crimping questions continued

[trickyasafox]

i see a lot of people debate crimping, some say crimping isnt necessary others do seperate processes, i was under the impression crimping is really only necessary for high accuracy bottle neck rounds, but i could be very wrong. . .

 

[yesterdaysyouth]

you're gonna get so many answers on this one....

the only one that matters is this... try it both ways, crimp/no crimp, the one with the best performance is what you want...

several things to consider concering performance, accuracy of course, feeding, extraction, setback, etc...

and there's your answer...

 

[Ol` Joe]

"i was under the impression crimping is really only necessary for high accuracy bottle neck rounds, but i could be very wrong"

Crimping is only needed to prevent the movement of the bullet. Most rifleshooters looking for accuracy in bottle neck cartridges don`t crimp, benchresters wouldn`t dream of it. The bullet pull and velocity is much more consistant if it`s only held by neck tension. The need for a crimp is usually in autoloaders, rifles with tubular mags, heavy recoiling rounds, and with lead bullets that have had the necks belled for seating. I load from 223 up to the 7mm Mag and have never crimped a rifle case or had a bullet move in the case from recoil. (bolt actions) The 45 ACP with the neck belling removed will shoot just fine without a crimp except for the rounds in the mag which can have the bullets move from the slam of feeding and recoil. A good general rule is if the bullet has a canalure crimp, if not don`t, with a very few exceptions.

 

[P95Carry]

Surprisingly large subject - dozens of opinions! It's an old fave!

I'll say up front - I favor and use Lee Factory Crimp dies. On rifle this adds a subtle but consistent crimp - helps round's to perform more consistently IMO, than just neck tension only. Certianly beneficial on auto-loaders.

Pistol ... 38spl ... not worth bothering usually.

.357 ... helps eliminate bullet movement under recoil (in revo particularly) and IMO aids early stage combustion of slower powders ... roll crimp of course. .44 mag similarly.

Auto's ... taper crimp usually, eg 45acp 9mm etc. Helps again for bullet retention both in mag and under loading stresses - not good to have a sloppy 9mm bullet set back in case as it climbs feed ramp - pressure quickly multiplied potentially.

Many minor considerations - and some on a case by case assessment (pun partly intended!). However, crimp worth keeping minimal for purpose rather than fierce - just to assist case life by slowing the mouth work hardening when multiple reloading.

 

[Austin Charles]

I only crimp pistol, and tubular rifles.

I never crimp any of my bolt actions. I would not crimp my tubulars if it wasn't for the OAL shorting when I load them in the gun. I still don't crimp any tubulars if i am going for real accuracy, I just load one at a time.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I taper crimp 45 and 10MM rounds.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Gee...My .30-30 Winchester Serial number 1,608,XXX (That's right, it's almost as old as me) hits consistently a three inch dot (Bench resting) at 100 yards. Ya mean if I not crimp it, it might do even better? Crimp or not to crimp. I can't remember who it was on this board, but he said. "If it has a cannolure---crimp it". I agree...

 

[Mike Kerr]

I use Lee Factory Crimp Dies on most calibers I load for. I favor Dillon presses but I believe the FCD from Lee is beneficial. IMO a good crimp is very benefical in auto loading cartridges, heavy revolver cartridges and any other set up where bullet movement of cartridges in the chamber or magazine is an issue.

Granted you can load without crimping, fire the cartridge and in the case of many cartridges experience no problems. I guess if I loaded on a single stage press I would be inclined to skip crimping on rounds where I safely thought I could. Then I would go fire my 15 to 50 rounds at the range and tell everyone how it doesn't matter if I crimped or not.

However, I load on a progressive. I crimp everything I can because I want a very consistent cartridge which will chamber everytime under all kinds of conditions. A good deal of these cartridges are in auto loading pistols and a typical trip to the range will entail firing 150 to 250 rounds. On training class days I expect to fire 300 to 700 rounds. Granted the large volume days are only a few times a year but I load the same for every round. The more rounds you fire in between cleaning the more soot, dirt, grime, etc become a factor. I don't want to compound reliability issues by having a non crimped round hanging up on a dirty feed ramp right in the middle of a string of fire .

As P95Carry said "Auto's ... taper crimp usually, eg 45acp 9mm etc. Helps again for bullet retention both in mag and under loading stresses - not good to have a sloppy 9mm bullet set back in case as it climbs feed ramp - pressure quickly multiplied potentially.

I mean it just can ruin your whole day.

Regards,

 

[30Cal]

I only crimp revolver and lever action handloads. On semi-auto handgun loads, I use only enough crimp to remove whatever bell I put in the case neck.

I would never dream of putting a crimp on a match bullet. I shoot the M1A in competition. If you shoot a bolt action or semi-auto rifle and your bullets are setting back when chambered, then the expander ball on your sizing die is too large.

Ty

 

[steve4102]

I use the Lee Factory Crimp Die on all of my loads. I have tested with and without and have found an increase in accuracy in all rifles. It is very easy to set up and use and only cost about $8. The case length is not as critical as other types of crimps. It is almost imposable to crush or buckle a case with the LFC Die. Lee claims an increase in accuracy due to more consistant pressures etc. and in my case I have found their claims to be true.
Here is some interesting reading testing the Lee Factory Crimp Die.



http://www.accuratereloading.com/crimping.html

Give it a try. It may help accuracy and it may not. If not, you can sell your $8 invesment on Ebay for $10.