My AOL is too short when the proper crimp is optained

I said I wan't goint to mess with it today before I went to work but, I just couldn't. I decided to work a little bit on crimping my .38 casses useing Hunter's Supply 158gr. round nose bulletts. When I got the crimp I wanted, the over all length is .018 too short. If I used the reccomended length the crimp groove isn't even seated in the mouth of the case. Is that groosly short or is it accebtable.

Robert.

I don't see any problem with it. If your shooting it in a .357 it will not be over-pressure. No problem either in a .38 as long as your not at maximium load.

After thinking about it, even though the AOL is a little on the short side, could that be due to variations in the bullet length from the crimping groove to the end of the bullet and not neccesarily due to the amount of the bullet that is seated in the case. The titegroup powder seems to me to have some of the lower pressures in terms of bullet weight and velocity.

Robert.

I may be wrong but the term is OAL (Over All Legenth). I have found that you should not be too concerned with OAL with soft point bullets because the tips are not uniform. Just do not exceed the OAL.

OAL does not mean much if not given for the EXACT bullet you are loading. Especially in revolver ammo, where the critical thing is to crimp in the crimp groove of a cast bullet or the cannelure of a jacketed bullet.

That is what starting loads are for. At one time load data would give seating depth, which is what really affects chamber pressure, but all you see now is OAL which only takes one measurement.

It was shorter that the minumun overall length. It didn't specify anything about a maximum length in the book.

Thanks, Robert.

Sounds to me like you are adjusting your die wrong. WHat kind of die are you using? Most seating dies, like RCBS, have separate, but linked, adjustments for seating depth and crimping. If you set your seating depth first, then adjust your die down to adjust the crimp properly, you just adjusted down your seating depth, too. The problem is, once you crimp that bullet its hard to adjust seating depth because the crimp prevents the bullet from moving.

IIRC, the correct process is....

1. Create a dummy round seated to the correct length. (No powder or primer)

2. Back out the seater plug ("plunger") so it is way out, and adjust crimp properly, using the dummy round.

3. Lower the seater plug ("plunger") until it rests against the bullet.

You die is now adjusted to crimp and seat at the same time.

Some people prefer to seat and then crimp as separate processes. To do that, seat all your bullets. Then back out the plunger, adjust the die for crimp, and then run them through again to crimp.

Or get a Lee factory crimp die, and don't crimp on the seating die.

Have I confused you yet?

I set up the dies exactly how it said to do in the Lee reloading manual and got everything right except for the OAL which I can't see how else the case and the bullet can fit together. I mean the mouth of the case fits perfectly in the crimping groove of the billet. I looks just like one of my loaded Remington 158gr.+P LSWCHP's that I had laying around. I guess I'll go with it and see how it works.

Thanks, Robert.

If the crimp is in the correct crimping groove, then it sounds like you did everything right.

.018 is not a huge difference in length. Maybe that bullet's nose was a little dented? Maybe the manual has a typo, or is referring to a different bullet? Could happen...

Seat in the cannelure of the bullet. Start with the low charge, and go up slowly watching for pressure signs. With a light powder charge, the slight decrease in length overall should not be a problem.

If you are concerned, I would try a different bullet.