Lee 357 Factory crimping die Some added thoughts
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- This video was brought about thanks to Willie bullet man and Kyle Lusk. This is not the bulge Buster die ,and I can not forget Nathan at the reloading Press special thanks to James Pollard
I had problems with the Base of the case not being sized down enough so the cartridge would fit in the chamber of the revolver, This was with standard dies, However, with a Lee shell holder. I switched out to an RCBS shell holder and the problem went away. I think I explained this the last time I wrote in. But, My point is the thickness of the top flange of the shell holder that contacts the bottom of the die on the upstroke leaves a little of the base of the case unsized and that can lead to chambering problems, switching shell holders may allow more of the case to enter the die. I believe that you are on to something as cases are left a little bigger filling up the gap between the cylinder wall and the case making a more precise fit, However, Just like neck sizing in rifle, Your extraction may become difficult after firing and that would be undesirable. Hope you have success. Dave.
Bty, Cut back on your allergy medication.
Thor's Axe I am loading sum up right now and going to test him out I'm hoping to get to the range Thursday and will to see how easily or how hard they extract, Yes I'm noticing the Lee shell holders are a little thicker on the top side not allowing the casing to go up in the die as far.
I tried to hand file the top of a Lee shell holder down one time, that thing must have been made of adamantium, it wouldn't budge.
Thor's Axe 🤣😂
Toolness1 may need to mill it🤣😂
Every nice video Mr. empire I would have never thought of using a lee crimping die to resize my empty cases instead of using my resizing die when I get home I’ll have to give it a try. Now I might not be write but I resize every lead cast bullet with my lee sizing die know I will at might I need to open mine up like Uncle Jim did for example my 9mm sizer makes my 9mm sized bullet to .355 5 instead of .356 0 I really wish Lee would fix that problem instead of having to do it my self I really hope every one can understand me I’m kind of Lupe on my meds great video Mr. Empire
Willie Bulletman yes ,I wish Lee would make the right size instead of. 0005 sizes
Yeah Lee does some annoying things but luckily those are pretty easy to open up to where you want them. Or, you can buy the NOE system which works like the Lee push thru but you simply change out a bushing to change diameter yet use the same actual die body for all different diameters. NOE has a large selection of bushing diameters and each one I've tested was dead on according to a very expensive micrometer.
They can be a bit rough though, had to polish mine so it wouldn't shred my powder coating off.
Carbide sizing dies have trade offs. The ring is narrow, and works the brass differently than reamed steel dies. The sizing ring opening is a compromise between the desired body and mouth diameters - and is based on typical case wall and bullet sizes. Tapered cases and case walls that thicken from mouth to base amplify the sizing and seating issues. Redding offers "dual ring" carbide dies to help minimize the challenges.
I load oversized cast in 9mm - seating a .359 bullet in 9mm cases really gives the brass a wasp waist! The brass from the body walls is taken up by the increased diameter of the mouth area. I only resize the neck portion of the case with a steel .38 die to achieve neck tension and minimize the waist distortion.
William C Chapin very good point,you should be able to achieve what you need by looking around 👍👍🇺🇸🤓
I like the factory crimp die and use it on all my cast and plated handgun and rifle loads, not to actually crimp so much as to squeeze the case mouth back after flaring it to seat the bullet. I use a bit of a crimp with semi auto jacketed rifle rounds, but real mild as to not squeeze the bullet down.
Toolness1 I am liking this die ,I am glad I spent the $22 to get it 👍👍🇺🇸🤓
They are handy. Have you tried any of the Lee rifle factory crimp dies? They use a collet, I really like them.
Toolness1 yes my Accuracy went up when I used it for the 223 get one the same night for .308
Yeah they are handy, I use it on .308 for my Palmetto AR10 which is turning out to be an awesome rifle for the price. I was getting right around 1 MOA with Sierra factory second blemish bullets and a non free floated barrel. I free floated it about a month ago ad put a Troy gas block on, but haven't been able to get it out to the range yet. Hopefully it shoots even better. I also bought the jig and lapped the face of the receiver to make it perfectly straight... If I didn't screw anything up in the process, it should be a great shooter now!
Brother, thank you for this. I hadn't thought about it. I went and bought Hornady dies for my .32 to try and fix the oversizing. Unfortunately the durn Hornady dies size them the same as the Lee. So now I need to get one of these fancy pants FCD to size the case and try that.
Nathan
The Reloading Press I really like those Factory Crimp Dies, man. They make your ammo purdy!🤠😎
My 45 acp bullets drop from the mold at .4545 . With the factory crimp die I haven't been sizing my cast bullets . I found the factory crimp die does it while loading . The downside is when I pulled a bullet the factory crimp die sized it down to .451 which hurt the accuracy to some extent . My gun likes .452 . So depending on what size bullet your gun likes this die may hurt cast bullet accuracy . It is your choice to make if it helps or hurts . I like crimping with a separate die but don't like how far it sizes the bullet down . I think you opened a can of worms Tim .
James Pollard Walter Coats said he chucks his in a lathe than cuts that Sizing part out of his crimping dies
I don't have a lathe anymore . I was wondering if some coarse valve grinding compound would open it up a .001 . Carbide is sooo hard , I don't know ?
