Lee Factory Crimp Die for .470 NE

[rookhawk]

I do not shoot double rifles. That said, when both chambers are loaded and the first round is fired the remaining round is buffeted by the recoil and this COULD result in the entire cartridge moving slightly forward (through inertia) or the heavy bullet moving rearward in the cartridge neck.

I DO crimp all rifle rounds from .25 caliber up. I definitely think that crimping (with the Lee FCD) makes a better round and helps to maintain even neck tension, which positively effects precision.

When using the Lee FCD you do not need to 'crush' down the press lever. In fact it does not take much downward pressure - maybe 3 to 5 lbs. for most calibers. Try to be consistent.

Crimping is easy, cheap and helps avoid potential problems in the field.

To that point, I learned something from @Wahoo (he's having a great safari as I write this) about the crimping considerations. He tried literally every 470NE and 375HH bullet known to man because he's that kinda guy. He was looking at SAAMI/CIP specs and then testing them for feed function in his rifles. What he found on more than a few of both calibers is that the cannelures or driving bands do not line-up within the required Over All Length (COAL) to be within spec. That is a pretty good reason for a factory crimp die, because you may not be gripping a cannelure and you'll appreciate that extra neck tension in that case especially.

 

[Rare Breed]

I do not shoot double rifles. That said, when both chambers are loaded and the first round is fired the remaining round is buffeted by the recoil and this COULD result in the entire cartridge moving slightly forward (through inertia) or the heavy bullet moving rearward in the cartridge neck.

I DO crimp all rifle rounds from .25 caliber up. I definitely think that crimping (with the Lee FCD) makes a better round and helps to maintain even neck tension, which positively effects precision.

When using the Lee FCD you do not need to 'crush' down the press lever. In fact it does not take much downward pressure - maybe 3 to 5 lbs. for most calibers. Try to be consistent.

Crimping is easy, cheap and helps avoid potential problems in the field.

I completely agree with you! I now crimp everything to avoid any potential problems

 

[Wyatt Smith]

Shooting magnum revolver rounds with win 296 will make you believe in the necessity of a good crimp where it’s required.

 

[SStomcat]

To the second point of your question, it was about COAL with various types of bullets. That’s harder if you want a wide variety of bullets.

So, this begs the question, will the Lee Trim die work the same for different COAL settings? I understand you have to send them a blank, but what if you want to use a different bullet that is of a different size (same calibre of course)?

 

[rookhawk]

So, this begs the question, will the Lee Trim die work the same for different COAL settings? I understand you have to send them a blank, but what if you want to use a different bullet that is of a different size (same calibre of course)?

Really good question, not sure. What I do know is if you want a factory crimp die for a normal caliber like 375HH, they just send you one for about $15. When you ask for a custom caliber like 470NE, they want you to send a piece of fired brass, treating it like a wildcat.

In reality, would the factory crimp die custom made for one reader work perfect on every other person's 470NE built in the modern era that uses modern brass? Probably. Speculation: maybe Lee got burned a few times with oddball British calibers using oddball Bell, Bertram, Jamison brass that was thicker/thinner than Federal/Hornady/Norma.

 

[Rare Breed]

Really good question, not sure. What I do know is if you want a factory crimp die for a normal caliber like 375HH, they just send you one for about $15. When you ask for a custom caliber like 470NE, they want you to send a piece of fired brass, treating it like a wildcat.

In reality, would the factory crimp die custom made for one reader work perfect on every other person's 470NE built in the modern era that uses modern brass? Probably. Speculation: maybe Lee got burned a few times with oddball British calibers using oddball Bell, Bertram, Jamison brass that was thicker/thinner than Federal/Hornady/Norma.

I asked this very question before I ordered my custom 470 crimp die “since my friends on AH have already done this with you can’t you just send me the same thing?”. There answer is we treat every order as just that, custom no matter how many other 470 crimp dies we have made. I gave them my order paid my $41 inclusive of their shipping to me sent them two loaded rounds no primers or powder in case they screwed on up and will have it to me in 3-4 weeks although they say 8 weeks

 

[rookhawk]

I asked this very question before I ordered my custom 470 crimp die “since my friends on AH have already done this with you can’t you just send me the same thing?”. There answer is we treat every order as just that, custom no matter how many other 470 crimp dies we have made. I gave them my order paid my $41 inclusive of their shipping to me sent them two loaded rounds no primers or powder in case they screwed on up and will have it to me in 3-4 weeks although they say 8 weeks

Every time I deal with Lee Precision they make an outrageous claim of 3 weeks, 8 weeks, 10 weeks. Every time I check the mailbox 7-10 days later, there it is. One of those under promise and over deliver companies.

