Where or how or suggestions on crimping tumble lube, lubed bullets?

[Smithy]

I'm Bringing some of my SASS days and equipment along for the ride on my smokeless reloading. I chose the tumble lube bullets not to tumble lube them, but for the bullet with the closest full length bearing surface. A surface with a bunch of cracks in it I suppose, but full length nonetheless. What I did in SASS was to cast the bullet and size it a thousandth or two under size. I'd then roll it in Corbin's HC-2 knurling tool making the entire surface diamond pointed and patterned. The knurling process adds a few thousandths back to the bullet diameter so the bullet at this stage will be larger than its as cast diameter. This allowed an incredible amount of lube (pan lubing) to adhere to the bullet. I'd then resize the bullet to a thousandth oversize just like most cast bullet shooters do. I then have a full bearing bullet that is 50% bullet and 50% lube. It worked very well with my black powder loads and I want to continue the practice. My SASS bullet however was of regular design and not the tumble lube type so now I'm left with the question.

If loading a revolver round up to and including a 44 magnum where a good solid crimp is necessary, and the bullet you have has no crimp groove, what do you crimp it in? Do you go ahead of all the bearing surface and crimp on a part of the truncated cone? Or do you put it just about where it would have been and then crank like a good thing? I guess that the latter is a bit different with my bullets because remember its only 50% lead, so maybe the brass would force its way into the side of the bullet and not be a problem? I'm just not really sure without running a few through and seeing if it worked or not? Any advice would be appreciated. Smithy.

[trixter]

Just conjecture here, but when you crimp/squeeze the case down to the proper size to chamber in your firearm, your roll crimp will catch enough of the knurling to hold it in place. Now if you just taper crimp I am thinking try and see. I know that is not at all scientific, but has some logic in it; some folks do not even crimp at all.

[prs]

Reinventing the wheel, are we? Round is best. ;-)

I apologize, did not mean to be cruel, just kidding some. Innovation is the mother of progress. Then again, the grey bearded old times of days long past were not idiots. Revolvers of considerable recoil need a crimp groove. You can use a crimp die to mash the case mouth down into lead (and lube), but you will distort your boolit. When we shoot large and close cowboy steel with mild mannered loadings, that distortion will be of no real consequence. If you wish to test the waters of Bullseye shooting, forget the notions; follow the tried and true path. Hornady has or used to have swaged boolits lubed in a fashion similar to your technique and in 45 Colt or Schofield we just mash the case mouth into the lead body a slight bit. But with hot rounds or 44 Mag, you would likely lock the cylinder with such technique.

prs (who designed the PRS boolit concept for the Holy Black)

[Smithy]

Thanks for the info. Not sure what you are reffering to in the "lock up the cylinder" portion. Either the bullets will pull out from the recoil or they won't. Are you saying that the edged into the lead/lube combo will allow the bullet to pull out? If so I can smush it more? And for the most part, SASS shooting is what I do, just not on a SASS range at the time. I have to use a walker/cane now and stage times would stink in light of that. That and I no longer can hold up a long arm long enough to get a sight picture. So my gun collection now is a bunch of Saturday Night Specials if you would and two pistol gripped shotguns for the house. Guns are in different locations or carried by me and I'll only ever need to shoot at spitting distance anyway. Shoot farther than that while carrying and you'd have some explaining to do in open court. If he was far enough to take a supported shot to hit the fifty yard target, why in the heck didn't you just run? sort of thing. Smithy.

[Smithy]

Thanks Trixter: I very well might give that suggestion a go. At least with the 250 grain 44 mag bullets since there is so much contact with the case in the first place. A bit less on the 38's, but then they aren't kicking like the 44 is. Smithy.