"Factory Crimp Die"

[RockyMtnMT]

That's kinda my thoughts as well Steve.
My take is, if it makes the ammo more consistent across the board, then I don't see a down side to crimping.
I know it's a long shot, but my 300 Weatherby shoots really good at 3.7"ish coal, and I'm hoping I can get it to shoot at mag length.

Only one way to find out.

It will just be a matter of finding that spot in the jump that the bullet and rifle like. I would start and max oal for mag length and start working shorter until you find that sweet spot. All with the crimp. With luck max mag length will work great.

Steve

 

[Pdvdh]

So the crimp is making sense as a regular process. Using regular dies one needs to make sure that the case length is the same on all cases or the crimp will vary.

I think crimping used to be a standard practice that has died out over the years due to the bench rest crowd. I have heard that crimping is making a comeback in the bench rest crowd.

My thinking is crimping will make hand loads more consistent. Particularly with less than perfect chambers and not perfectly uniform neck thickness. At this time I see no down side to it and we are recommending it to our customers.

Steve

Thanks for sharing Steve. Crimping improved accuracy in my AR15, very notably.
But a local here who owns and shoots multiple rifles is now crimping for each cartridge that Lee makes their factory crimp die in. He took his best loads and crimped for each cartridge. Accuracy improved with the crimped loads in every instance, and never was worse in any instance. Last time I was in the local gun shop, he was ordering another Lee Factory Crimp Die.
This individual has shot rifles extensively since 10yrs old and he's in his late 60s now. He logs and maintains load data for each rifle manually in a bound notebook. Just saying he's accomplished, takes this seriously, and doesn't BS.

One more possibly important item. He doesn't jam bullets in any firearm. My personal theory is crimping is most likely to improve accuracy with loads that aren't jammed into the lands. I suspect benchrest competitors typically jam their bullets to achieve uniform powder ignition. I think crimping helps improve consistency of powder ignition with loads that aren't jammed, thereby enhancing precision.

 

[rcoody]

So much for neck sizing bushings and that ever critical neck tension.

 

[Pdvdh]

Bullet impacts on paper speak louder than neck sizing bushings on the Forums?

Perhaps someone knows why factory ammo was consistently crimped? I suspect that for the average hunter shooting factory ammo, the crimps would not have been applied if precision was known to suffer as a consequence. More than likely just the opposite.

 

[iowaelkbum]

The latest edition of the Lee Reloading Book has a very good write up about the crimp die, and all aspects related to it. It is worth reading even if you don't plan to crimp. I was impressed with information. I have heard that cheap knock offs of the Lee crimp die are being sold, so make sure to buy from a reputable source. I use the die on my 7STW.

 

[gohring3006]

You know you've made it when they start making knock offs of your product..

 

[Pdvdh]

I just ordered a Lee Factory Crimp Die for my 280 AI, since it's available from Lee for this cartridge, and because I don't jam the bullets with that rifle. $15.00 off FleaBay. They're inexpensive. My other cartridges are either wildcats (no Factory Crimp Die available), or I jam the bullets into the lands. Lee's catalog does state they'll manufacture Factory Crimp Dies for some non-standard cartridges for an additional fee. I haven't pursued that yet for my wildcat cartridges. I'm not convinced the crimping will be as beneficial for cartridges with bullets jammed firmly into the lands.

But I'll test for any affects on accuracy/precision using the Factory Crimp Die with my 280 AI after the weather warms a bit this spring. Expect only good. At the least no harm.

 

[gohring3006]

I just ordered a Lee Factory Crimp Die for my 280 AI, since it's available from Lee for this cartridge, and because I don't jam the bullets with that rifle. $15.00 off FleaBay. They're inexpensive. My other cartridges are either wildcats (no Factory Crimp Die available), or I jam the bullets into the lands. Lee's catalog does state they'll manufacture Factory Crimp Dies for some non-standard cartridges for an additional fee. I haven't pursued that yet for my wildcat cartridges. I'm not convinced the crimping will be as beneficial for cartridges with bullets jammed firmly into the lands.

But I'll test for any affects on accuracy/precision using the Factory Crimp Die with my 280 AI after the weather warms a bit this spring. Expect only good. At the least no harm.

Midway has the 300 Weatherby FCD on sale for like 9 bucks. Not sure if any others are on sale, but I think full price is less than 15$... I just got my 6.5 Creed LEE die set today. I just ordered the ultimate die set so I could get the collet die and the crimp die. I don't see any difference as far as quality, to any other die set I have...

 

[Pdvdh]

Midway has the 300 Weatherby FCD on sale for like 9 bucks. Not sure if any others are on sale, but I think full price is less than 15$...

It's the shipping to Alaska that increases my cost. Even with added shipping costs, the Lee Factory Crimp Dies are inexpensive, compared to all the other hunting/loading/shooting related items that devour money.

 

[Buckskinner]

Where the heck are all of the Lee bashers??? Usually when someone starts a positive thread about anything Lee they come out...

I've had similar results with the Lee FCD and accuracy, and I think what has been said before stands to reason. I use it on several calibers combined with the collet dies. Seems to work, even though I am only spending about $30 for the whole deal.... Ok I do spurge a bit for a good seating die. Have a bunch of Redding Comp seating dies, but bought a Forster's for quite a bit less and, **** just as good from what I can tell!

 

[Lonewolf74]

Has anybody compared the Lee fcd to the Redding taper crimp die? The Lee is half the price and I can't imagine for something relatively simple like a crimp you could gain much with the Redding. Is the Lee a taper crimp or something different?

 

[Edd]

I thought a standard RCBS bullet seater would crimp a case mouth. I also thought people made sure they set the die up so it wouldn't crimp. Sounds like bullet seating has come full circle.

 

[gohring3006]

I think the difference with the Lee is, it's less sensitive to exact case length where the the standard die/crimp will vary it's crimp depending on case length.

 

[Buckskinner]

Lee FCD's in neither a roll nor a taper die, they are a collet die. IMO, better than either of the other two. RCBS is a roll crimp, which puts stress on the entire length of the brass, IMO the worst of the three. If not set up perfectly with all brass being exactly same length you can get some really ugly and unshootable loads. I've not used a taper on rifle loads.