Lee Crimp Size Die

[Mike Irwin]

Hum...

I never took this thread as an attack on Lee Products, and I'm not sure why anyone would.

It's no secret that I use, and like, a lot of Lee's products, and absolutely hate other products that they make.

 

[redneck2]

Before anyone gets too wild

I believe the message was that bullets may be undersized .001.

Now, lots of people throw around figures such as .001 like it's the Grand Canyon.

Look at the edge of a normal sheet of paper. Divide that into 4 equal parts. That's .001. At this point, I'm not real excited.

 

[zeke]

Am having difficulty with the concept of the LFC pistol die swaging down the full length of ther bullet dia. If adjusted down tight enough, it will push the leading edge of the brass into the bullet, creating it's own cannelure (even jacketed).

If having to adjust it this far, there are other concerns that should be delt with also. The "resizing carbide ring" is of a larger inner dia than regular carbide resizing dies. It will straighten out a mis-aligned seated bullet, giving the impression it may be totally resizing the case. If it is doing this, there are also other issues present, like the bullets are not seated straight or bulged out one side of the case.

Accuracy is usually improved using the LFC, but it shouldn't be used to overcorrect other problems, like inadequate case neck tension.

The rifle LFC dies can produce what used to be called a "stab" crimp. Over crimpinig on non-cannelured rifle bullets usally ruins the accuracy.

 

[ID_shooting]

I like the LFC dies, I use them for 38/357 and my 10mm. I have found vryy good consistant crimps on my wheel gun loads. I to did find the swaging issue in my 10mm. I called lee and asked them howcome my .400 bullets changed to .390-.393 bullets after crimping. They said I had the crimp set to tight. I did alittle experimenting and this is what I found works best.

I only use the LCF die to iron out the flare. I found that by completly backing out the crip adjustment, I get very good results just using the size ring inside the die. I end up with bullets that measure .399 and a finished cartridge with an OD of .420. So far, about 700 rounds or so, my MV is about 8-12 fps. and accuracy greatly improved. I too was concerned w/ setback so I loaded some dummies and manually worked the slide through several mags full. I noticed no real setback at all. Not claiming this will work for everyone, but it worked for me