Sorry, Another Question

[OLeveraction]

If you are sizing your lead bullets the Led Carbide Factory Crimp Die, resizes lead bullets with a carbide ring that can be Removed.
Other than that it's a regular roll crimp doe.
I don't trim or chamfer, but do flare the mouth with cast lead.
I use the Lee 357/38sp Collet Crimp Die for 38sp in my 357 rifle.

 

[milboltnut]

milboltnut
I am using the RCBS carbide 3 die set with a taper crimp , worked fine but every once and awhile I would get that bulge when seating the bullet , they fed fine fit into the case gauge , just didn't want the bulge. I use the Lee taper FC die . Worked perfect . If you want perfect , the Lyman expander die replaces the flare die , enstead of a flare it expanded the case mouth with more of a even step aligning the bullet. Also Lyman has a sleeved seating die holding the bullet centered in place . I went the whole 9 yards. May not be necessary but that's just me.
Chris

You got a bulge from crimping..... never got a bulge from crimping. From bullet seating yes, cowboy dies fixed that. You talking about 45 acp or your 38 spl?

 

[cw308]

milboltnut
The bulge came when seating , the Lee FC die seems to iron out the imperfections making the OD the same., That was reloading FMJ bullets for 45ACP. Haven't had the problem with .38/.357 could be because the bullet bace has a slight bevel. Going through a snow storm , will stop mid day tomorrow , have plenty time to post . Be Well.
Chris

 

[cw308]

OLeveraction
Only loading hard cast , the factory crimp die makes all the OD the same , if you measure the regular reloads the case OD 's are different. Checking with a case gauge some rounds may be a little snug , using the FC die the all go in & out easily. In most cases the regular dies work fine.
Chris

 

[JimSC]

Accurate ammo is hard to tell with me behind the trigger of a revolver.
Chris

ditto for me on that

 

[cw308]

JimSC
With crazy China virus and lock downs , have allot of time oon my hands , I've been making pistol rests to see how accurate my reloads and hand guns are. I found handguns from 2 to 5" barrels are very accurate if held steady . We or I , can't hold as steady as with a rest , even fixed sights are nuts on . At least it eliminated the gun and bullet as the problem . Make a pistol rest and see how really accurate your handguns are. Be Well.
Chris

 

[divingin]

CW; If you use a roll crimp, case length becomes more important, as length has to do with how much the case gets crimped.

Taper (or factory) crimping is a very gradual taper, so length variance doesn't affect it as much.

That being said, for target 38 wadcutter loads using a fast pistol powder, crimping per se is not really necessary; all you need is to remove the flare from the case mouth. You don't need the bullet pull, as fast pistol powder will ignite fine; and since recoil is light, bullet movement in unfired rounds is pretty unlikely.

 

[cw308]

divingin
The Lee Factory for .38/.357 is a roll crimp , but I was thinking on lthe same page as you , using hard cast bullets , low powder charge using fast powder in short barreled revolvers, neck tension should be good enough. Will set die for a slight crimp . Using a 44 mag I trim all to the same length to give a consistent crimp on those but the 38's are fairly mild. Thanks for diving in.
Chris

 

[Mad_Charlie]

cw, do yourself a favor and go here and learn how to do this right. You will learn things that you didn't know that you didn't know. Shooting cast is a rewarding endeavor, but it will take some studying, and the gentlemen there know about all there is to know about lead boolits.

Cast Boolits

This is the dedicated cast bullet forum!

castboolits.gunloads.com

 

[milboltnut]

divingin
The Lee Factory for .38/.357 is a roll crimp , but I was thinking on the same page as you , using hard cast bullets , low powder charge using fast powder in short barreled revolvers, neck tension should be good enough. Will set die for a slight crimp . Using a 44 mag I trim all to the same length to give a consistent crimp on those but the 38's are fairly mild. Thanks for diving in.
Chris

Lee Factory crimp is not a roll crimp....it's more along a tapered crimp. Lee's crimp has a collet with, what? four slots? Look at it and look at the crimp after you crimp. I use my seater die which provides a roll crimp while seating. There is no improvement with a Lee crimp. My rounds drop in like butter. I use Lee crimp dies on varies calibers, with no increased accuracy. Matter of fact, I get better accuracy without it.

