Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading Crimping 38 S&W

I could probably special order a Lee FCD but since I have daily access to a wire EDM I got to thinkin'.

Can I shorten a 38 Special Lee FCD? Would I need to open the ID of the crimping collect to account for the larger diameter bullet?

If anyone has a 38 S&W crimp die they're not using please PM me.

The pistol caliber LEE FCD dies don't have a collet.

They are a combo: roll crimp die, with a carbide sizer in the same body.

I called Lee CS today. It will be far easier and cheaper to just buy another seating die and set it up for crimping separately. They don't even offer a 38 S&W FCD as a custom order.

Use your seating die by seating the bullet and in a separate step crimp the bullet. Also, the 38 S&W uses a different shellholder than the 38 S&W Special. I found that out when a few cartridges were loaded and they were a bit cockeyed and had one side of the case sized more than the other.

That's the plan but rather than dick8ng around with one seating die I'm getting a second one and plan to pull the seating stem out. I already have a set of dies and shellholder.

I hinted at it in my previous post and you may be well of it, but the 38 S&W isn’t just a short 38 S&W Special and even though you can use most of the same bullets, they’re not the same diameter.

I learned the hard way after I loaded for my father’s 38 S&W for years and then started loading for a 357 and 38 S&W Special. I got some asymmetrically sized cases after sizing some fired 38 Special cases in 38 S&W dies.

The same price or more money than buying another seating die.

Then don't...

I've yet to have any problems seating and crimping all at once.

Screw the seating die into the press until it just touches the mouth of a shell rammed all the way into the press. Seat one bullet to the correct length. Back the seater out several turns, and adjust the die downward until it crimps to your liking. Lock the die down with the lock ring, ram the loaded round all the way into the die, and adjust the bullet seater back down to where it touches the bullet. The die is now adjusted to seat and crimp.