The new sizing die is awesome. Works better than the RCBS neck sizing die I tried last month. Having a little trouble with the seating/crimp die. Keeps crushing the shoulder. Fortunately, I have lots of brass to experiment with. I'll try giving Dave a call.

 Crushing shoulder means the die itself is too low,  and exerting too  much force,  hence pushing the rim of tyre case too hard.  Did you try the procedures I outlined earlier?   The bullets don't appear to be seated to a consistent depth either,  did you measure the bullet after?    Normally you want to be seating the bullet to around the cannelure.


I would recommend seating and crimping the bullet in 2 steps as I mentioned in one of my posts until you get the hang of it. Back the die out far enough that the brass isnt getting damaged, seat all your bullets first to the correct depth,  then back the seating screw all the way out and adjust the die downwards to crimp

Just get a Lee factory crimp die if you absolutely have to crimp your rifle rounds.

I think I got it figured out. Per the instructions, it pushes right up to the top of the cannelure. I usually don't like it that short at 2.206". For the non-cannelure, I'll stick with the Lee seating die and not bother with the crimp. The RCBS die distorted the bullet. My Nosler 62gr has a mild cannelure so not sure which die I'll use.

You can ignore the cannelure if you don't want the round that short.  Just crimp where you want.

I honestly think you can avoid crimping the rounds  in general

True, I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to crimp. I've been thinking about it for the past year. The RCBS actually creates a better looking crimp than the Lee does. I haven't decided yet if I care.

True, I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to crimp. I've been thinking about it for the past year. The RCBS actually creates a better looking crimp than the Lee does. I haven't decided yet if I care.

to make the Lee factory crimp look better, you crimp the round then rotate the round 1/8th turn and then crimp again.

the good thing about the Lee FCD is that you don't need to trim all of your brass to the same length before crimping.  I have a crimp die in 223 and 308 and i only occasionally use it.  if i decide to crimp a round, it is usually just plinking ammo.

True, I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to crimp. I've been thinking about it for the past year. The RCBS actually creates a better looking crimp than the Lee does. I haven't decided yet if I care.

Try shooting both ways and decide.  A little crimp supposedly can help accuracy, but keep in mind bench rest shooters dont crimp.  Some bullets like it, some dont.  If your bullets dont have much neck tension with your cases, it's an better case to crimp.  Crimp vs no crimp is one of those things that can devolve into a argument back and forth for 100 pages on shooting forums.

It's so much fun when I figure shit out.

Nice work 

Nice work 

The RCBS seating/crimp die is definitely more art than science. I was pushing too hard on the crimp. Kinda like working the clutch on a manual transmission. Now I gotta pull the bullets on two dozen stalled rounds.

to make the Lee factory crimp look better, you crimp the round then rotate the round 1/8th turn and then crimp again.

I didn't like the hard crimp that leaves the four collet gaps. I felt like it was messing up the brass too much even after rotating. I preferred the Lee light crimp which left a mild ridge around the neck. AFAIK, there's only a heavy crimp with the RCBS die (unlike the Lee die) but it's more of a tapered crimp as demonstrated in the instructions I posted above.

never force the crimp.  you should feel resistance only near the end of the stroke.  if you feel resistance mid stroke and keep going, you'll crush the shoulder

never force the crimp.  you should feel resistance only near the end of the stroke.  if you feel resistance mid stroke and keep going, you'll crush the shoulder

Thanks, that's what I finally figured out. Didn't make much of a difference with the Lee crimp.