My question with the lee dies was how much crimp to put on. I never could find out and got rid of the stuff. I still dont know how much crimp to put on a shell so I dont reload.
Lee Factory crimp dies really shine when you are wanting to crimp a fragile case, such as .223 Rem. They will not crush the case, regardless of case length. Some semi-autos such as the Mini-14 will give you bullet setback if you are shooting loads no crimp. AR-15s don't seem to have this problem. Also, practically any bullet type may be crimped using these dies, they don't need a cannelure. This die will crimp directly into the bullet. The crimp should be done sparingly, to avoid bullet deformation. I very seldom crimp anything, but I do when loading .45 Auto. My Kimber Gold Match is finnicky about it's loads. The Lee Factory crimp for .45 has a carbide sizer that does a final sizing on the round. I use the die on my Dillon 650's 5th station. Also, the profile that the crimper puts on the .45 case mouth allows for easier feeding. Perhaps a chamfer would do as well, but with the volume that I load them at, running them thru the die is much easier.
I have tried one in 458WM and it doesn,t seem to crimp into the cannelure like factory ammo. I kept adjusting it tighter and it didn't seem any different. I am going back to crimping with my RCBS dies as a separate operation.
Posts: 284 | Location: Plant City, Fl,USA | Registered: 12 April 2001
The Lee Factory Crimping die is like none of the others. The Lee has a floating collet that makes uniform case length unnecessary. The roll crimping process on the other dies (Redding, RCBS, etc....) run the risk of collapsing the case walls. I've done it! It really hacks you off when it happens on the rarer and more expensive brass.
