Re: Lee 450 BM Factory Crimp Die
Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2017 6:49 pmI got a chance to play with the FCD a little last night. Shooter 75 is correct about crimping lower. I did notice the crimp area is much wider than what is produced by the Hornady taper crimp die. It was easy to adjust, and I still have some tuning to do with it. Right now I am not sure it could be modified to crimp lower. It has a sleeve the activates a collet which preforms the crimping. The sleeve contacts the shell holder to operate. I could not find a way to disassemble it. There is no carbide resizing ring like the other version. It is replaced by the activating telescoping sleeve.
Question- Has anyone ever tested the amount of holding power of some of the crimping methods discussed on the board? It would be interesting to know the amount of pull required to overcome the different crimp methods.
I also set up the RCBS 45 acp expanding die. it woks great. I felt the Hornady expanding die was to aggressive on the case mouth. It is hard to adjust due to the 7/8- 14 thread as well as it only works the case mouth. I feel the aggression will lead to premature neck failure. The RCBS is easier to adjust finely as the stem is threaded 1/2x20. The design of the stem has a section to expand down the case similar to a bottle neck die's use of a expander button which gently expands the case body just under size of bullet diameter. And the other section to gently expand the mouth which I believe is machined to about 11 degrees. This just opens enough for the bullet to fit in nicely.
Will try to write more later after more use
phil
Question- Has anyone ever tested the amount of holding power of some of the crimping methods discussed on the board? It would be interesting to know the amount of pull required to overcome the different crimp methods.
I also set up the RCBS 45 acp expanding die. it woks great. I felt the Hornady expanding die was to aggressive on the case mouth. It is hard to adjust due to the 7/8- 14 thread as well as it only works the case mouth. I feel the aggression will lead to premature neck failure. The RCBS is easier to adjust finely as the stem is threaded 1/2x20. The design of the stem has a section to expand down the case similar to a bottle neck die's use of a expander button which gently expands the case body just under size of bullet diameter. And the other section to gently expand the mouth which I believe is machined to about 11 degrees. This just opens enough for the bullet to fit in nicely.
Will try to write more later after more use
phil