Anyone else having problems using a crimp in the seater die? Have no problem reloading without the crimp but when I try I bulge the case. Any stand alone crimp solutions as of yet?

quote:

Originally posted by tmoran:
Anyone else having problems using a crimp in the seater die? Have no problem reloading without the crimp but when I try I bulge the case. Any stand alone crimp solutions as of yet?

tmoran,
Welcome to the forum.
Are you using bullets with a crimp grove? The crimping devise in a standard seating die is set up to do what is called a roll crimp. You need a crimp grove or cannular to crimp into or you will get the results you are encountering. Unless you are loading a heavy recoiling cartridge you problem don’t need to crimp if neck tension is correct.
Bill

thanks for the reply bill. No the bullet I was trying to use was the Hornady 225 FP without the grove. I've also tried the 270 without success. I have not had trouble without really just like the though of the crimp. Thanks for the advice.

quote:

Originally posted by tmoran:
thanks for the reply bill. No the bullet I was trying to use was the Hornady 225 FP without the grove. I've also tried the 270 without success. I have not had trouble without really just like the though of the crimp. Thanks for the advice.

Buy a .375H&H lee crimp die & shorten the collett(shell holder end)to fit the length of the 375 ruger. I had to do this for my 376 Steyr 4-5 yrs back That is if their not available in the 375 Ruger yet.

I used my Lee 375 H&H crimp die and pushed the round up into the die and held the bullet with my left hand while I used the ram to push the crimp collet. It works fine that way.

thanks guys, this is the solution I was looking for. What a great forum!

If you contact Lee and send them a case or two, they will mfg. you a crimp die for whatever cartridge. Had to do so for the 458Lott. Good product.

You are using too much crimp, that will bulge the case...back off and just barely crimp, that is a mistake that a lot of reloaders of DG calibers make....It will work.

I might add that you need to trim all your cases to the same length and thats not very easy unless you use a file trim die..I use the file trim die on all big bore calibers or calibers that require a crimp..

I also cut about .003 to .004 off the expander ball to give a tighter purchase on the bullet and then use a powder that pretty well fills the case.

t,

Another thought - have you trimmed all the cases to the same length as well?

I have used the Lee Factory Crimp die on most of the calibers that I reload. It eliminates all of the problems involved with the crimping step. You can order it on line or by telephone. I have one for the 375 Ruger which I ordered about six months ago and it works great. I have crimped the same bullets which you described and have had no problems. The cost on the die is about $25.00 plus shipping. Delivery time is normally about two weeks.

Good Luck.

Yep, those factory crimp dies are the chitz for the heavy recoil stuff.. If you send a dummy cartridge to Lee they will make you a custom job..

Check out the October 2007 issue of Guns & Ammo. On page 32 there is an article by Terry Wieland "The 375 Ruger" he ran into crimp problems too.

He found the factory brass is thick, he measured it a 15 thousands. Their are pictures of the case shoulder after normal and light roll crimp attempts.
In both cases the case shoulder bulged out enough to prevent chambering the finished round.
It seems the thick case necks would rather push back to swell the shoulder rather than roll into the crimp groove.
I've read too many bad things about roll crimping to bother with it, I use a Lee factory crimp die, it works too well to be ignored.

I'm resurrecting this thread in hopes that someone can explain to me why Lee can't make a factory crimp die for the 375 Ruger unless I send in a dummy cartridge for them to use as a template. I'm more than happy to pay the additional custom charge since Lee doesn't normally stock the crimp die for the 375 Ruger, but can't they use available published factory data for the dimensions? I mean its not like I'd have to send in a dummy 30-06 cartridge for a crimp die in that caliber. Why does the 375 Ruger have to be custom fit to my personal cartridge, especially since the only brass supplier is Hornady? Here's the email that transpired this morning:

"The 375 Ruger would be a custom order and every custom order would be
a new order and you would need to send in a bullet seated in an empty
case and the cost would be $25.00 plus $4.00 for shipping and
handling and it would take 6-8 weeks to receive. We do not make
custom order dies off of prior custom orders.