 

[cw308]

Mad Charlie
Believe me , I do read up on everything I get into , always ask questions for other options , sharing ideas and helpful information is what these forums are all about . Thanks for chiming in.
Chris

 

[cw308]

milboltnut
I have a RCBS Carbide .38/.357 3 bie set that works fine with a roll crimp , the Lee Factory Crimp die .38/.357 is a roll crimp and sets up like every crimp die to lower to increase the crimp. What I liked about the die is it forms the outside diameter of every case the same size. My 45ACP Lee FCDie is a taper , sets up and siizes the OD the same way . I like to try different things and hopefully improved what your doing. Sometimes it does sometimes it doesn't. Be Well.
Chris

 

[milboltnut]

milboltnut
I have a RCBS Carbide .38/.357 3 bie set that works fine with a roll crimp , the Lee Factory Crimp die .38/.357 is a roll crimp and sets up like every crimp die to lower to increase the crimp. What I liked about the die is it forms the outside diameter of every case the same size. My 45ACP Lee FCDie is a taper , sets up and siizes the OD the same way . I like to try different things and hopefully improved what your doing. Sometimes it does sometimes it doesn't. Be Well.
Chris

forms the outside diameter of every case the same size....... I just measured a case all the way around the roll crimp, it measured the same all the way around. What do you gain by being that particular?

 

[cw308]

In a 357 revolver cylinder , nothing , in my 1911 chamber it eliminates feeding and ejection problems , if you reload for a auto , give it a try. For my benchrest rifle using a die set will work fine but a Comp. Seating die with a sleeve works better , just things to try . Be Well mil
Chris

 

[divingin]

What I liked about the [Lee Factory Crimp] die is it forms the outside diameter of every case the same size.

With lead bullets and possible varying case thicknesses, that is not necessarily a good thing. Look at it this way: your outside diameter at any point the bullet sits will be the bullet diameter (ideally a thou or two over bore diameter) plus 2 times the brass thickness at that point along the case. If you make that measurement smaller, it implies you are resizing the bullet (because the brass isn't going to get any thinner.)

With a Hollow Base Wadcutter, it may or may not make a difference (as the skirt may expand enough on firing to recover), but with a solid bullet, you are losing the slight oversize that creates the gas seal as the bullet enters the rifling. And lead doesn't have springback like brass does, so it is not going to recover.

You complained earlier about the bulge in the cases after seating; I assume you're talking about a little deformation where the bullet ends showing up on the case exterior? I personally don't worry about that unless it causes chambering problems. I don't judge my reloading by how the finished round looks; it's where it goes through the target that matters.

 

[cw308]

divingin
The bulge is where you explained , mostly caused by the bullet not seating flush on the case when seating . It wasn't causing a problem but wanted my reloads look as perfect as store bought , that's just me . Will they show a difference down range , probably not .
The Lee Factory crimp die when it comes to outside diameter I'm sure it's to spec. . When I get the 38/357 FCD , I'll post how it works on the cases , I can't say for sure if it's better but worth a try to see if it improves or not worth the time and money. I do my seating and crimping in separate steps even though when set up properly can seat and crimp in one lift . Will let you know . Thanks for staying on top of this , I appreciate your your time and help.
Chris

 

[divingin]

The Lee Factory crimp die when it comes to outside diameter I'm sure it's to spec.

Well, it's made to *a* spec, anyway. That same die set is designed to work with both jacketed and cast bullets, so there's 1-2 thousandths variance right there. Likely it's made to work with the average thickness of brass, and the average size of bullet that they think people use (and who knows what they chose as that standard?) Add in the possibility of thick walled brass, and you may be undersizing by several thousandths (possibly more depending on what it's optimized for), which will definitely end up resizing lead bullets.

Unless you're entering your ammo in a beauty pageant, I'd suggest moving beyond the factory ammo appearance thing. It all ends up looking pretty grubby after firing anyway.

 

[cw308]

divingin
Just got in a the die was delivered , will give it a try tomorrow . Will let you know how it goes with a fair test , entering in a beauty pageant . I laughed out loud . Thanks I needed that . Until tomorrow , Be Well.
Chris

 

[cw308]

divingin
Finished up erloading 100 .38Spl. the Lee Factory Carbide Crimp Die worked great , my cases didn't have any bulges to iron out of the standard seating and crimp die would have worked just as good. If your a careful , safe and prep your cases properly you won't see any difference . On the other hand loading 45acp the cases may fit in your chamber , some may fit snug in your case guage checker , then the die does correct the problem what ever it my be , the carbide ring at the base of the die will correct what ever is out of spec. I don't have the bulge issue with my family 38's for some reason. I'll keep using the die as a separate crimp die , use the seater/crimp die as just a seater. Be Well.
Chris

 

[wagonman]

If loading cast lead for revolvers, measure the cylinder exit hole, you want your bullet to be sized at same or .0005 over, if undersized say .358 cyl and using a .355 bullet you will get poor result and leading , now when you seat your needed size .358 cast bullet and roll crimp using standard roll crimp die you still have your needed .358 bullet size. if you run it thru lees fcd your going to swage your bullet smaller defeating matching bullet to your gun. on a auto loader lees fcd could be usefull at times using mixed range brass with varying case thickness