Sizing die

[the_mad_rshn]

Hi all,

Two things.

First I am considering a 284Winchester sizing die for my Bushy.
Second. I did try using a Lee's 45-70 and it did an awesome job. The sized case is by .002 larger alongside and fits perfectly into the chamber. I did not expect this good of a result. I am using 45 LC bullet sitting die. I unscrewed it almost all the way out and left just enough to actually seat the bullet and have enough thread left to be screwed into the press. Crimping is the worst part. Tried using 45-70 die. It works fine with lead .454 bullets, but poorly on the regular .451-.452 bullets.

Cheers,
Mad

[MudBug]

Why not just get the Hornady dies?

[the_mad_rshn]

Why not just get the Hornady dies?

Hey Eric,

I guess I am too used to the Lee dies. Plus I really don't want to spend 60+ bucks on a set. I asked Lee, but they said they are not planning to make any for some reason. No reason was given.

Cheers,
Mad

[gunnut]

You would be best served by reading all the posts on this site and calguns. I did a post on using the 284 cases and I'm still using the same method. The lee 45-70 factory crimp die modified "The LeMag crimp"is still the best crimp you can get by far! The hornady size and deprim works just fine. Do not use the roll crimp on the seating die! back it off to just seat and use the taper crimp with hornady brass.

[wildcatter]

Absolutely, do not use the 45-70 roll crimp, you'll get to much head space and the case may not fire or worst, same for the 45-lc crimp die, which is also a roll crimp. If not the LeMAG SideCrimp, then any Tapper crimp is second best. Tapper crimp dies are found for many cartridges, but the 45ACP crimp die might be the easiest to find and are already found on most benches..

[gunnut]

I should be a lot clearer on the crimp. This is the best way to go. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=95#p750

[the_mad_rshn]

Gents,

I meant to say that I did use the crimp factory die, not the rolling crimp. The thread that talks about modifying it is great, but for some reason I cannot understand what was modified without seeing a picture first.

Appreciate all the advice.

Cheers,
Mad

[gunnut]

Maybe this will help.
Left is a Lee 45-70 Factory crimp die with .5 remove from the bottom.
Right is the collet with .55 removed from the bottom.

[gunnut]

This is how they go together.

[gunnut]

Complete bottom view.