I'm way too lazy to send them brass or rounds and wait for a reply. I might call and ask them to send me a copy of your custom die as-is. I'll take the risk of a paperweight.

 

[SStomcat]

Every time I deal with Lee Precision they make an outrageous claim of 3 weeks, 8 weeks, 10 weeks. Every time I check the mailbox 7-10 days later, there it is. One of those under promise and over deliver companies.

I'm way too lazy to send them brass or rounds and wait for a reply. I might call and ask them to send me a copy of your custom die as-is. I'll take the risk of a paperweight.

In that case as it is custom you may have to stick to same brass, case and coal

 

[Rare Breed]

In that case as it is custom you may have to stick to same brass, case and coal

It is not a mystery to your three points given how many years I have been reloading and getting within 1 MOA with my DRs. It takes trial and error to get to my results on my 470 NE. @rookhawk knows this about me and others. I would be very surprised to discover my “custom” 470 crimp was different from people I respect on our forum who have ordered them

 

[rookhawk]

In that case as it is custom you may have to stick to same brass, case and coal

Very good point. I think COAL is problematic for everyone. If you sent them a lead solid or soft, your monometal copper bullet will be 22% larger at same grain weight….what was the point of a custom crimp die? It’ll either work or it won’t, but I don’t feel like sending them brass and ammo really changes the odds it will work great with the next bullet you try in a 470NE. As it is, there is a fair bit of adjustment in the crimp die so it can probably work for most bullets if it was made to crimp a .474” (or is it .471”?) bullet anyway.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

The Lee factory crimp should only need case length and diameter at the neck of a loaded round. A longer overall length would just stick the bullet out of the collet further, not affect the brass whatsoever.

 

[Nevada Mike]

The Lee factory crimp should only need case length and diameter at the neck of a loaded round. A longer overall length would just stick the bullet out of the collet further, not affect the brass whatsoever.

THIS ^^^
For instance, Lee recommends using a standard 280 Remington FCD with my 280 AI cartridges. The key is cartridge length and caliber. Works fine regardless of the bullet length.

 

[Rare Breed]

THIS ^^^
For instance, Lee recommends using a standard 280 Remington FCD with my 280 AI cartridges. The key is cartridge length and caliber. Works fine regardless of the bullet length.

For my 470 the case length is 3.5 inches. With bullet it is 3.98 inches. i measured and sent dummy loads to Lee

 

[Rare Breed]

my bad, case is 3.25 not 3.5. case with bullet seated is 3.98. this is what I sent to Lee

 

[SStomcat]

I would be very surprised to discover my “custom” 470 crimp was different from people I respect on our forum who have ordered them

In that case what is the point of sending them a blank case?

 

[Rare Breed]

In that case what is the point of sending them a blank case?

My point to them exactly…however they will not budge off their policy so they have my case and i am waiting to get the crimp

 

[Wahoo]

Every time I deal with Lee Precision they make an outrageous claim of 3 weeks, 8 weeks, 10 weeks. Every time I check the mailbox 7-10 days later, there it is. One of those under promise and over deliver companies.

I'm way too lazy to send them brass or rounds and wait for a reply. I might call and ask them to send me a copy of your custom die as-is. I'll take the risk of a paperweight.

Don’t do that just yet….

 

[franzfmdavis]

Could a possible alternative solution be to just get a second seating die and remove the seating plug and set it up for crimping rather than seating? That way you can move the seating depth up and down depending on the case length?

 

[SStomcat]

Could a possible alternative solution be to just get a second seating die and remove the seating plug and set it up for crimping rather than seating? That way you can move the seating depth up and down depending on the case length?

I'm no expert, but the answer is Yes and this is what I do.

 

[rookhawk]

Could a possible alternative solution be to just get a second seating die and remove the seating plug and set it up for crimping rather than seating? That way you can move the seating depth up and down depending on the case length?

The factory crimp die does a different type of crimp than a standard seating die that crimps during cam over. The problem we face today is these monometal bullets are volumetrically larger and have unusually tips to facilitate controlled expansion. Many of them do not crimp correctly if using the seating die. I gave up after wasting about $30 in bullets when I tried to get the 375HH seating die to crimp Barnes TSX 300gr bullets. It could be my own incompetence, but I wasn't going to further experiment while destroying brass and bullets, I just spent $15 and got the factory crimp die and do it as a final step.