Lee dies and taper or roll crimp

[sterno]

If I am reloading 9mm luger, should I use a roll or a taper crimp? Secondly, do Lee dies have a roll or taper crimp. I looked at their website and really couldn't get my question answered.

 

[brickeyee]

Taper crimp is used for cartridges to be fired on guns that headspace on the case mouth.
A 9mm luger in an auto pistol headspaces on the case mouth.
A 9mm luger in a revolver using moon clips headspaces on the clips.

 

[CrustyFN]

If there is no canalure in the bullet then you want to taper crimp. If you are shooting these in a auto then you want very little crimp. I crimp mine just enough to remove the bell that the powder/expander die put in. I use plated bullets and you have to be careful not to over crimp them. I can pull a loaded bullet and just barely see a ring where the case was crimped on the bullet.
Rusty

 

[Al57]

Sterno, to answer your 2nd question, Lee uses a modified taper crimp in their .45 acp seater die because this round headspaces on the case mouth . Since the 9mm does as well, i'd wager they employ this same setup in their 9mm seater die. It does or at least did state on the Lee website that using a seperate die to crimp is unnecessary. Many will tell you that you should crimp in a seperate step, and there's certainly nothing wrong with this practice, but FWIW I've used the Lee seater /crimper die for years and oodles of rounds with satisfaction in .45 acp . Hope this helps.

 

[JoeHatley]

Standard Lee dies are both.

From the Lee FAQ section:
"Seating die crimp style

There are two crimp shoulders in our bullet seating dies. The first shoulder applies a slight taper crimp and the second shoulder applies a full roll crimp. The closer the die is adjusted to the shell holder the heavier the crimp will be."

Joe

 

[swmike]

For 9mm loads I would recommend a LEE Factory Crimp Die. Not only does it apply a taper crimp which is standard for 9mm, it also performs a final full length resizing. This makes sure that the round will chamber fully, every time. No more small bulges anywhere on the case that may have shown up during seating or crimping operations.

Yes, it does add another step as the FCD does not seat bullets. But not having to stop to clear a stoppage is well worth it.

 

[gandog56]

I'm trying to think if I have a set of dies without a Lee FCD. I can't.

 

[gb_in_ga]

If I am reloading 9mm luger, should I use a roll or a taper crimp? Secondly, do Lee dies have a roll or taper crimp.

First -- for the most part, you will want to use a taper crimp with 9mm. The exception I've found is that I've found that I get the best results using a roll crimp when using Remington's Golden Saber bullets.

Second -- it depends on which Lee die you are talking about. The "standard" bullet seating die is a roll crimp die. It is quite possible to use this die to seat bullets with no crimp at all, and unless I'm using Golden Sabers that's the way I use it. Lee also has a "Factory Crimp Die" which is a taper crimp die. I use the FCD for crimping everything except Golden Sabers, after seating the bullet with the "standard" die.

I'm trying to think if I have a set of dies without a Lee FCD. I can't.

It is easy to tell -- if the die set has 3 dies, it doesn't have a FCD. If it has 4, it does. I do have a set of Lee dies for an autoloader round (.380) that did NOT come with a FCD. I bought the FCD in that caliber extra. Also, it is the usual case to not have a FCD with revolver rounds, where roll crimping is what is usually done.