I have Redding dies, but the big bore thing is new to me and I'm not sure if I want to mess with their "profile" crimp, or just leave my seater set, as is (since I use the lock-n-load bushings as well..) and get a dedicated Lee FCD instead. Any insights?

I would go for the dedicated Lee FCD.

At least with my 378 Weatherby, I was not able to get a firm enough crimp to keep the bullets from moving under recoil and without crushing the shoulders of the case with the usual die.

Lee FCD. Money well spent.

In may case, and because I only live 20min from Lee, I drove down, dropped off some dummies. Got a call the next day that the die was ready for pickup. Can't beat that for service!

An alternative, if you're not planning on alot of shooting, is to simply use your seating die. Do the seating and crimping in two separate operations. First seat the bullets without any crimp then raise your seating stem and adjust the die body to crimp. Works for me with a 416 Rigby.

I called Lee about a crimp die for the Rigby, but they wanted some serious change to make that die. It wasn't a standard item. Not sure about the Ruger version.

Thanks for the input, I'm going to look into the FCD

quote:

Originally posted by Labman:
An alternative, if you're not planning on alot of shooting, is to simply use your seating die. Do the seating and crimping in two separate operations. First seat the bullets without any crimp then raise your seating stem and adjust the die body to crimp. Works for me with a 416 Rigby.

I love the Lee FCD but I also do the above especially on low volume reloads like the 416. I always make up a dummy cartridge after I have settled on a load combo to be used to quickly reset the seating depth. I insert the dummy, run the ram up, then screw the seater down til it contacts the dummy. This gets me within a few thou of my desired OAL.

I have vry little experience in this area - but this is just my understanding.

I am not sure how the 416 Ruger compares to the Rigby.

I have had BIG difficulties getting a Rigby crimp die. The Lee custom die is a larger diameter & needs larger press.

A local smith just opened up a 416 Rem Lee crimp die to take the Rigby case. The same should work for the Ruger.

Phil Shoemaker said that you can use the 416 Rem die & just put the round upside down from the top & crimp it!

Doing the crimping in 2 steps using the seating die does work. But the cases need to be trimmed exactly the same length and the bullets must be seated with the cannelure at the case mouth.