Lee crimp die 30.06
- Thread starter Pangab
- Start date
The die is not defective. Pressure from the shell holder on the sleeve of the die close the fingers of the collet to apply the crimp. Lee's instructions say to "Screw the Factory Crimp Die in to touch the shell holder plus 1/2 turn more. ...."
Last edited:
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
Are you actually going to crimp 30-06?
pirate ammo
Guaranteed to take the wind out of their sails
Enlighten the man, might be new to this.
I was going to try one around just to see what it would be like so far I'm getting very good tension without crimping but if I move to bullets with the groove I forget what the name is Canti something I want to make sure the equipment will work.
Cannelure.
Yep that's it then.
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
No need to crimp even with cannelure
SSL
Gold $$ Contributor
And, assuming proper case neck tension, the crimp die is totally unnecessary. Its only value is to overwork your case necks. Crimping is advisable for heavy bullets in .375 on up, revolver or other straight-wall cartridges or with cartridges intended for tubular magazine rifles (such as lever guns), but it is another step that can take you down the road to more problems.
I probably won't in that case. I wonder why the sell them in 30.06.
I ran a case through the neck sizing die (collet die). That didn't seem to do anything either. I really need to mount this to a bench to make sure but seem like the only thing that was doing anything was the bullet seater.
I made up a dummy round and the bullet seated perfectly neck tension seems good I certainly can't push it back into the case I even tried smacking on the tip of the bullet on the table and it didn't budge.
I ran a case through the neck sizing die (collet die). That didn't seem to do anything either. I really need to mount this to a bench to make sure but seem like the only thing that was doing anything was the bullet seater.
I made up a dummy round and the bullet seated perfectly neck tension seems good I certainly can't push it back into the case I even tried smacking on the tip of the bullet on the table and it didn't budge.
Nor should it. With LCD's there's a lot less leverage needed to size the case neck.
Yeah mount the press and focus on getting a feel for how much force or lack of to complete each loading step. Get some loading trays and start developing a foolproof system of reloading batches.
I suggest you always place brass in the tray primer up and when everything is processed at a glance you know when you're ready to start charging and seating which I strongly recommend you do in a combined charge and seat step then into your field/range case.
If possible never fill your loading tray completely so to leave a line of holes vacant so you always know how far through and where in the batch you are.
Develop a safe and foolproof system and stick with it.....it will serve you well and keep you and your firearms in one piece.
SSL
Gold $$ Contributor
Slow down. You are getting too far ahead of yourself. I know it's exciting to get new 'toys', we've all been there, but you are just confusing yourself. Reloading is no place to rush. Get your press mounted before messing with the dies.
Set the sizing die (the full-length sizer, not the neck sizer) according to directions (making sure the de-priming stem isn't bottoming out in the case and not letting the case to enter the die fully), lube a case and size it. Clean the lube off of the case and switch to the seating die.
Screw the die into your press leaving at least 1/2 inch gap between the die and the shellholder. Run the clean case into the die and hold the press lever down. Now slowly screw the die in while feeling for resistance. When you feel the die bump against the case neck, back the die out about a quarter to a half turn and lock it in place. That 'bump' you feel is the start of the crimp ledge built into the die for those who want to seat and crimp in one step. Backing the die out prevents crimping with that die. Determine the seating depth you want by backing the seating stem out a good amount and then seat a bullet by slowly advancing the stem and cycling the press until the bullet is pushed into the case to the length you want. Lock the stem in place. You are done with adjustments for that particular bullet. Change weights or styles and you have to adjust again.
Don't make the mistake of loading up a couple hundred rounds and then finding they don't fit or work in your rifle. Pulling bullets to start over is not enjoyable. Load a handful and head to the range. If they work acceptably you can go wild when you return to the bench.
If you choose to use the neck sizing die at a later date, follow the directions on the box. They work well enough, but they do not keep your brass sized to fit multiple chambers and will require you to eventually use the full-length sizing die at some point to bump the shoulders back on your brass to keep chambering easy.
