New press/die issue with not enough crimp on 45ACP

Does the Hornady seater/crimp die apply a taper or roll crimp?

The "normal" way to crimp .45ACP is to set up a taper crimp die to just remove the bell that was created by the "powder thru" die.

Tension created by resizing is supposed to be sufficient to hold the bullet, unless the brass is exceptionally thin.

Since you're having inconsistent results, you might try sorting the brass by headstamp to see if you can find the culprit. If headstamp doesn't make any difference, then look at process steps more closely.

I would review the setup instructions for the seat/crimp die. As it is trying to do two things at once, I know it is possible to "bulge" the case when you are only trying to remove the bell. Set crimp with seating stem backed out of the way, then adjust seating stem for desired depth.

I happen to use a separate taper crimp die after the seating die, but I know there are many, many reloaders who use a combination seat/crimp die successfully. It is generally accepted that it is easier to set up separate dies.

Ask Hornady to send you a new seater die that does a taper crimp, not a roll crimp. I think they just came out with them.

I asked them about this last week. They told me i needed to purchase a specialized taper crimp die. They wouldnt do a replacement.

"Comments:
I recently purchased a 45 ACP die set. It appears that this set came with a roll crimp seater die combo. I will be reloading for semi-auto and not revolver. would it be possible to exchange this roll crimp seater with a taper crimp seater die?"

Reply:
"Thank you for your inquiry. Our Die Sets are all packaged with the roll type crimp/seating die. The Taper Crimp Die is sold separately. We suggest that you pick up a 45 Auto Taper Crimp Die (SKU#044172) from your local Dealer or a Mail Order Retailer. It will cost you less to purchase the die from them than what it would cost you to return it to us, the price difference between the dies ($10), and return shipping. If you do not have a local Dealer, a couple Mail Order places that you might try are Graf & Sons - ph 1-800-531-2666 or Midway USA -ph 1-800-243-3220.
If we can be of further assistance, please call us at 1-800-338-3220.
Thank you again.

Hornady Sales Team
phone 1-800-338-3220"

Wow what poor customer service on Hornady's part. They flat-out on purpose I guess add the wrong type of seater/crimp die (roll) in the set and make you try and purchase the correct one seperately. Talk about a wrong (and possibly dangerous if used unknowingly) die set. Thanks for the heads-up I will steer clear of Hornady dies and their poor customer service.

All the other brands of 45acp die sets I see have taper crimp AS THEY SHOULD!

Hornday has a roll crimp in there seater die for the Auto Rim & Win. Mag.

Hornady Custom Grade New Dimension Nitride 3-Die Set 45 ACP, 45 Auto Rim, 45 Win Mag

Click to expand...

Plus they are the cheap Nitride type, not tungsten, like real dies (RCBS)

You can buy a seater/taper crimp die from any of the other manufacturers. Probably cost you 12-15 bucks for a Lee.

The roll crimp will get the bell out. However, it's a fine line between that and it crushing the case trying to roll crimp it.

I'll second the idea to get a Lee seat/crimp die. For 45 auto and 9 mm I use the RCBS die set but I use a Lee for seating and crimping in one step (seems more consistent that the RCBS). The Lee works really well, and I can use the RCBS Lock Out die in the station after powder drop. That lock out die gives me a lot of peace of mind, and I wouldn't get rid of it now.

If we can be of further assistance, please call us at 1-800-338-3220.
Thank you again.

Hornady Sales Team

Click to expand...

Hornady's making a pretty big assumption there.

The Lee factory crimp die simply rules.

Click to expand...

Not over flaring/expanding rules.

Not over flaring/expanding rules.

Click to expand...

I'm not completely with you, here, PO2Hammer. I don't use any crimp on any of my semi auto rounds, except for 45ACP. For some reason my 45 has a tighter chamber, or something. It needs a crimp to chamber, freely.

As long as it removes the bell...

Advertising BS. It can not properly taper crimp.

Click to expand...

Has worked fine for me for the last thousand rounds of 45ACP. And I do not trim my pistol cases. Set it and forget it. All rounds chamber fine.

Then again, I'm not sure what a proper taper crimp is or why you'd want one. I don't even crimp my other semi auto calibers, at all. All I know is the Lee seat/crimp die makes my 45ACP ammo chamber and shoot.

Some people don't know what to look for on a round or how the round is supposed to fit in the chamber.

Wow, never though reloading would so involved.

Click to expand...

It isn't, really. It can be as simple as owning a pickup truck. Read the owner's manual, change the oil, watch your tire pressures.

Of course, you might want improve the truck's performance and modify the ECM board firmware. (Do a seach for "exceeding published loads")

Then, you could wonder whether Ford or Chevy makes a better truck, and possibly ask your neighbor what he thought. (Do a search for "Dillon vs. Hornady")

Like anything, there are basic principles which are necessary to follow if you want the process to work successfully. Then there are different approaches to the same problem from different manufacturers, different opinions about full-length resizing vs neck-only resizing, whether it is necessary to clean primer pockets when reloading pistol cartridges, and so on.

One of the challenges of the wealth of information available on the various reloading forums is that there is no single correct answer to anything. You have to sift through it all and make a decision based on your own experience, your objectives, (and your budget.)

In other words, if you can set things set up to create consistent ammo that chambers properly and gives you the accuracy you want, it doesn't matter what kind of dies you're using...

Edit -

Here's another discussion on Hornady's sliding sleeve seater/crimp die -

http://www.gunrightsmedia.com/showthread.php?t=423079

What I'm getting out of this is that the seater/crimp die should remove the bell even with the crimp adjusted well out of the way. So, it is possible that you are over-crimping (unnecessarily) and possibly bulging the occasional long case, causing the chambering problems.

Also, other manufacturers may still offer seater/crimp dies in .45ACP with a taper crimp, if adjusted to do a deliberate crimp.
Like RCBS -

RCBS Dies

Look at 18962 vs 18942

I have loaded thousands of 45 ACP rounds with the Hornady roll crimp die. These were all jacketed bullets. When I started reloading lead, I increased the case mouth flair a little, and started to see some feeding issues on my Glocks and 1911s. Some of these rounds were slightly too large in diameter.

The Hornady roll crimp die that I have cannot be adjusted to remove the flair correctly. The ID of the die just before the roll crimp shoulder is too large. The adjustment goes from no contact with the case at all to trying to roll crimp with no taper crimp in between.

I am using a Lee factory crimp die after the seater to remove the flair. It produces ammo to spec, but I have a real taper crimp die on my shopping list.

Nobody has been able to explain to me (and I called Hornady about this) WHY they included a roll crimp die in a set of dies that is used overwhelmingly to produce a taper crimp. It is one of the few times I have been unhappy with Hornady CS.

Bob

I'm not completely with you, here, PO2Hammer. I don't use any crimp on any of my semi auto rounds, except for 45ACP. For some reason my 45 has a tighter chamber, or something. It needs a crimp to chamber, freely.

Click to expand...

That's unusual. Maybe it narrows at little towards the end. I load all my auto pistol ammo dead straight, no crimp, no troubles.

I tossed the FCD dies in the trash (OK, not really, they're around here somewhere)

Redding taper crimp dies rule!!! (The Vikings suck, I have to root for something)