What Type of Crimp

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No crimp for me. I feel you might have less problems with the Lee factory crimp as case length is not as important. Bullet pull for military loaded ammo is 35 to 45 lbs. You can get this lbs when the die set is working correctly without a crimp. The crimp May give you some water proofing.
 
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no crimp. i just started reloading rifle, and asked the same question of the guy that taught me. he said no need. my first batch of reloads shot a 5 shot group of .751 in my busmaster varmit rig, so i tend to trust him.
 
No crimp for accuracy loads.

A nice roll or taper crimp for SHTF/plinking/blasting ammo.

A taper crimp is easier to set up than a roll crimp. The case length is less critical, as well as the consistency of the cannelure on the bullet not being as critical. Many cheap bullets with a cannelure are inconsistent with its placement.
 
Thanks guys. I see the roll or taper probably puts less stress on the neck as small as it is. Got to find out which type of type lee dies I bought so many years ago.
 
If you insist on crimping, this is one of the few applications where the Lee FCD die is the only way to fly.

It is a collet die, which is operated by the shell holder shoving on it.
That makes it totally independent on exact case length, so it becomes impossible to collapse a shoulder if you get a long case in the mix.

The .223 in an AR is the most overly sensitive caliber there is to crimp with a seating die crimper.

A tiny amount of shoulder collapse, too small to see with the naked eye, will lock up an AR-15 tighter then a gnats azz.
And it is far to easy to do with a normal crimping die that is case length critical.

If you feel you just have to crimp, get a Lee FCD collet crimping die.

rc
 
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A tiny amount of shoulder collapse, too small to see with the naked eye, will lock up an AR-15 tighter then a gnats azz.
And it is far to easy to do with a normal crimping die that is case length critical.
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So true.

Cases must be trimmed the same and much care has to be taken setting up the dies. I quit roll crimping .223 because the cannelures on so many cheap bulk bullets were very shallow and contributed to the problem, making it even more difficult.

I taper crimp in a second step after seating now for rounds I crimp, while still trimming cases to be consistent.

The Lee rifle FCD would certainly eliminate these problems.
 
I use the Lee FCD and like it for my plinking ammo. You don't have to worry about collapsing the casing as stated previously and that means more reliable feeding. A plus in my book for sure.
 
Neck tension. Measured quite a few rounds chambered in different ARs; no setback. I do use a moderate roll crimp on cannelured bullets loaded for M4s.
 
Well according to Lee the dies I have are their collet die set #90707. It appears this only neck sizes and I read this should not be used in a autoloader. Lee has a pacesetter set(3 die set) #90502 which gives you a choice of two dies, and using the type of crimp you want. Any of you guys fimaliar or using this set and would this be prefered for reloading for an AR?
 
The Lee collet sizer does a good job if you want to neck size only, but I full length size for AR's. Plenty of AR accuracy buffs here to answer how they do for competition, but for general shooting, I would suggest FL sizing.

Any die set with a FL sizer will work. The 90502 die set you mentioned will work just fine.

Here are a couple of crimp pics.
 
Thanks Walkalong. Does that Factory Crimp put more stress on neck mouth? From the pictures I looked at it looks like a serious crimp.
 
KAC1911 said:
Well according to Lee the dies I have are their collet die set #90707. It appears this only neck sizes and I read this should not be used in a autoloader. Lee has a pacesetter set(3 die set) #90502 which gives you a choice of two dies, and using the type of crimp you want. Any of you guys fimaliar or using this set and would this be prefered for reloading for an AR?
Click to expand...

The Lee Pacesetter dies set includes: Decapping and sizing die(full size and neck opening), bullet seating die, FCD crimping die. You only get one choice of crimp, the taper crimp, because you only get one crimping die.

I am a total noob at reloading, and I've had no problems using this die set to learn to reload .223.

You should always crimp for an autoloader and this set will suffice.
 
You should always crimp for an autoloader and this set will suffice.
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Who says?

You have a bunch of guys on here with probably a combined total of well over 200 years of experiance reloading for AR-15's telling you it isn't necessary to crimp.

I'll say it again.
It isn't necessary to crimp if you have proper neck tension, and an AR-15 & magazines that feed correctly.

rc
 
rcmodel said:
Who says?

You have a bunch of guys on here with probably a combined total of well over 200 years of experiance reloading for AR-15's telling you it isn't necessary to crimp.

I'll say it again.
It isn't necessary to crimp if you have proper neck tension, and an AR-15 & magazines that feed correctly.

rc
Click to expand...

I should have specified: I reload for a Mini-14. I should always crimp. :eek:
 
Well, I haven't crimped for my Mini-14 since I bought it in 1970 something either.

Proper neck tension will require 40-50+ pounds of force to move a bullet in a case.

That amount of impact from a poor feeding rifle or magazine will bend a bullet nose sideways before it slips.

rc
 
rcmodel- That's interesting. As I stated, I am new to reloading, and this is the info I have been given on various forums including this one. Where can I learn more about neck tension and how to achieve proper settings? Do you load bullets with or without cannelures?
 
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