So those Lee factory crimp dies...

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blsonne

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..work really damned good! I screwed up loading a bunch of 223 and tried using an inertial bullet puller to yank 'em. Well, after 15 whacks on one round it just barely slid past the cannelure, so no way was I going to do the whole bag of 75 rounds. Ordered an RCBS bullet puller, never liked the inertial pullers anyways.
 
I loaded 2 squibs with the lee factory crimp die and setting off the primer did not send the bullet out of the case.....saved me the hassle of the aftermath of such a mistake!
 
I've been turning the die in 1/2 turn after it contacts the shell holder. Seems to work. Haven't had to pull any yet.
I did notice that my Rem 700 in 223 doesn't shoot as tight of groups with the crimp. I even tried upping the charge by .1gr to compensate. Maybe I should try .2gr extra.
 
I get better accuracy from the factory crimp die than the seating crimp die. I reload 204 ruger. Its fun and relaxing on those cold winter days.
 
Great for bullets that don't have cannelures too.
As previously stated just don't over do it as accuracy and case life can suffer. The lee factory crimp will chew up the case mouth if you are not carful
 
I stick a prepped brass in the press and set the crimp on that.
You can see what the heck is going on this way.
Then run that brass through the mill afterwards.
 
^^^ This,

and that:
nevanevan said:
Be careful, you might be over crimping and deforming the bullet. This may be more pronounced if you use bullets without a cannelure though.
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I use Lee FCDs mostly for 9 mm and .45 acp range pistol brass - with a very (very) light crimp. I verify my crimp on "preped" brass prior to production.

Pistols like Glocks leave the lower portion of the brass unsupported when chambered, causing a bellying (or swelling) of the cases. I found a high rate of those cases failed to chamber fully and caused consequent malfunctions. Replacement of Dillon crimp dies with Lee Factory Crimp Dies satisfactorily solved my issues.

Does anyone knows of equivalents from other die manufacturers?
 
If I have to pull bullets that have been crimped. I first set up me seating die and reseat the bullet a bit deeper. That breaks the crimp and the bullet come out much easier.
And yes the Lee factory crimp dies do work very well.
David
 
257Roberts said:
If I have to pull bullets that have been crimped. I first set up me seating die and reseat the bullet a bit deeper. That breaks the crimp and the bullet come out much easier.
And yes the Lee factory crimp dies do work very well.
David
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Very clever indeed. That would probably do some damage to the bullets, but for subsequent plinking rounds I would not worry about it.

I too swear by the factory crimp dies for all my lever calibers. The brass does not have to be all within .001" to get a perfect job as with the finicky roll crimper. I'm looking to round out my set of factory crimpers on the EE at this very moment. :)
 
The "Consistent Crimp" tool from "Precision Accuracy" is a good addition to use along with the "Factory Crimp Die". Does anyone else use one? I just bought one this winter and put some rounds together today using it with the FCD but didn't get a chance to fire any. I think it should work very well.
 
I crimp all my semi ammo with it. In my Su-16, I load in bulk on my Lee turret and the crimps the last die. I swear it's also improved accuracy. I load 40 grain Varmageddons and I just give it the lightest crimp. Makes me feel better that there's a little more neck tension on these short bullets, and I don't have to worry about seating depth when I'm banging away.
 
woodlotowner said:
Very clever indeed. That would probably do some damage to the bullets, but for subsequent plinking rounds I would not worry about it.

I too swear by the factory crimp dies for all my lever calibers. The brass does not have to be all within .001" to get a perfect job as with the finicky roll crimper. I'm looking to round out my set of factory crimpers on the EE at this very moment. :)
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It really does not do all that much damage to the bullet, no more that using an RCBS bullet puller. I don't have to pull that many bullets and I use all that I have pulled. The guys at the camp are always giving me their 30-30 shells they are loading and re-loading in their 94's to pull the bullets back out and re-crimp.
I have all factory crimp dies for the cartridges that I load for as well. They are truly the way to crimp.
David :)
 
woodlotowner said:
Very clever indeed. That would probably do some damage to the bullets, but for subsequent plinking rounds I would not worry about it.

I too swear by the factory crimp dies for all my lever calibers. The brass does not have to be all within .001" to get a perfect job as with the finicky roll crimper. I'm looking to round out my set of factory crimpers on the EE at this very moment. :)
Click to expand...

Call WSS Edmonton and ask them. Last time I was in at the North side location they had a bunch of different ones and they were $17 each.
 
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