James Pollard yeah I think it may take more than grit
I like the Lee factory crimp die in rifle and pistol. Sometimes with my big 310g 44 I feel it size down a little but no problems👍🏻🇺🇸
Georgiaboy44 I am really liking it so far 👍👍🇺🇸🤓
yeah i like them too. I have all RCBS stuff except i like the Lee universal decapping die and their factory crimp dies. the LFCD smooths everything out. 1/2 turn down and your good to go.
Try to remember that 'fit is king' when it comes to cast bullets or you will not get all the accuracy your pistol or revolver is capable of. In pistol, all we have to deal with is the lands and grooves of the barrel. Typically .002" over that size will run great. At one time I was loading my .45ACP at only .001" over bore and they just didn't group tight in either the Kimber or the Colt but they didn't bulge the cases like an hourglass, I didn't like that look either. Something was wrong as I tried multiple loads of various fast powders between 830 ~ 925 FPS but was having 3 and 4" groups at 10 yards...even testing off a bag. Finally I sized to .452" and the 900 FPS groups started to show real promise, they pulled in to under 2.5" freehanded and that's good shooting for me. What I'm getting around to is that using the factory crimp die that sizes the cases, also sizes the rounds too. It would be a good idea to de-mil a couple cast loads and measure the cast bullets...see what size this crimp die actually re-sizes them too and If that works in your platform as far as expected group size then your certainly 'good to go' but if your typical groupings tends to get larger...something is wrong. Anymore I don't pay any attention to the hourglass looking cases so long as they pass the cartridge checker. Either load for looks or load for performance...sometimes we can't have both, especially in revolvers where we size for the cylinder diameter which often times is much larger than the bore.
I hope this ain't confusing. I got tricked by the speed of this video, I checked my computer to see what was the matter...then figured out what you were doing...duuuh! I'ma little slow!
Charles Irby yeah it was a 18 minute video so I sped it up, I am following what you are saying about size
Hey Emperor, slow down and take a breath!🤣😂 My thought on using the FCD to size brass is the crimp itself. I understand the sizing occurs at the carbide ring st the bottom but if we adjust the die up in press, so as not to crimp the mouth, aren’t we creating that same space at the web? And if we don’t, aren’t we over working the case mouth, crimp, expand and then crimp again, all in 1 loading? My 357 dies are RCBS, too. I think I have factory crimp dies for everything except 357 and 30-06, the ones I need the most.
Oh yea, did you see my latest video? There’s a snippet in there about crimping and seating at the same time. I’ve buckled rounds doing that. I hope you’ll watch it.
JH586 adjust the crimp from the top, adjust the die all the way down.it will work the brass less about..006. I guess the point is that sizing dies are really too small .
JH586 no I didn't
I’m interested in seeing how they extract. If it’s not an issue, it might extend the case life by not sizing it down so much.
Mike Treen that is what I was thinking 👍👍🇺🇸🤓
I'm about to say what has essentially been said in a previous comment but a bit different.
Generally speaking carbide sizing/decapping dies under sizes the brass by design. It has to do wit the fact the neck needs to be under sized so the expander can open it up to an ideal i.d. to obtain proper tension. With garden variety carbide dies just having a single narrow ring, it sizes the entire case based on what the neck needs. End result is a round with that hour glass shape.
You asked why couldn't it be sized to .377", it should be enough to hold a bullet. Brass thickness varies from case to case so coming up with a standard o.d. will not yield a consistent i.d. That's why the brass is under sized and opened up with the expander, to obtain a consistent i.d.
As you found out a LFCD can't be used as a full length sizing die by itself. You'll have to follow it up with the carbide sizing die but only size as far down as the bullet is going to be seated. If you don't mind the extra steps you can minimize the hour glass shape this way.
Usually when someone is talking that fast, they are trying to hide something.. Did you burn supper ???
fuzztfork8 not me 🙄🙄
I nearly puked laughing when you said this! Oh my word you guys make life so damn funny! I thought maybe it was just what I was drinking that made Empire sound like an 8mm film running a little too fast!
I follow what your getting at, My question is? Does this vary more, less or same with multiple fired brass vs once fired? Or by make of brass?
I used RCBS 3 die on my .357, and after 3rd time fired, I chunked em because cases were getting to wonkey ( wonkey...is a technical term) lol
IdahoRodgers USMC yes it will vary from brand to brand the more they are fired the harder they get
I just realized your music is from PJ mask . Just to show what I do all day .
Nick L who is PJ Mask,🙄
P j mask is a cartoon I watch with my 2 year old grand son . There cartoon Heroes who come out at night to save the day.
Nick L oh my grandkids must not watch them ,?
PC BULLET EMPIRE Look it up on u tube . I think he might like it . I do , but it's not as good as bugs bunny .
Time to switch to decaf! 😂 good way to trim down a vid!
josh benware yes sir I thought 18 minutes were too much 🤣😂
So did the unsized one fit in a case gauge ?
Joseph Rash I don't have a case gauge ,I normally just use my cylinder,yes it fit the Cylinder
Little too much caffeine?
Kyle Lusk just a little 🤣😂🤫
You are great .just slow dowwwwwn a bit ,so I can understand.
Nick L ok🤣😂
we follow you hahaha
ThecrazyScotsman 🤣😂