Greetings,

When using a dedicated crim[p die for handgun cartridges, what is your preferred brand of crimp die and why?

Also, I noticed one can buy a taper crimp die for cartridges such as the .44 mag which usually are roll crimped. Why would one use a taper crimp for a cartridge that doesn't headspace on the case mouth?

Opinions appreciated.

Thanks.

Holmes

The Lee factory crimp has my vote. Fast,easy to adjust & priced right.

LEE all of the way.

Lyman. I believe they make the best of all the pistol dies, Redding, Forster and RCBS notwithstanding. Also, their sets have more options and they provide separate crimp and seating dies.

Taper crimps will crimp any length case. For uniform roll crimping the cases all have to be the same length. I use taper crimps (Lee) on most all of my handgun loads with good results.

Lee Factory Crimp dies are great, made a big difference in extreme spread of my 44 mag loads. It is almost essential for 45/70 and the Remington 405 grain flat point bullet.

Another vote for Lee crimp dies. They are the only Lee product I would give two-cents for, but IMO the Lee crimp dies, rifle and pistol, are worth their weight in gold.

I'v got both the Redding profile crimp die and the Lee FC die and I don't use the Redding anymore.
Jeff

dedicated; LEE factory crimp

Lee Factory Crimp, it's the best thing they ever produced.

The new die I have been playing with has been the Dillion. I love it because it is easy to clean with cast bullet lube. Just pull the pin to drop the insert out to clean it. The hornady die for my 480 has worked out much better than I expected. I have never used the Lee.

Remember that crimp isn't the only thing that holds the bullet, but also neck tension.

Hcliff

I haven't purposely tested the various crimp dies to know which one works best. I do know that my 480 really shoots, and I'm using the hornady die set.

Thanks to all for the replies.

I am a fan of Redding dies but I've heard so much about the Lee crimp dies that I believe I'm going to try a few.

Regards to all.

Holmes