Lee carbide vs non carbide Factory Crimp Die

H2oallyear

H2oallyear

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Looking for Lee FCD. Found a couple of standard ones but nobody with a carbide a FCD. I would like the carbide flavour. Should I keep hunting or settle with the non carbide. Probably only load 1500 a year.
 
Ganderite said:
I have never heard of carbide. maybe they all are. Or maybe none are. Either way, I use them and not with lube.
Click to expand...

Ganderite

The Lee factory crimp die with the carbide ring in the base will size any bulge below the crimp. It is a cheat for anyone who does not trim their cases to the same length. Sometimes the "longer" cases will bulge when crimped and the carbide ring will reduce the bulge to approximately just below SAAMI maximum case diameter. This same carbide factory crimp die can also size cast bullets smaller in diameter in thicker cases that can hurt accuracy and cause leading.

The Lee factory crimp die with the carbide ring in the base is popular with competitive semi-auto pistol shooters who use mixed range pickup brass and do not trim their cases.

Below the carbide ring in the base of the die will size any over crimped bulged cases below the crimp.

QMWa7Bx.jpg


Below the two types of Lee factory crimp dies.

 
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bigedp51 said:
Ganderite

The Lee factory crimp die with the carbide ring in the base will size any bulge below the crimp. It is a cheat for anyone who does not trim their cases to the same length. Sometimes the "longer" cases will bulge when crimped and the carbide ring will reduce the bulge to approximately just below SAAMI maximum case diameter. This same carbide factory crimp die can also size cast bullets smaller in diamter in thicker cases that can hurt accuracy and cause leading.

The Lee factory crimp die with the carbide ring in the base is popular with competitive semi-auto pistol shooters who use mixed range pickup brass and do not trim their cases.

Below the two types of Lee factory crimp dies.

Click to expand...


I don't understand you comment "size cast bullets smaller in diameter". It's a FCD for a .44 Mag. Using .44 mag projectiles. You mean some people try to use the 44 FCD on smaller caliber s??
 
Caliber?

LEE does a pretty good job of explaining it. The FCD is different from the conventional one in two important ways.

#1: the crimp ring is floating and is sized smaller in the large dia. It supports the case mouth as it crimps (somewhat, not fully), and this reduces the chance of bulging the case if you overcrimp.

#2: the carbide sizing ring is just under cartridge max dia. It sizes the cartridge if any part of the case is bigger than it should be.

This is handy if you neck size your cases with the FL die, then let the FCD size the body when you crimp. This is only for straight body cartridges like 38/357, 44 mag, 45 LC, etc.
 
nitro-express said:
Caliber?

LEE does a pretty good job of explaining it. The FCD is different from the conventional one in two important ways.

#1: the crimp ring is floating and is sized smaller in the large dia. It supports the case mouth as it crimps (somewhat, not fully), and this reduces the chance of bulging the case if you overcrimp.

#2: the carbide sizing ring is just under cartridge max dia. It sizes the cartridge if any part of the case is bigger than it should be.

This is handy if you neck size your cases with the FL die, then let the FCD size the body when you crimp. This is only for straight body cartridges like 38/357, 44 mag, 45 LC, etc.
Click to expand...

I ordered the carbide FCD for my 44 mag Henry. I selected it over the collet FCD. Now the guys on another forum are saying remove the carbide ring from the die as I quote " resizes our preferred .431-.432 cast bullets". I ordered .429' bullets.

What are your thoughts for the .44 mag FCD. Carbide or collet
 
bigedp51 said:
Ganderite

The Lee factory crimp die with the carbide ring in the base will size any bulge below the crimp. It is a cheat for anyone who does not trim their cases to the same length. Sometimes the "longer" cases will bulge when crimped and the carbide ring will reduce the bulge to approximately just below SAAMI maximum case diameter. This same carbide factory crimp die can also size cast bullets smaller in diameter in thicker cases that can hurt accuracy and cause leading.

The Lee factory crimp die with the carbide ring in the base is popular with competitive semi-auto pistol shooters who use mixed range pickup brass and do not trim their cases.

Below the carbide ring in the base of the die will size any over crimped bulged cases below the crimp.

QMWa7Bx.jpg


Below the two types of Lee factory crimp dies.

Click to expand...

OK, now I am confused. I use a Lee Factory Crimp die on my 38, 9mm, 40 and 45ACP Dillon tool heads. It is the last die in the set. I can feel it kiss the occasional round as it smooths out a bulge or bad crimp.

Are you saying that some versions of this die lack the case body sizing feature for the fat cases?
 
Ganderite said:
OK, now I am confused. I use a Lee Factory Crimp die on my 38, 9mm, 40 and 45ACP Dillon tool heads. It is the last die in the set. I can feel it kiss the occasional round as it smooths out a bulge or bad crimp.

Are you saying that some versions of this die lack the case body sizing feature for the fat cases?
Click to expand...

Yes it has collets that do the crimping.
 
additionally the carbide dies are called such: Carbide Factory Crimp Die. Available in straight walled handgun calibers only. Rifle dies are just called Factory Crimp Die. No carbide ring since it is being used on a bottleneck or tapered wall cartridge. There is NO crossover on the available production listings although a custom die can be ordered. In other words, if a Carbide Factory Crimp Die (handgun listing) is made for a specific caliber, there will not be a Factory Crimp Die (rifle listing) made in that caliber.

Factory Crimp Dies work on rounds which have powder in place and bullets seated as the final step in the reloading process. They crimp the top edge of the cartridge neck on to the seated bullet.

On top of this there are Lee Collet Dies. Lee Collet Dies are used to crimp the entire neck to about 0.002" under nominal bullet size. they do this by squeezing the casing neck on to a mandrel. The mandrel has to be inside the case neck in order to do this. Therefore there can NOT be a bullet or powder in the casing when performing this step. These are for rifle calibers only. A lot of target shooters swear by this method of neck sizing. I use it prior to neck turning once the case is fully fireformed to my bolt rifle's chamber. Neck sizing should only be performed for a single rifle; ammunition shot in that rifle is reloaded for, and stays with that rifle. It is generally not useful for lever guns, autoloaders, etc.
 
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