Cannalure - Crimp

02 December 2003, 03:42

Chuck White

Cannalure - Crimp

I hear a lot of you guys mention the Lee Factory Crimp Die!
Question: Can the Lee FCD be adjusted to put a cannalure in the side of the case and not just crimp the case mouth?
The reason I ask is, when loading 240 grain SWC's in my 444, they have to be seated so that the case mouth is even with the front edge of the front band and if I crimp there, the bullet will be shoved in deeper and the crimp will be ineffective!
My alternative would be to trim the cases shorter than the book calls for!
Also, is the FCD caliber specific or can you do all calibers with the same die?
Thanks;

02 December 2003, 03:47

aladin

quote:
Originally posted by Chuck White:
I hear a lot of you guys mention the Lee Factory Crimp Die!
Question: Can the Lee FCD be adjusted to put a cannalure in the side of the case and not just crimp the case mouth?
The reason I ask is, when loading 240 grain SWC's in my 444, they have to be seated so that the case mouth is even with the front edge of the front band and if I crimp there, the bullet will be shoved in deeper and the crimp will be ineffective!
My alternative would be to trim the cases shorter than the book calls for!
Also, is the FCD caliber specific or can you do all calibers with the same die?
Thanks;

FCD's are caliber specific.

They only crimp on the case mouth. It operates by forcing a sliding slieve inside the die body up against the mouth origin.

Only time I've observed really high pressures with hard cast and slow powders is using a FCD. I followed the directions using a slug oversized for that 30 caliber application. So a very hard crimp force would usually indicate excessive holding of the bullet-- and much higher pressures than the loading might normally produce.

02 December 2003, 04:35

<ben.>

Chuck White, Aladin: Lee crimp dies for the 44 is a sliding sleeve like Aladin said, but the 444, is a rifle type which is a collet. I have to grind the bottom of the collet on most of my crimp dies, to lower the crimp. The more you grind off, the lower the crimp. The longer the case the lower the crimp. The shell holder pushing up on the bottom of the collet causes the crimp. Push the collet out from the top being careful not to lose the retainer clip. ben.

02 December 2003, 04:57

Ed Barrett

I found I could crimp with the LEE factory crimp die by putting a shell in from the top and running the press handle down. as log as the caliber is about the same it seem to work. I have used this method to crimp 8X50R Austrian. for a stright case you should be able to make a jig to allow you to go in from the top the same amount to make your channalure. Hope this helps you a little.

Ed B
AKA elbStJoeMO