Crimping

[balderclev]

I'm sure this has been discussed to death elsewhere but I have some questions concerning my particular situation.

I reload the following:

9mm
40s&w
45acp
223
243
308

I do not perform a separate crimp on any of my rounds. On the straight walls, I crimp enough when seating to get rid of the bell.

I've not had any issues with any of my reloads so far. So my question is am I in line with recommended procedures for these calibers? I've seen some posts indicating crimping on the rifle rounds. I've also seen some posts recommending crimping on straight wall calibers. My concern with that one is over crimping and allowing the round to seat past the end of the case.

I would appreciate any comments.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I'm sure this has been discussed to death elsewhere but I have some questions concerning my particular situation.

I reload the following:

9mm
40s&w
45acp
223
243
308

I do not perform a separate crimp on any of my rounds. On the straight walls, I crimp enough when seating to get rid of the bell.

I've not had any issues with any of my reloads so far. So my question is am I in line with recommended procedures for these calibers? I've seen some posts indicating crimping on the rifle rounds. I've also seen some posts recommending crimping on straight wall calibers. My concern with that one is over crimping and allowing the round to seat past the end of the case.

I would appreciate any comments.

With the semi-auto ammo all you really need is to remove the bell and maybe a tough more. In reality a crimp will not hold the bullet, neck tension does so you are fine there.

Rifle ammo is a mixed bag. Some reloaders like to crimp, some don't. Some feel crimping ruins accuracy, I don't know. Here again, crimp will not hold the bullet in place, proper neck tension will.

When I load rifle ammo I usually don't crimp bottle neck cases unless the ammo is used in a tube magazine or in a semi-auto and even in the semi-auto it's really not necessary. With cartridges like the 45-70 I usually load a 405gr lead bullet and I do apply a roll crimp into the manufacturer's supplied crimp groove. With a jacketed bullet I only add enough crimp to remove the bell like with handgun ammo.

This is just the way I load. It's not the only way but it works for me. There are other methods and they also work so if you're not sure do some testing and see which methods work best for you...

 

[Walkalong]

am I in line with recommended procedures for these calibers

Yes, assuming you have enough neck tension. While there are times you might want a crimp on the rifle calibers, for the most part it is not needed. We see far more over crimps than folks needed a crimp and not crimping.

 

[ImjinScout85]

I load the same pistol calibers as you do, and I do crimp separate from seating. When I first started reloading I crimped and seated in the same station. For me I found I was better able to control the OAL better when crimping separate. I didn't have any problems the other way but for me I like to do it separate.