loading rifle cartridges

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gearjammer-2000

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I am getting ready to start loading rifle cartridges and am a bit lost.

I load pistol cartridges now [44s,357,9mm] and have had excellent results.

I have a dillon 555b loader and a nicely stocked bench for this.

the problem is i have never loaded rifle cartridges before, my biggest question is do you crimp rifle shells liekyou do pistol shells, my pistol dies are all three die sets but when I look at rifle dies they are 2 die sets without a crimp die.

I want to start loading .222 Remington and would appreciate any info I can receive before I wade into this program.

I also will eventually get to loading .223,30-06,and 30-30 but figured the .222 was a good starting point.

thanks in advance for any info you care to share.
 
You don't need to crimp any of the cartridges you mention. The only rifle cartridges I crimp routinely for are heavy recoiling ones to be shot in a gun that has a magazine like 300 Weatherby Magnum, 375 H&H Magnum and 458 Lott. Dies for bottlenecked cartridges are built to crimp just like pistol cartridge dies. You screw the bullet seating die in far enough and it will crimp but I think the best die to use, and it's cheap, is the Lee Factory Crimp Die as a separate operation.

The other reason I crimp is with Barnes bullets that can be loose at times in the case; a crimp with a Lee Factory Crimp Die tightens them up.
 
I would also look into using a crimp on rounds that will be used in an autolaoder. Maybe bullets with a cannelure as well. I don't load any of my bottleneck rounds for autoloader so I have no experience with this. All my rounds are shot through bolts and one lever action and I don't crimp any of them.
 
Normally rifle rounds don't have to be crimped unless they are heavy recoiling rounds or military semi auto rounds with a cannnelured bullet. Loading for my Garand and M1A, I just give the finished round just a "kiss of crimp" and the cannelure. I don bother with my 223 ammo. After many rounds fired I have never had a feeding or bullet setback problem. :)
 
The .30-30 Winchester rounds will need a crimp. Your two die set should have crimp feature in the seating die. That goes for the rest of your two dies sets. But only the .30-30 will need the crimp feature.
 
The only rounds that i crimp are 30-30 cannelured jacketed and 8MM Mauser when shooting heavy cast bullets. Nothing else that I shoot requires a crimp. That includes 222, 223, 6.5, 270 & 308 N. Mag.


NCsmitty
 
thanks all for the info it is all starting to make sense now.

just waiting for my case gages to arrive, sure hope they are there soon as I am planning on being home for a few days over the holiday.
 
An easy way to check for crimp is to place the bullet tip against a piece of wood(I use my loading bench front), and smack the base of the case firmly with the butt of my palm. If the bullet sets back, I apply a crimp. I do crimp my 308 for my FAL. I run seperate operations for seating the bullet, and then crimping. I feel like I get a better seat, and more consistant crimp this way. +1 on the Lee factory crimp die.
 
Crimp any loads that will be fired in a lever action with a magazine tube. I have never crimped any loads for bolt action or clip fed rifles of less than 8mm magnum caliber. I don't even crimp lighter bullet loads for the .338 WM. I do crimp all loads for the .375 H&H or any bullets over 260 grains. Inertia from recoil can move heavy bullets within case necks which may affect chamber pressure. This works for me because I do not leave rounds in any magazines/clips for long periods of time or repeated recoil. It may not work for you.
 
gearjammer,

I took the cartridges you mention in your OP and modeled them in my modified Powley Computer. If you're looking for one powder to "do it all" (a common question on this forum), I'd recommend Reloader 15 or H4895. To give you a range to work in: powders with the speed of Winchester 748 & H335 on the fast side to Varget & N540 on the slow side. Powder outside of that range would be less than optimal.
 
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