Lee carbide factory crimp die

Butcherbill

Butcherbill

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So I’m about to set up a Lee turret press for pistol cartridges and I started reading up on the Lee FCD. I have been using Lee and RCBS 3 die sets for 9mm, 45auto and 10mm, have had no issues setting up or using their bullet seating/crimping dies. Is there any gain in using the FCD over the seating/crimp dies?

I don’t have and issues with finished ammo loading, all pass the plunk tests in their respective barrel chambers, I don’t crimp heavy so I haven’t had any issues with cases bulging, I shoot a mix of jacketed/plated/cast in 10mm the rest are plated Campro’s in 9mm and 45auto. I have trimmed all of my 10mm brass as there was a big variation in OAL case length, crimping consistency and uniformity improved after trimming.

The way I look at it if there’s no accuracy gain from the FCD and I’m not experiencing any chambering or bulging issues the only real benefit I’d get out of it is ease of set up and crimp adjustment compared to the factory seating/crimping die, although that is minimal gain as I’m setting up turrets for each cartridge and once set up I’ll be leaving them alone.

Is there anything I’m missing with them, I don’t see a benefit from the carbide sizing ring when loading cast. If I start loading oversize cast bullets I’ll want the bigger dia and not want the full length resize post crimp.
 
Snider shooter said:
I have a Lee turret press and biggest advantage I see is bullet seating and crimping are done in two separate steps. I never liked seating and crimping together as I found it always caused problems.
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+1^

I’ve never liked the seating/crimping combo dies either. Much too finicky to get perfect. Really, there’s nothing like the Lee FCD. I use it on all my straight walled cases. And I don’t mind doing an extra step either.
 
Another vote for the FCD, like the others I prefer to seat and crimp separately.

Since you're moving to the 4 hole turret you will have to do the down stroke past an empty hole to get back to the sizing die, so it's really not an extra step other than the initial set up of the die.
 
Snider shooter said:
I have a Lee turret press and biggest advantage I see is bullet seating and crimping are done in two separate steps. I never liked seating and crimping together as I found it always caused problems.
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I’ve had no problems with the seating/crimping die overall, there was some inconsistency with 10mm cases while crimping but once I trimmed my case mouths the taper crimp was very uniform and even. Not only were case lengths different within lots but they weren’t square, when I trimmed them this was very evident.

recce said:
Another vote for the FCD, like the others I prefer to seat and crimp separately.

Since you're moving to the 4 hole turret you will have to do the down stroke past an empty hole to get back to the sizing die, so it's really not an extra step other than the initial set up of the die.
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True but it’s easy enough to do a half stroke and advance the die plate. If there’s a clear advantage to using the FCD then great but I’m not experiencing any of the problems that it solves, I don’t find the seating/crimp die problematic. After reading a bunch of feedback on it online I’ve realized some people love it and others seem to think it doesn’t give them any real benefits.
 
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Consistent case length is important when using a seat/crimp die. Not so important with a FCD. You probably wouldn't have had to bother trimming your 10mm cases with the LEE. If I had a choice between using a seat/crimp and a seat and FCD I would choose to do it separately.

But that's not to say you NEED to do it separate unless you are having problems. Sometimes you only have so many stations in a press and if you are using a powder check and a bullet feeder then most of the time you are going to seat and crimp together, unless using a 10 station press. I've done thousands and thousands of rounds using seat/crimp dies and the ammo works fine.

I have never used a LEE turret press, I have a Lyman but I assume it would only take you an extra minute or two per 100 rounds to use the FCD. But you may as well set up your new press with seat/crimp first and see if you have any problems. If not- then why change?
 
Gatehouse said:
Consistent case length is important when using a seat/crimp die. Not so important with a FCD. You probably wouldn't have had to bother trimming your 10mm cases with the LEE. If I had a choice between using a seat/crimp and a seat and FCD I would choose to do it separately.

But that's not to say you NEED to do it separate unless you are having problems. Sometimes you only have so many stations in a press and if you are using a powder check and a bullet feeder then most of the time you are going to seat and crimp together, unless using a 10 station press. I've done thousands and thousands of rounds using seat/crimp dies and the ammo works fine.

I have never used a LEE turret press, I have a Lyman but I assume it would only take you an extra minute or two per 100 rounds to use the FCD. But you may as well set up your new press with seat/crimp first and see if you have any problems. If not- then why change?
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That’s the way I’m looking at it, I’m not having problems with the current setup nor experiencing any problems that the FCD solves. I’m sure speed/volume with either 3-4 dies will be negligible so no worry there, I’ve got the spare hole if I need it.

I’ll just run with what I currently have, after reading peoples experiences and watching videos on it I don’t know if It will be a huge difference in the long run. Especially when it comes to post crimp sizing with cast bullets, which is what I’m planning on shooting in my .45auto once I burn through the remainder of my Campro’s.
 
I was having some issues with turtling on some lever gun cartridges and the FCD fixed the issue
44 mag in particular the crimp built in the seating die just wasn’t enough
 
Well I guess I’m going to see if they’re a step up from the reg seating/crimp die, have some on order. Regardless of if there’s any accuracy gains with the FCD, I like the idea of separating the two steps from an ease of adjustment angle.
 
Deathrawt said:
44 mag in particular the crimp built in the seating die just wasn’t enough
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+1. I generally don't bother with the FCD for the semi-auto cartridges, but it is nearly essential for heavy 44mag loads to keep the bullets from backing out and freezing the cylinder. I also use the FCD on light 38 special PPC wadcutter loads to make them easier to load with a speed loader.


Mark
 
Butcherbill said:
Well I guess I’m going to see if they’re a step up from the reg seating/crimp die, have some on order. Regardless of if there’s any accuracy gains with the FCD, I like the idea of separating the two steps from an ease of adjustment angle.
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When you set up a seat/crimp die, you screw the die down far enough to crimp, then adjust the seater for correct seating.

If you use a Lees factory crimp die, back your seater die out a rev, so it become a seater only. The next die will do the crimp.

It also runs the round thru a die that check for any bulges. This guarantees that all rounds will chamber.

I use one on all pistol set ups.
 
I shoot cast bullets in my 9mm's. I found that the FCD squeezed the cast bullet down just enough to cause some leading issues in a couple of my guns. I don't use one for my 9mm reloads, I just run a taper crimp die now.

Auggie D.
 
Auggie Doggie said:
I shoot cast bullets in my 9mm's. I found that the FCD squeezed the cast bullet down just enough to cause some leading issues in a couple of my guns. I don't use one for my 9mm reloads, I just run a taper crimp die now.

Auggie D.
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That’s one of the negative things I was reading up on about them, we’ll see if it’s an issue. One guy one cast boolits or some other loading forum had the same issues with swaging/shrinking cast bullets and he started knocking out the carbide sizer ring to get around this.
 
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