Are these rounds over-crimped?

[Walkalong]

a flat one would be better for that bullet shape.

Agreed. That would really help consistent OALs. Unless the crimp is pulling bullets in.

 

[murf]

Agreed. That would really help consistent OALs. Unless the crimp is pulling bullets in.

and the op taking your suggestion to seat to the middle of the cannelure should completely solve this issue.

murf

 

[Walkalong]

Sounds like a plan.

 

[watermonger]

is your seating plug flat, or cone shaped? a flat one would be better for that bullet shape.

luck,

murf

I did use the flat seat plug.

Agreed. That would really help consistent OALs. Unless the crimp is pulling bullets in.

it actually seemed the crimp was squeezing the bullets out a bit.

I loaded up 3 rounds with 3 different powders at the starting load given in the hodgdon manual/magazine or w/e it is, gave em a lightish crimp and seated about as far down as these hornady factory rounds with the same bullet. Hopefully they shoot well, and don't blow my gun up.

Factory Hornady rounds for reference.

My first attempt at reloading live ammo.

Also, does anyone have a scale recommendation that is decent but not too pricey. I'm not really jazzed with the Hornady scale, its kinda slow to read and the displayed weights jump around by +-0.2 grains every now and then, and if you leave a weighted amount sitting in it for an extended period of time the displayed weight grows by as much as 0.6 grains over the course of a minute or two.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

Don't look over crimped to me. I would seat the bullet a tad deeper though.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[murf]

@watermonger,

looking at the picture, you are smashing the bullet. suggest you seat and crimp in separate steps. the seating depth looks good as well as the crimp. if you are within your reloading manual specs, those loads should shoot fine.

let us know how it goes.

luck,

murf

 

[buck460XVR]

With that much crimp you will probably have early case malfunction on the mouth of the case.
I use to crimp my 357 like that and it shortened the case life.

Cases for the .500 will have a pretty short life anyway, especially when shot at legitimate .500 pressures and velocities. Loading for the .500 and .460 is unlike loading for .357. As for seating and crimping in one step, I do it for all handgun calibers of mine .44 mag and under. While I have done it with .460, I find it only works well for a mild crimp. When using a heavy crimp for the bigger boomers, the bullet is still being seated while the crimp is being applied, making seating more difficult and taking more pressure. The long length of the .460 case is susceptible to bulging or buckling when this happens. I've found that seating and crimping in two steps makes for a more consistent crimp when applying the type of crimp needed to keep bullet jump down in these heavy recoiling calibers. As for how much is too much......to much crimp will bulge the case and allow for as much bullet jump as a too light of crimp. Experience and shooting over time will tell you if you are doing it right or wrong. Neck tension is more key than crimp, so I only flare my cases enough to get a bullet started(to the point I may have to help hold it upright when seating).