Lee factory crimp die

[Hoss]

I normally clean my press every 5000 rounds. Take dies out, clean them, pull primer system & shell plate off,  just give everything a good cleaning. I’ve never worried about the Lee factory crimp die. Figured it would be ok. 
 

today I was loading pistol rounds. Noticed on the finished rounds the bullets were set pretty deep in case. After bullet seating they were fine. But after crimp stage they were way too deep. I pulled the crimp die out.  It was completely packed with lube. I literally had to pry the lube out.  Got it all out, cleaned die, put it back together and all good. 
 

moral of the story, clean the crimp die. I never would have thought that much lube could build up. According to my count, (I put a hash mark on bench every time I open up a carton of primers) I’ve loaded over 60K rounds using that die! 

[Dream Chaser, SASS #79316]

Wow Hoss,

I took the “Clean your Crimp Die Challenge “ and like you have loaded bunches without cleaning the die.  This is one thick pile of debri.  

[Griff]

I'm not surprised.  I don't use a separate crimp die, but my combination crimp/seat die gets cleaned each time its toolhead goes on the Dillon.  A lesson I learned many years ago,  when I observed an case moving to the empty 4th station on the 550 without a bullet.  It'd stuck to the buildup of lube in the seater.

[Crisco]

My Lee factory crimp dies have a hole drilled in the cap so they don’t start deep seating bullets if I go too long without cleaning.

[I. M. Crossdraw, SASS# 8321]

9 hours ago, Crisco said:

My Lee factory crimp dies have a hole drilled in the cap so they don’t start deep seating bullets if I go too long without cleaning.

+1  Here is mine.  I have separate tool head for smokeless and BP, both were drilled.  see pic.

[paradiddle]

So you just drilled the entire middle out?  Do you recall what size bit you used?

[Woody Shootem, SASS # 24816]

I use a heat gun to gently melt the wax out of my seating and factory crimp dies.

[Scarlett]

I still load lubed bullets and clean my dies fairly often. I’ll also spray a swab with HornDy One Shot while loading and swab the seating and crimp dies. It just keeps things working and, I think, reduces the lube build up.

 

Hugs!

Scarlett

[I. M. Crossdraw, SASS# 8321]

18 hours ago, paradiddle said:

So you just drilled the entire middle out?  Do you recall what size bit you used?

Drill the middle out.  I don't remember the drill size but pick the bit that would fit inside the cap and has a good clearance round the inside.  Best to unscrew the cap completely off the die, clamp it in a vise (don't overtighten clamp, just enough to hold) drill slow and straight out.  Drill it from the inside of the cap. Don't worry about the bit traveling, the cap has a dimple inside it will help to center the drill bit. It's made of aluminum.

[I. M. Crossdraw, SASS# 8321]

12 hours ago, Woody Shootem, SASS # 24816 said:

I use a heat gun to gently melt the wax out of my seating and factory crimp dies.

When I load for BP, the excess grease that's on the case when crimping gets pushed to the top and through the hole.  Since I use real BP lubed bullets, grease accumulate in a short period of a time.  If you're loading subs or smokeless, it might take far longer to accumulate.  When the grease gets pushed through the opening, it will prevent the grease from pushing the bullet down the case and I still maintain my case OAL.