crimping 7.62x39

[jimbeam]

Starting to load 7.62x39 and I wonder what experience anyone has had with crimping the .308 bullet with a Lee crimping die? I have never used a crimping die before, the RCBS dies I have used over the years have not seemed to make it necessary. I seem to have a problem with the .308 bullet a hair loose when crimping with the RCBS die and think maybe you would need a .308 crimping die instead of the normal 7.62 x39 crimping die.

Maybe I should forget the .308 bullet and stick to .310. I wanted to try 150 grain 30-30 bullets. Any suggestions welcome.

 

[R.W.Dale]

The problem you describe isn't associated with the crimp nor will more crimp correct your issue.

You're issue is that you used the .310 expander ball to load .308" bullets providing insufficient neck tension. If your dies didn't include a .308" expander you need to get one and use it with the smaller bullets ( I used mine for ALL bullets)

One of my favorite 7.62x39 loads was a 170grn Hornady 30-30 FP loaded with h335, these were suprisingly accurate and fed very well in my ar15

 

[Walkalong]

krochus is right, but here is a crimp pic using the Lee FCD die, nonetheless. The bullet needed to be seated a bit deeper. I also have a Redding Taper Crimp Die for 7.62 X 39.

 

[jimbeam]

So, would this be a problem with new brass also? Krochus, how was the velocity with the 170 grainer. Enough to expand properly?

I also measured the expanders after thinking about what you said about expanding with the wrong size, and low and behold they are both the same, for .310 bullets. I measured an expander ball from a 30-06 and it is about 2 to 3 thousands smaller. I do run the expander into new brass to straighten out the edges, but not to resize fully. Thanks for your help, tomorrow will go at it again.

 

[steve4102]

So, would this be a problem with new brass also?

Yes, probably. Size your brass with the .308 expander when using .308 bullets. If your RCBS did not come with both, call them, they will send one out ASAP for free.
Or you could try and size a few with no expander and see how much neck tension you get.

 

[rambokid]

Where do you get 7.62x39 brass?

I was wondering where you guys even get the brass to crimp...I have been looking and it seems very expensive as compared to some of the others I reload for.

 

[Walkalong]

Yea, I had a hard time as well. Used to be cheap....This last year has been a bad time for buying reloading components and ammo. I lucked into some reasonable priced 7.62 X 39 brass in the "buy, sell & trade reloading components and gear" section.

Welcome to THR

 

[jimbeam]

Well, I used the .308 expander on new brass and loaded some Hornady 150 grainers with cannelure and they turned out great with the RCBS seating die. Wish I had camera to show the nice crimp, no sign of any bulge and tight grip on bullet with no deforming. Just takes a little patience and go slow to set up a proper crimp.

Thanks for the replies and help, great bunch of guys here.