Will using the Lee factory crimp die shorten case life? My first use of this crimp on 375 H&H (Speer 235 w/o cannelure) leaves a square shoulder between neck and crimp (not being ham fisted). Should this be polished to a small radius on the die?

I use the factory crimp die on all of my reloads, with RCBS dies. Typically as you reload, you are trimming the case just a bit each time, and I find that the old crimp isn't a problem. However, I don't over crimp either.



You know that Speer suggests that the Lee factory crimp dies shouldn't be used on their bullets. I have no idea why.

>>You know that Speer suggests that the Lee factory crimp dies shouldn't be used on their bullets. I have no idea why. <<
Speer and RCBS are owned by the same company and Lee is RCBS's competitor. The Lee FCD is a particularly good tool unmatched by any other crimp die. Lee and the owner of RCBS/
Speer were in a long running pissing contest over Lee's claims of improved accuracy when using the FCD with un-cannelured bullets.

Brass is pretty soft stuff and I really don't think that crimping it is going to wear out the casemouth to the point that the case finds its way into the trashcan too soon. The neck will most likely split before that happens. I crimp all the reloads for my .223 guns-- and quite deeply, I might add. You could adjust the die to just kiss the bullet; no need to smash 'em like I do. I crimp them so deeply that OAL grows by about .005" over uncrimped rounds.