Lee factory crimp dies

[zacharoo]

I have a set of lee factory crimp dies for the 30-30 win. Can and how if posible is it used for the 30 remington? I have been told yes and no. Anyone out there have any experence with this process? I hate to ruin good 30 remington brass since it is so hard to come by. Lee says that they will make a crimp die for me but I need to send a dud factory round to them. I have a  box of remington factory 170 gr. but they are live rounds. How would I get the primer and powder out without firing the round ? HELP!!!!!

Zacharoo

[stimpylu32]

Zach

The only real difference between the 30/30 and the 30 Rem is that the 30 Rem case is slightly longer , so to use the FCD you would just have to screw it down less . The case necks are almost the same OD .330 to .332 ( no big deal )

stimpy

[LONGTOM]

You will need a bullet puller, either a press mounted bullet pulling die or a mallet style that look like a plastic hammer.
After the bullet is out, pour the powder and then put the primed brass in the gun and fire it, then replace only the bullet and you now have a dummy round.

Or you could take a new 30 Rem brass trimmed and resized and load just the bullet into it and you have the same thing.
Request the bullet & brass be returned with the new crimp die.


LONGTOM

[zacharoo]

Thanks stimpy you helped me out one more time. Bless you and yours for the hollidays!!!!!!

Zacharoo

[zacharoo]

Stimpy Hi! I have another Question about Lee FCD. Can a308 win. be used also?

Zacharoo

[stimpylu32]

Zach

I don't think the 308 Win would work , it's case has a thicker neck by a little over .005 , were as the 30 rem and 30/30 are only .001 apart .

I'm not sure you could tighten the 308 win die down enough to get a good crimp on the thinner necks of the 30 rem without doing some damage .
 
stimpy

[McDerry]

Zach

The only real difference between the 30/30 and the 30 Rem is that the 30 Rem case is slightly longer , so to use the FCD you would just have to screw it down less . The case necks are almost the same OD .330 to .332 ( no big deal )

stimpy

We are talking about the Factory Crimp Die and not a regular Roll Crimp Die right?  Hows screwing the die in or out going to change anything in regards to a longer case?  Its a collet.  The shell holder pushes up on the die to close the collet making the crimp.  The crimp will still be in the same location on the neck from the head of the cartridge. 

[shot1]

Here is a little trick from the school of "Let us think about this a moment". With the Lee Factory Crimp Die if you have one like the 30-30 win and you want to use it on the 30 Rem that has a slightly longer Over all length you need to take you a piece of material the thickness of the difference in the length between the 30-30 and the 30 rem and use it as a shim between your shell holder and where it comes into contact with the Crimp Die and it will crimp the case in the proper place. I use a big washer that has a hole big enough for a 7.5X55 case to fit through. I place the 7.5X55 loaded round in the shell holder and slip the washer over it and let it lay on the shell holder as my spacer shim. Then I used a Lee Factory Crimp Die made for the 7.62X54R and it puts a perfect crimp on the 7.5X55 round where it is supposed to be. Give it a try with your 30-30 win die and the 30 Rem case it should work.

Another thing I have found with working with the Lee Factory Crimp die is, DO NOT TRIM YOUR CASES TO THE SUGGESTED TRIM TO LENGTH.  Leave them 5 thousands longer than the trim to length or you will not have enough case length to get a good crimp on. This 5 thousands longer than the trim to length is still 5 thousands short of the average max case length and is perfectly safe.

[stimpylu32]

Zach

The only real difference between the 30/30 and the 30 Rem is that the 30 Rem case is slightly longer , so to use the FCD you would just have to screw it down less . The case necks are almost the same OD .330 to .332 ( no big deal )

stimpy

We are talking about the Factory Crimp Die and not a regular Roll Crimp Die right?  Hows screwing the die in or out going to change anything in regards to a longer case?  Its a collet.  The shell holder pushes up on the die to close the collet making the crimp.  The crimp will still be in the same location on the neck from the head of the cartridge. 

You bring up a point to ponder here , with that line of thinking , how can the same die be used for the 45 S&W , 45 Auto Rim as well as the 45ACP ( 90864 ) the S&W is a longer case , thus moving the crimp to a different location on the case ?

The same would apply to the 45LC , 454 Casull and the 45 Webley Mk2 ( 90865 ) as well as the 32 S&W and 32 H&R mag ( 90067 )

stimpy

[zacharoo]

That is what Tom Terrific alway said Let's Put On Our Thinking Caps. Younger people might not remember that!!! Why not just try adjusting for case length.

Zacharoo

[shot1]

[You bring up a point to ponder here , with that line of thinking , how can the same die be used for the 45 S&W , 45 Auto Rim as well as the 45ACP ( 90864 ) the S&W is a longer case , thus moving the crimp to a different location on the case ?

The same would apply to the 45LC , 454 Casull and the 45 Webley Mk2 ( 90865 ) as well as the 32 S&W and 32 H&R mag ( 90067 )

stimpy
[/quote]

The Lee factory crimp die for these straight wall calibers works different than the one for bottle neck rounds. For the straight wall cases you can screw the die up and down like a regular roll or taper crimp die. Basically it is a taper crimp die that is tighter at the rear so it will size the base of the case as well.  The Lee factory crimp die for bottle neck cases works like this. It has a collet inside the die body that the bottom of the collet must come into contact with the shell holder as the ram is raised and it pushes the collet up into the die body which causes fingers to squeeze inward around the case neck with equal pressure all the way around the case mouth and it will make it's own crimp groove in the bullet also. This is why case length and neck length is so important.

[zacharoo]

I have a set of Lee Factory Crimp dies in 38or 357mag. Lee factory rep. told me to make a spacer to use for 38S&W .  It is a straight wall. I use it to crimp 357 jacketed bullets into the 38S&W which is 360 dia.   Works great.  I use a 7.62x54R  to crimp in place Sierra 150 gr. Pro hunter bullets into steel cased casings after factory bullet is pulled. You keep a consistant powder weight and it makes a marked difference in accuracy.  Only do it once and throw the used case away. Saves some money and costly brass. But a bottle necked case may be different. Some freinds of mine use a 30-06 and 308  for both . Pull and press military for use in Remington autos and military surpluss ammo.  CAJUNS TRY ANYTHING ONCE TO TRY TO SAVE A DIME!!!!! I say that with respect though!!!!!!

Zacharoo

[stimpylu32]

McDerry & shot1

Thanks guys , even an old dog like myself can learn new tricks , I was not aware of the difference between the bottleneck and the strait walled FCD , I always assumed that they worked the same way .

That being said , I still think the 30/30 may work for the 30 Rem due to the fact that both case's are so close to each other in leingth , ( .011 ) I've trimmed that much and more off rifle case's before from just one firing . 

stimpy

[zacharoo]

Will try!!!!!
Zacharoo
PS Don't forget Stimpy!!! Keep that bible close but you gun closer!!!

[Grumulkin]

Actually, the difference in the Lee FCD is dependent on how long the case is.  The FCD for shorter cases like 44 Mag., etc. use one type of FCD while longer cases including the straight walled 460 S&W Magnum works exactly like those for the bottlenecked cases.

I know it costs more, but I've had Lee make a couple of special FCD dies for me.  I guess the washer technique would work but it would be somewhat of a pain that I wouldn't want to irritate myself with.

[McDerry]

The straight wall pistol factory crimp die is just a post sizing die.  Essentially a oversized sizer die so as to insure the case wasnt distorted in the flaring seating process.  Works good on rimless cases as it leaves the neck diameter at minimal to headspace.