[Kyle Farris]

What is the cause of inconsistancy in the velocity of reloads? Is it that some folks seat their bullets way out and don't have enoungh case on the bullet? How about the crimp?

While I am on the subject...what EXACTLY does a Lee Factory crimp die do? How is it different from a regular crimp die?

 

[Shane1911]

Inconsistency is the sum result of all your reloading steps. Any and all of these factors will contribute - OAL (case length and bullet seating depth), powder measure, crimp pressure, variations in brass wall thickness (internal volumn), flash hole uniformity, variation in bullet weight, variation in bullet size (dia.)

Did I miss any?

The Lee factory crimp die is a single function die that will uniformly crimp any round that is out of spec. The majority of crimp/seating dies do a fine job, but because they are designed to do more than one function, a small compromise exists. The Lee die will not even touch most rounds, but it cleans up the ones that your crimp/seating die missed.