At 10:41 AM 9/3/2008, you wrote:
>Greetings,
>
>I called this morning about purchasing a factory crimp die for
>the relatively new 375 Ruger rifle cartridge and was told I had to go the
>custom route and send in a dummy cartridge so you could fabricate a die.
>I was really hoping to avoid this step since the cartridge is a readily
>available factory cartridge and since I'm sure you have previously produced
>a factory crimp die for the 375 Ruger for others before me based on
>several gun forum threads I've read recently. Maybe I'm wrong, but I
>suspect that if you had produced a factory crimp die in the past for other
>customers that you would have kept the dimensions on record so you could
>easily reproduce an identical die without having to unnecessarily re-measure
>the same parameters, especially since this is a currently available
>factory cartridge (growing in popularity if I might add). If this is not
>the case, can you please advise me whether or not I can use either the 375
>H&H or the 375 Winchester factory crimp die in lieu of the 375 Ruger
>factory crimp die. Thank you in advance for you help and sorry for being
>so persistent on this issue - it's just that the answer I received via
>phone didn't seem logical to me from a business perspective (i.e., that
>you wouldn't keep the specs on a factory cartridge after having made one
>previously or just use the published factory specs).

I really don't understand all of the whining. I sent two dummy rounds to Lee along with $29.00 for the crimp die and shipping, and within two weeks I had the die. It takes care of the crimping issue and I didn't feel that I was overcharged or delayed. If you are serious about reloading the 375 Ruger, send the dummy round and your check, and many of your problems will be solved in very short order. I have purchased 15+ crimp dies from Lee and they have all worked perfectly.

Hope you get it worked out.

Thank you for that inciteful response (and for the record I have been reloading seriously for over 20 years). I've used Lee products in the past and some have been great others haven't. I own several of their crimp dies in other calibers. I just want to know why they can't use published specs on a currently available factory cartridge (or even the specs from the cartridges you sent in) to build the die. I see no reason why they can't or shouldn't and if it's just a matter of them being lazy by making us send in cartridges so they don't have to pull up a schematic then I don't want to do business with them because I take reloading seriously and expect the guys making the stuff I use to also take the job seriously. With that said, I doubt they're being lazy, but an explanation other than "we don't do it that way" is necessary because I don't follow blindly when safety matters.

quote:

Originally posted by SingleSeven:
Thank you for that inciteful response (and for the record I have been reloading seriously for over 20 years). I've used Lee products in the past and some have been great others haven't. I own several of their crimp dies in other calibers. I just want to know why they can't use published specs on a currently available factory cartridge (or even the specs from the cartridges you sent in) to build the die. I see no reason why they can't or shouldn't and if it's just a matter of them being lazy by making us send in cartridges so they don't have to pull up a schematic then I don't want to do business with them because I take reloading seriously and expect the guys making the stuff I use to also take the job seriously. With that said, I doubt they're being lazy, but an explanation other than "we don't do it that way" is necessary because I don't follow blindly when safety matters.

If I lived in California I would definatly be concerned with the safety of a Lee crimp die. It will probably cause cancer if injested by a lab rat If you don't like the way a company does business build the product your self & quit tit whining

don't get me started on the politics here in the People's Republic, just be grateful you have a gun-nut governor in the land without sun (although not for long I hope). ok, back on subject, i don't have the tools to make the die myself and Lee said it was dangerous to modify the 375H&H the way you did it (not that you would care about safety or anything) so who else in the business makes a similar product?

Seven,

Sorry, I didn't intend to offend you. Without trying to be insightful, I am very pleased with the Lee crimp die. It makes life easier, simpler and much safer. I have also been pleased with the customer service of Lee Engineering and feel that the price is fair for the product and service provided.

Again, my apologies.

quote:

Originally posted by SingleSeven:
ok, back on subject, i don't have the tools to make the die myself and Lee said it was dangerous to modify the 375H&H the way you did it (not that you would care about safety or anything) so who else in the business makes a similar product?

