.375 ruger Speer hot Cor crimp?

[DK123]

I shot my ruger hawkeye .375 ruger today for the first time. I had a good time and got a good start on load development.

I am shooting the Speer hot cor 235 grain bullet and did not crimp because there is no cannelure. I put two in the mag and one in the pipe. I shot the first two and the remaining round was shortened by 3 one hundredths. The soft tip was flattened but I think the bullet actually got pushed into the casing as well.

is this a big deal? Can I crimp a bullet that doesn’t have a cannelure?
Thanks in advance, Doug

 

[Blue68f100]

You can taper crimp, but that want and any neck tension. TC is for removing the flaring used to start the bullet during the seating process. But I would increase neck tension by reducing the expander or don't expand as much if your over doing it.

 

[troy fairweather]

Use a Lee crimp, it will make a cannelure in the bullet. Try to be consistent or you may lose some accuracy.

 

[LoonWulf]

I dont crimp for mine, but equally haven't noticed any set back. Id probably polish down the expander a bit. The lee fcp die isnt expensive tho and dosent require modification.

 

[DK123]

Thanks guys. I have the lee crimp. I didn’t know it would make a cannelure. I’ll give it a try.
Doug

 

[IALoder]

I would try a real light crimp with the lee FCD you have, it doesn't take much to stop the "set back"

 

[Legionnaire]

I haven't crimped mine, either. Like @LoonWulf, I haven't noticed setback. I'll have to look more closely.

@DK123, what powder/charge are you running?

 

[FROGO207]

I have noticed in all my rifle ammo if I crimped it the accuracy suffers. If you can tighten up the neck tension without adding the crimp I believe you will be better served. The only time I crimp rifle rounds are for use in a tubular MAG. Just my observations over my reloading career.

 

[DK123]

I was working on load development so I had about 8 different loads of imr 4064 and imr 4831.

I can’t remember what load I was using when I put a round at the bottom of the mag. I measured it before I put it in the mag with my digital caliper, shot it twice and re measured it. The soft point was definitely damaged. Enough that I would be concerned about it’s accuracy at 200 plus yards. Maybe it’s not a big enough deal for me to worry about.

I crimp the **** out of my 45-70 loads. Probably the reason I can’t hit a darn thing with it

 

[Archie]

A .375 Ruger is not a bench rest, expected to group half an inch at 100 yards rifle. It should group at most about 3" at 50 yards. That sort of rifle is for large, dangerous game; large bears in the contiguous 48 states and Alaska or the large critters of Africa. Even with a bit of Lee Factory Crimp forced cannelure, I would be confident at any range I can properly get a sight picture.

 

[DocRock]

A .375 Ruger is not a bench rest, expected to group half an inch at 100 yards rifle. It should group at most about 3" at 50 yards. That sort of rifle is for large, dangerous game; large bears in the contiguous 48 states and Alaska or the large critters of Africa. Even with a bit of Lee Factory Crimp forced cannelure, I would be confident at any range I can properly get a sight picture.

While I would agree with your view that it is not a benchrest or even sub MOA cartridge, given its 260+ yard MPBR with 270 grainers, your expectation of 3” at 50 yards would be utterly unacceptable to me. Happily, my Mossberg Patriot in 375 Ruger is a 2 MOA rifle in my hands. I am certain that a better rifleman than I am could get it sub 2 MOA.

 

[LoonWulf]

I was working on load development so I had about 8 different loads of imr 4064 and imr 4831.

I can’t remember what load I was using when I put a round at the bottom of the mag. I measured it before I put it in the mag with my digital caliper, shot it twice and re measured it. The soft point was definitely damaged. Enough that I would be concerned about it’s accuracy at 200 plus yards. Maybe it’s not a big enough deal for me to worry about.

I crimp the **** out of my 45-70 loads. Probably the reason I can’t hit a darn thing with it

My 270s speers get smashed up pretty bad and I can slap a 6" gong 400 with boring regularity. I did buy a bunch of 260Accubonds specifically hoping the poly tips fair better in the magazine. My Abolt only holds 3 rounds tho, so battering isn't a huge concern for me.

 

[LoonWulf]

A .375 Ruger is not a bench rest, expected to group half an inch at 100 yards rifle. It should group at most about 3" at 50 yards. That sort of rifle is for large, dangerous game; large bears in the contiguous 48 states and Alaska or the large critters of Africa. Even with a bit of Lee Factory Crimp forced cannelure, I would be confident at any range I can properly get a sight picture.

While its NOT really meant to be a bench rest cartridge, the round is capable of delivering excellent accuracy, and impressive punch WAAAAAAYYYYYY beyond 50 yds. I expect MOA from my A-bolt, and its capable of launching a 270gr bullet at 2900fps. I use RL-17 tho, and I've had heat-induced pressure issues in other cartridges, so backed down a grain and run 2850ish.

If using the round as a stopping cartridge, then reliability is more important than precision accuracy, and even top velocity. I'd probably use a 300gr bullet at 2600ish, or whatever i could get with the most temp stable powder I could get. Id also crimp as suggested, and be happy with a 3-4moa load.

 

[edwardware]

The soft tip was flattened but I think the bullet actually got pushed into the casing as well.

Is this a big deal? Can I crimp a bullet that doesn’t have a cannelure?

Several points:
- buy an ogive comparator (like this) so you can measure bullet position. Tips, especially soft lead tips, vary way too much to use as a reference surface.
- if your estimate of 0.030" setback is right, that's high but not outrageously so.
- the single most important contributor to reducing setback is neck tension. Size your expander ball so that the neck expands 0.004" when seating the bullet. 0.002" is low, and 0.005+ doesn't seem to do much additional good.
- Lee's collet crimp die is pretty cool, and will help a little bit without being sensitive to trim length.

 

[DK123]

Thanks for the input guys. I’ll look into the comparator.
I understand that this is more of a Dangerous game rifle but I am not using it as one anytime soon. My kids cost too much.

I just want it for elk, black bears and fun. My best group was 2” @100 yards with a fourpower scope. Not great but neither am I. Haha. I am just plinking now I may switch to Barnes for hunting.

thanks again
DK

 

[Legionnaire]

Here is a 14-shot pressure test shooting the 235 Hot Cores over a spread of Varget (74.0-80.5 grains) at 100 yards. Loaded singly. First 11 shots were collectively just over 2 MOA. Chronograph data indicated a likely node at 2,900 fps. Rifle is a Ruger 77 Hawkeye African. I expect to be able to find a load that does close to 1 MOA without difficulty.

 

[DK123]

That will do donkey... that will do.

I can’t even shoot the dang thing 14 times. I ordered a Limb saver should strap. I had a pactmeyer pad put on . Wasn’t enough. Thing is tough off the bench.

 

[Legionnaire]

I wear one of these when shooting from the bench. It helps.

https://www.amazon.com/Caldwell-Plus-Recoil-Shield-Ambidextrous/dp/B0013R8J48/ref=sr_1_2