Lee Loader

Ohio3Wheels wrote:

Steve wrote:

jloader wrote:So one FCD is necessarily same as another FCD... got it. I figured that something was a bit fishy, that's why I started of by saying "I may be a bit off on it..."
Thanks for straightening things out...

Jloader, if you lookup collet die on the Lee sight you will see it is not described as a crimp die by Lee. The collet die is simply a better way of neck sizing only.

Yes, that particular die is a "better" way of nect sizing it uses a collet and a mandrill to very uniformly neck size and maintain cartridge concentrically. On the other hand the collect crimp die applies a factory style crimp by using a collet to "squeeze" the case neck around the bullet. In theory this give a more uniform neck tension and hence more uniform bullet plue on firing.

Make smoke,

That is a good description.

No, no, no, no.....you fella's are talkin' three different dies now. RD is correct in his reply to the OP on the Lee Collet crimp die.

The LCFCD (Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die) is the crimp die with the carbide ring at the bottom of the die for handgun rounds and (may) post size a finished round if over sized bullets are used. IMO it will work very well for "most" reloading situations.

The LFCD (Lee Factory Crimp Die) (notice the word carbide is missing) is totally different from the LCFCD and uses a COLLET TYPE crimp mechanism and doesn't have the carbide "ring" at the bottom of the die. (getting confused yet? ) Originally these were for rifle bottleneck cases. However, Lee started making them for (some) straight wall handgun rounds. (See Ranch Dog's reply above) By the way RD a big thank you as these are a great crimp die.

The Lee Collet die is the neck size only die for bottle neck cases and has nothing to do with crimping a case. These are also a really good die if neck sizing only is wanted. Clear as mud now right? Lee could probably use a bit more imagination in naming their products so there would be less confusion... Hope this helps and doesn't just add more to it.

Horseman wrote:No, no, no, no.....you fella's are talkin' three different dies now. RD is correct in his reply to the OP on the Lee Collet crimp die.

The LCFCD (Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die) is the crimp die with the carbide ring at the bottom of the die for handgun rounds and (may) post size a finished round if over sized bullets are used. IMO it will work very well for "most" reloading situations.

The LFCD (Lee Factory Crimp Die) (notice the word carbide is missing) is totally different from the LCFCD and uses a COLLET TYPE crimp mechanism and doesn't have the carbide "ring" at the bottom of the die. (getting confused yet? ) Originally these were for rifle bottleneck cases. However, Lee started making them for (some) straight wall handgun rounds. (See Ranch Dog's reply above) By the way RD a big thank you as these are a great crimp die.

The Lee Collet die is the neck size only die for bottle neck cases and has nothing to do with crimping a case. These are also a really good die if neck sizing only is wanted. Clear as mud now right? Lee could probably use a bit more imagination in naming their products so there would be less confusion... Hope this helps and doesn't just add more to it.

That is it in a nutshell.

Well, none of those posts addressed the original questions, but they did a whole lot of schooling for me, and hopefully for few others. Thank you guys.

Maybe I can provide at least some anecdotal information on collets and case fatigue. One of our Swede is a dandy little cavalry carbine that wears a peep site and a Lyman 17 globe. it's surprising accurate for the short sight radius and a hoot to shoot. I have a set of the neck size dies that get used just on this rifle and the 20 cases I set aside to use with it. Those 20 have been through 15 loads so far with no signs of neck fatigue. They get sized with a colley and they get crimped with a collet. So pretty much twice for each loading cycle except for every 5th when I FL resize as that's where they show signs of hard chambering. So pretty much what RD said early on not much deleterious affects.

Make smoke,

I have loaded quite a bit of Nichole plated brass that is range pickup. I find it doesn't last as long as brass cases. Also I find some that the plating is starting to flake off, I don't want that in my pistol so I throw them away when I find them. Most of the plated stuff I fire where I am going to loose the brass.

Steve wrote:I have loaded quite a bit of Nichole plated brass that is range pickup. I find it doesn't last as long as brass cases. Also I find some that the plating is starting to flake off, I don't want that in my pistol so I throw them away when I find them. Most of the plated stuff I fire where I am going to loose the brass.

Who's Nichole? Is she hot?

Sorry, had to......

jloader wrote:Well, none of those posts addressed the original questions,

I have loaded quite a few rounds with nickel plated casings in .38spl. Not with the FCD, but with the standard sizing and crimping dies, but I never experienced any problems with chipped off plating. A few people in cowboy action shooting buy the more expensive plated ones because they seem to live more reloading cycles. I can't prove that right or wrong, but I experienced by myself that resizing is a lot easier with nickel plated cases, it seems to have some dry lubing effect.

I've reloaded quite a bit of nickel plated .38 spec cases. I did find a higher % of cracked cases than with brass-brass.
After I inspect them though they do resize easier, and they do look prettier

GasGuzzler wrote:
Who's Nichole? Is she hot?

Sorry, had to......

I wouldn't hold my hopes up... she's peeling after a few uses anyways...