Unless Lee has modified their FCDs in the last several years you would not get a 375 Ruger case into a 375 H&H FCD. I have a 338 WM FCD which has an internal diameter of .515", it has a rebate for the belt at the bottom of the crimp part of the die. (The FCD in my Lee .223 Rem set also has an internal diameter of .515". go figure, obviously all made to the same diameter.) I have heard of guys doing 416 Taylor FCDs by shortening a 416 Rem die, I would assume they needed to relieve the bottom part to accommodate the belt. I wonder if Lee now do their dies with a larger internal diameter, to accommodate RAUMs & WSMs. Anyone care to measure the internal diameter of a recently purchased LEE FCD? If the diameter of the die was big enough to accommodate a 375 Ruger case. I couldn't see a hassle with making it shorter to match the Ruger case length. Lee could not be seen to encourage this, but in truth if the dimensions are compatible, there should be no safety issue, it will either work if you get it right or not if you get it wrong.
Steve

quote:

I see no reason why they can't or shouldn't and if it's just a matter of them being lazy by making us send in cartridges so they don't have to pull up a schematic then I don't want to do business with them

It's Lee's business process, and you don't want to mess with it if you want good results. Their business process says a custom die order WILL have some dummy cartridges with it that will get measured - no cartridges then obviously the machinist won't make the die. It's not laziness, it's following procedure. If they are an ISO 9000 company then not following procedure will get their certification yanked which means they wasted the time and bucks it takes to get certified. Yes, the 375 Ruger is a SAAMI standard cartridge, and Lee really should add a crimp die for it to their standard product line but until they do it remains a custom die and you have to go through the custom die ordering process to get one.
And no, only Lee makes a collet style crimp die. Don't know if it's a patent issue or if Lee has done such a thorough job of marketing and reducing costs that other companies don't want to try and compete against them.

quote:

I have also been pleased with the customer service of Lee Engineering and feel that the price is fair for the product and service provided.

Customer service was very polite when I called, just not very informative in explaining why my request could not be granted. Price is not the issue, I'd be willing to pay $40.00 for the die if they built it to factory specs rather than to those of the cartridge I send in.

quote:

Unless Lee has modified their FCDs in the last several years you would not get a 375 Ruger case into a 375 H&H FCD

Lee didn't explain to me (imagine that ) why the 375 H&H FCD wouldn't work, but I thought it might have to do with the greater thickness of the 375 Ruger brass at the mouth. Your analysis makes more sense though.

quote:

It's not laziness, it's following procedure. If they are an ISO 9000 company then not following procedure will get their certification yanked which means they wasted the time and bucks it takes to get certified.

I can accept this explanation, although I would think the ISO procedures would want to limit the manufacturer's liability by having the manufacturer design to the factory specs when requested by the customer rather than to the specs of a random cartridge beyond the manufacturer's control that may or may not be of the correct COL or trim length or that might have a depressed shoulder or other critical misaligned parameter that occurred during shipping as a result of some disgruntled postal worker - we got lots of those here in the republic. I hear what you're saying about this still being a custom request, but my custom request is to have uniformity with the factory specs not the specs of a cartridge I send in that may or may not be identical.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I don't need to pursue this any further. God bless.

I have been crimping my 416/375 Ruger wildcat without all these problems..

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I have been crimping my 416/375 Ruger wildcat without all these problems..

Ray, are you using the normal roll crimp in the seater die or have you had a Lee FCD made up for your 416?
Steve

I eventually managed to dig up the text of an email from Lee Precision in which they give the parameters of the FCDs they can produce in which die size.

quote:

The collet-type Factory crimp die can be made for a wide variety of cartridges. Most rifle cartridges will fit into the 7/8-14 thread die body. If your cartridge falls within the following parameters it will fit into our standard 7/8-14 die;
Bullet diameter .172 - .501 (minimum - maximum)
Body diameter .295 - .580
Case length 1.345 - 3.400
(all dimensions in inches)
Cartridges over the maximum in any of the three parameters will probably fit into the large-series dies. These have a 1 1/4-12 thread, so your press must be capable of accepting this thread size.

Bullet diameter .300 - .577 (minimum - maximum)
Body diameter .575 - .875
Case length 1.500 - 4.000

Hope this may be of use.
Steve
PS, still like confirmation or otherwise of what internal diameter Lee make their FCDs to nowadays, mine are a year or three or eight old.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:

I might add that you need to trim all your cases to the same length and thats not very easy unless you use a file trim die..I use the file trim die on all big bore calibers or calibers that require a crimp..

Along those lines you can simply use a lee case length gauge and cutter. This is way faster than using a trim die and file. That is IF Lee is making one for the .375 Ruger yet....

And the answer to that question is yes!

For the whopping sum of $3.99

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=383420