reviews about it. Not much middle ground.

I plan to upgrade to the basic dillon press and retire my single stage presses. I also use the lee auto disk pro.

Any thoughts?

 

[Jim Puke]

I use the Lee FCD on 45acp and it does a good job.

 

[mr surveyor]

I use the Lee FCD's for .38spl/.357 mag, .44 mag, and .45 acp for both jacketed and cast. Never a problem, and perfect crimp every time.

 

[mike7mm08]

All my pistol rounds get the Lee FCD. Simple to setup and adjust. Only minor complaint is on rounds that headspace on the case mouth adjustment can be a bit finicky. Depends on the brass and bullet combo. Loaded up some 45 recently and there was only one adjustment where I could get a crimp without bulging cases so much as a couple degrees of adjustment past that point I was having problems. Just with that particular case and bullet combo I had the problem. Other loads I can play with the adjustment and get as little or much crimp as I want and have to try veyr hard to do damage to the cases. With revolver rounds I have never had any issues with the FCD perfect crimp no matter what.

Some advice on 9mm. I had some brass over the years give me fits. The brass would not want to hold the bullet even with the crimp die. Found I had to adjust the flare of the case to just barely accept the bullet. Right on the line where I would occasional wreck a case when seating. I encountered this most often with federal brass. Just throwing it out there to hopefully save you a headache. I tried everything and anything as far as different dies and crimps until I figured it was a brass issue.

 

[modrifle3]

Thanks, most of my commercial brass is win and fed. The rest is crimped military, :-(...a lot of pocket reaming. I thought about the same thing. Since I am loading fmj that should go smoothly. Not sure the brand but the last batch of 9mm I paid to have loaded was lrn and the leading was the worst I have ever seen. Beretta, XD, and a few through a g19 left the barrels so leaded I almost coulddnt get them clean and I am talking one or two magazines. If I didn't have 3000 rds left I would pull the bullets and melt them down and cast my own. I use to cast 45 using wheel weight mixed with linotype and never a drop of leading. Of course these were post sized and lubed so I think that helped the barrel seal.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

I use the Lee FCD on everything I load for both pistol and rifle. 9mm is the only auto cartridge on my list, but I've had good luck using FMJ, copper plated RN and both commercial and my own cast LRN bullets.

All my brass is range pickups. I do segregate them by head stamp, and I "reset" the FCD for each new batch. Been using it 10-11 yrs for the nines. So far, so good!

Rick C

 

[modrifle3]

So I got carried away at bass pro today and bought the rcbs and lee sets for 40sw. To my surprise the lee seems to do a better job sizing out the ole glock bulge. What a pain...anybody got any good ideas for that issue?

The finish is better on the rcbs dies but all in all I see little reason to use any die but lee considering cost diff.

 

[Rick Courtright]

To my surprise the lee seems to do a better job sizing out the ole glock bulge. What a pain...anybody got any good ideas for that issue?

Hi,

Don't remember exactly what they call it, but Lee has some kind of a "bulge buster" die to handle that problem. Check their website at www.leeprecision.com and you should find it...

Rick C

 

[Mobuck]

I use a 4th station crimp die on all pistol reloads. Most of my die sets are LEE with the separate FCD. If your original seating die has a crimp function, simply back the die off a couple of turns and readjust the seating stem.

 

[modrifle3]

So I looked at the lee buldge buster and it states clearly not to reload glock fired 40sw brass....my glock brass has a bad buldge. I am thinking the 40sw reloading is going to canned and facie on 9mm and 45.

 

[mikld]

Wow, so many FCD fans. I bought one, and it now resides in a landfill somewhere in Southern Oregon! I would suggest a dedicated taper crimp die for your needs. As a final step on my turret press, I have a Lyman taper crimp die (9mm) and an RCBS taper crimp die (45 ACP)...

 

[modrifle3]

Yeah after buying the rcbs taper crimp and comparing the lee fcd for 9mm. I will be returning the lee. The internal finish is so rough it scrapes brass off the case when it crimps. I use the lyman tc for my 45 auto and love it. Since I have the rcbs 9mm die set the lees go back.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Yeah after buying the rcbs taper crimp and comparing the lee fcd for 9mm. I will be returning the lee. The internal finish is so rough it scrapes brass off the case when it crimps. I use the lyman tc for my 45 auto and love it. Since I have the rcbs 9mm die set the lees go back.

Hi,

Sorry to hear you got a "bad" one from Lee--just checked some of the 9mm ammo loaded w/ mine and there's not a mark to be seen. That's been my experience w/ the other calibers I've used, too. But "stuff happens."

BTW, I learned long ago to disassemble and clean EVERY new die before using it, regardless of brand, to ensure there's no "detritus" left from the manufacturing process. (It CAN be kinda scary what ends up in the box!) If one doesn't want to go that far, a good shot of brake cleaner usually gets things clean enough...

This initial cleaning also provides a good opportunity for a real good inspection of everything for flaws before messing up any ammo!

Rick C

 

[modrifle3]

I did that and actually polished the expander die because it was scraping the case wall really bad. I have always used lee for rifles and they are spot on.

 

[Rodfac]

I don't like seating and crimping where necessary in the same operation and prefer a separate die for the crimping operation. Especially with lead alloy bullets, it prevents shaving that tiny bit of lead that occasionally causes problems.

In that regard, I've used the Lee FCD in several rifle calibers, with cast bullets, where I needed to flare the case mouth. But I found in .45 ACP, that an old retired all-steel .45 sizing die, RCBS I think, does as good a job as the FCD. All I'm interested in, in a taper crimp die, is straightening out the case mouth flare, after seating the bullet. Any more than that, and my tests have shown a degradation in accuracy, especially so with lead alloy bullets.

In use, I remove the primer decapping rod, and screw the sizer die in just far enough to feel it engage the case mouth flare. I remove the case and check the results, adjusting as necessary to get what I want. It's a great use for an old all steel sizing die that's just laying about on the bench, and works well at station #4, on my Dillon 550B's.

Best Regards, Rod

 

[AGE Ranger]

I generally don't like doing both operations as the same time either. What I've used to do was to seat all the bullets then adjust the seating head up the re-adjust the die. Then I found Lee factory crimp dies use them like you are.

Lee factory crimps dies pull double duty for me as I also use them with the bulge buster attachment. Except for 9mm.

 

[Rodfac]

I've got two Glocks, a 9mm G19 and a .40 G23 with a Lone Wolf 9mm aftermarket bbl. I use Lee, RCBS, and Dillon dies in .40 and 9mm and have not had any trouble resizing either caliber for use in Glocks, Sig, or Colt. All three makes are standard dies and "iron out" any case expansion with no trouble. For the most part I load moderate loads, but even +P factory brass is no trouble, without the need for a special die. Rod

 

[Lost Sheep]

This may yield some useful insight

www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=168362

Lost Sheep

 

[edfardos]

Yeah after buying the rcbs taper crimp and comparing the lee fcd for 9mm. I will be returning the lee. The internal finish is so rough it scrapes brass off the case when it crimps. I use the lyman tc for my 45 auto and love it. Since I have the rcbs 9mm die set the lees go back.

+1

there were flakes of brass left in the Regular (non FC) Lee crimp die. It simply grinds off the brass rather than crimp.

an allen wrenched wraped in paper towel wrapped with 250-grit sand paper made the die useable.

edfardos