Crimping with Lee Dies

[ansan12001]

Hi,
I have a question for those that have alot of experience with reloading pistol. My experience is with reloading mainly bolt action and I never crimp. But with pistol I heard you should. HOWEVER, I happen to be looking at 4 count Lee dies (fourth is the crimp) and on this link below it states that DIES MADE AFTER 1986 DO NOT NEED THE CRIMP DIE BUT JACKETED BULLETS NEED A CRIMP.
Can someone please explain what they are trying to say, to crimp or not to crimp? Or does it depend on the bullet type? Thanks! (Again the application is for semi auto pistol and also for revolver, all straight case).

https://fsreloading.com/reloading-equipment/dies/pistol/crimp-dies/

[Pablo5959]

I always crimped my plated and jacketed projectiles a little, ( not to much) and got good accurate ammo with the Lee carbide set.
I put away the FCD when I started using cast lead as to not swag the soft lead.
Now that I'm playing with powder coat cast lead. I'm starting to play with the FCD again. A little turn goes a long ways.
The description for that ad says it's used so you don't need to size your cases.
Personally I've never sized a pistol case before anyway.

[ansan12001]

I always crimped my plated and jacketed projectiles a little, ( not to much) and got good accurate ammo with the Lee carbide set.
I put away the FCD when I started using cast lead as to not swag the soft lead.
Now that I'm playing with powder coat cast lead. I'm starting to play with the FCD again. A little turn goes a long ways.
The description for that ad says it's used so you don't need to size your cases.
Personally I've never sized a pistol case before anyway.

Thank you Sir

[thenodnarb]

I tend to crimp revolver loads. I like to leave my pistol loads uncrimped. 9mm 40 cal and 45 acp all head space off the rim of the case. A crimp that reduces that rim will cause problems. A slight crimp is OK as long as there is enough of the rim exposed to headspace properly. 38 spl, 357 44 mag etc. headspace off the rim. I'll run a pretty tight crimp into a crimp groove on my lead bullets with these calibers. If I was reloading FMJ 38 loads without a cannelure, I would probably give it a light crimp with the lee factory crimp die. not enough to deform the bullet but enough to increase the tension in the brass to hold the bullet in the case until fired.

[Germz]

yeah I find no need to really crimp rimless pistol cartridges, the point should be to remove the belling during the expanding stage of loading.

[stilly]

yeah I find no need to really crimp rimless pistol cartridges, the point should be to remove the belling during the expanding stage of loading.

+1

It is called a crimp, but really you are just folding back the belled out portion and depending on the die it is either a roll or a taper crimp...

[Jasonaspears]

Hi,
I have a question for those that have alot of experience with reloading pistol. My experience is with reloading mainly bolt action and I never crimp. But with pistol I heard you should. HOWEVER, I happen to be looking at 4 count Lee dies (fourth is the crimp) and on this link below it states that DIES MADE AFTER 1986 DO NOT NEED THE CRIMP DIE BUT JACKETED BULLETS NEED A CRIMP.
Can someone please explain what they are trying to say, to crimp or not to crimp? Or does it depend on the bullet type? Thanks! (Again the application is for semi auto pistol and also for revolver, all straight case).

https://fsreloading.com/reloading-eq...ol/crimp-dies/

I like and use the Lee die sets in all my pistol calipers and that FCD will get all the ammo in spec in a hurry. Can't go wrong with them. Good luck

[Cheep]

The Lee pistol die sets will seat and crimp with the seater die, the fourth die is a crimp and sizer. You can use three or all four if you want to crimp separately.

[rsrocket1]

Lately, I've been using the Lee FCD's on the 5th stage of my LnL AP just to remove the bell when I expand the cases for lead bullets. I don't screw the die all the way down. I adjust it so that it just barely "kisses" the top of the case and brings it back to vertical. If the die is screwed all the way down and resizes the full length of the bullet, my bullets get swaged to the point of being looser than without the FCD resizing. If I use a towel to grab the bullet head, I can pull it out by hand.

I can't press the bullet deeper which is good, because I certainly don't want setback when cycling the bullets from the magazine. The bullets shoot fine and the pulled bullets are 0.401" for the 40 S&W so it's still big enough for the barrel. I just want better tension and I keep it that way if I just touch the top of the case. The finished cartridges all pass the plunk test. I test each and every round I load with my barrel.

Once in a while a loaded cartridge will not pass the plunk test so that one gets disassembled and the case goes through the FCD full length (probably a Glock fired case or one that was shot in a really loose chamber). That tends to resize the case properly and it can be reloaded.

OP, the pistol taper crimp die is not the same as the FCD 4th die in the deluxe set. The pistol taper crimp die is like the Lee rifle FCD or like the collet neck sizing die used in the rifle set. It uses 4 fingers to squeeze the top of the case to a taper crimp without ironing out the rest of the case. That is actually a better die than the pistol FCD.

[Jasonaspears]

The Lee pistol die sets will seat and crimp with the seater die, the fourth die is a crimp and sizer. You can use three or all four if you want to crimp separately.

Personally, I like separating the steps since I have the room in the tool head