The crimp die is for the handful of people that are just sure all cartridges need to be crimped. They do not! Crimping requires all cases to be absolutely trimmed to the exact length to give consistent hold/release. Why add more worries? Simple neck tension is plenty and much more forgiving of reasonable length variations.
Set the sizing die (the full-length sizer, not the neck sizer) according to directions (making sure the de-priming stem isn't bottoming out in the case and not letting the case to enter the die fully), lube a case and size it. Clean the lube off of the case and switch to the seating die.
Screw the die into your press leaving at least 1/2 inch gap between the die and the shellholder. Run the clean case into the die and hold the press lever down. Now slowly screw the die in while feeling for resistance. When you feel the die bump against the case neck, back the die out about a quarter to a half turn and lock it in place. That 'bump' you feel is the start of the crimp ledge built into the die for those who want to seat and crimp in one step. Backing the die out prevents crimping with that die. Determine the seating depth you want by backing the seating stem out a good amount and then seat a bullet by slowly advancing the stem and cycling the press until the bullet is pushed into the case to the length you want. Lock the stem in place. You are done with adjustments for that particular bullet. Change weights or styles and you have to adjust again.
Don't make the mistake of loading up a couple hundred rounds and then finding they don't fit or work in your rifle. Pulling bullets to start over is not enjoyable. Load a handful and head to the range. If they work acceptably you can go wild when you return to the bench.
If you choose to use the neck sizing die at a later date, follow the directions on the box. They work well enough, but they do not keep your brass sized to fit multiple chambers and will require you to eventually use the full-length sizing die at some point to bump the shoulders back on your brass to keep chambering easy.
The crimp die is for the handful of people that are just sure all cartridges need to be crimped. They do not! Crimping requires all cases to be absolutely trimmed to the exact length to give consistent hold/release. Why add more worries? Simple neck tension is plenty and much more forgiving of reasonable length variations.
SSL
Gold $$ Contributor
I have always seen the opposite. Correct neck tension shows more uniform velocities than crimping for me, but everyone has their own preferences.
I use varying degrees of crimp, light to heavy/normal. Find a 223 is hard to control ES, so a light crimp here smooths things out.
When using sub optimal components you may see a benefit there.
Normally a very good load is eventually crimped to see if there was anything left on the table.
Sometimes there is no improvement, but worth a test on degrees of crimp.
You were certainly right about slowing down. I had 10 rounds made up and I was about to go to the range. I procrastinate so I never made it to the range. That night I noticed I am looking at load data for 165 grain speer bullets NOT the 150 I had used.
The difference? Well I use the median load data and work .5 a grain plus and .5 grain minus that median. For the load data I used 53 grains is middle of the road. HOWEVER for 150 grain speer btsp it is below the recommend minimum. The 52.5 grain load is certainly below minimum charge.
I scraped those rounds. Since then I mounted the press with the rcbs mount. I made 10 more rounds taking my time with case length and primer seating weighing the charge etc. From speers load data for 150 grain btsp... Winchester brass, cci 250 large rifle primers, h380 powder and speer 150 grain btsp. Median of 56 grains powder ladder testing at 55.7, 56 and 56.5.
My only concern is the ball powder not filling the case 85 percent even at these loads. I hope I am wrong. Speer says it's ok. Says min charge is 54.
The difference? Well I use the median load data and work .5 a grain plus and .5 grain minus that median. For the load data I used 53 grains is middle of the road. HOWEVER for 150 grain speer btsp it is below the recommend minimum. The 52.5 grain load is certainly below minimum charge.
I scraped those rounds. Since then I mounted the press with the rcbs mount. I made 10 more rounds taking my time with case length and primer seating weighing the charge etc. From speers load data for 150 grain btsp... Winchester brass, cci 250 large rifle primers, h380 powder and speer 150 grain btsp. Median of 56 grains powder ladder testing at 55.7, 56 and 56.5.
My only concern is the ball powder not filling the case 85 percent even at these loads. I hope I am wrong. Speer says it's ok. Says min charge is 54.
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