@Dave T
Just out of curiosity? How important is a cannelure for revolver cartridges? Especially with a Lee fcd? I think my only experience loading non cannelure bullets were 9mm HSTs which are a little undersized as is. For actual . 357 bullets the case tension would be better.
Specifically I'm looking at the rmr smiley face bullets. They're almost as cheap as the cast bullets I normally shoot
On the ragged edge of the world I'll roam,
And the home of the wolf shall be my home - Robert Service
O3,
In my experience (more than many but not as good as some) cannelures serve two purposes for revolver bullets.
First, if you're shooting flex your muscles and beat your chest hand loads they prevent bullet jump if properly applied. Bullet jump in un-fired cylinders can jam up a revolver something awful. This also applies to +P loads in the ultra light revolvers made of Unobtanium alloys like S&W's Scandium framed guns.
Second, I've also seen revolver bullets set back into the case with insufficient or zero crimping, even with light loads. Let a bullet set to deep on a light charge of fast powder (Bullseye, 231, HP-38, etc,) and you can be quite surprised at you target loads turning into +P+ or worse in extreme cases.
YMMV,
Dave
I was close to buying a cannelure tool for this very purpose but it seemed like an unnecessary expense since I already cast almost all of my handgun bullets anyway. Still, if an inexpensive used one showed up somewhere I'd probably find it irresistible. Cannelures are critical for revolvers in my opinion. It would be pretty cool to be able to place a cannelure anywhere I want on a jacketed bullet.
Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem
I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude
-Thomas Jefferson
I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.
I never thought that a cannelure was needed for loading revolver ammo. Bullet pull from case tension and proper crimp suffices. Redding makes a dandy profile crimp die which will gently size down the front half of the case after bullet is seated. The Lee factory crimp die should work for this. In factory wadcutter ammo, the cannelure centers the bullet in the case. Then the case with bullet is sized. This step reduces bullet diameter to specs like .357 or .358.
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