Starting to get irritated

[41 Mag]

I've had the crimp do similar things in the past.

When I'm setting up for a new load I take a very fine sharpie and make a reference mark on my die that allows me turn it down in noted increments. I'll then set it so that it just rolls the lip of the case into the groove, and then turn it down until it is a complete roll but not where it appears to be swaged into the bullet. I use a dummy round and once done I back off to the first setting.

I usually will set it to the middle of the range and load for velocity or pressure checks. Usually 8 of 10 times the crimp setting will be fine. If I hit a desired velocity but groups are spread,, then I might adjust the crimp. Most of the time I use more than is necessary and find backing off just a touch improves things. I check by loading 6 rounds in my cylinder and measuring the last after each shot when firing the previous 5. If the bullet don't move after 2 rounds of that, thats enough crimp.

Granted your shooting a rifle but the principle is the same with regards to just enough Vs too much crimp.

Also if you find some AA-9 you might give it a try. Ive found it to be a bit more forgiving than 110/296.

 

[jmorris]

Last week the same gun shot all those loads within 2-3” and now they are all over the place.

I am wondering these loaded now were done on a Lee C press while the first batch was done on a LCT.

If something was good, then you changed something and now it’s bad, that is always a great place to start.

I don’t think the press itself will have much to do with it but the setup certainly could.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I agree with 41 Mag, I would change to AA9 also instead of H110. It's easier to light up. I had that in my last post and backed it out to edit it and forgot to put it back in.
I had to go do a double take.

No the Winchester was factory. The xtp are my handloads.

Ok, that makes more sense. The first thing I would do is make sure your not over crimping. If you can feel a stiff spot in the ram at the end when seating, you may be over crimping.
If just by bad luck you set your crimp die up on a short case to give you a decent crimp, the longer ones may be over crimped.
Has your brass ever been trimmed?

 

[entropy]

Just looked at my Lyman Pistol/Revolver reloading manual, and it says the .44Mag "should be well-crimped" to prevent bullet movement. And your load of IMR is right there, too. The people who replied to your other similar thread also gave alert to having a good-enough crimp which would allow full powder burning.

He's shooting them from a Handi-Rifle. If they are for that gun only, they do not need to be crimped. Revolver cartridges are roll crimped to prevent bullet setback from recoil. Not a problem with a single shot.
I noticed the 'red' group was tighter than the rest. I think you'll find you'll have better accuracy from the Handi-Rifle without the roll crimp, just a light taper crimp. I'd try AA9 or Blue Dot, faster burning powders that need no crimp in that rifle. I used Blue Dot with 240 and 300 XTP's from my Redhawk with good results. (But of course those were roll crimped!) I suspect the reason the "purple" group is larger is it was shot at a larger target. Aim Small, Miss Small. I also prefer the Redfield type targets with the diamonds instead of circles; if your scope is mounted correctly, lining up the reticle wires with the corners of the diamond increases accuracy.

When I'm setting up for a new load I take a very fine sharpie and make a reference mark on my die that allows me turn it down in noted increments.

Yup. I do the same. rifle on one side of the ram block, pistol on the other.

 

[Axis II]

Can you guys define firm roll crimp? This is touching the case mouth and 1/2 turn.

 

[Walkalong]

Can you guys define firm roll crimp?

Really good neck tension with a consistent roll crimp into the center of the cannelure.

 

[Axis II]

Really good neck tension with a consistent roll crimp into the center of the cannelure.

Thanks, Walkalong. I have good neck tension because I can feel it when seating the bullet. I was almost afraid it was going to crush the case it was so tight.

 

[Axis II]

Well the gun doesn’t like H100 but crimping with a 1/2 turn on the seating die fixed the accuracy issue. Thanks guys. That crimp looked really heavy but it works. Old photo attached for reference.