Crimping Berry Plated Boolits

[Dogbone13]

Bought Berry's 200 gr plated flat nose boolits to shoot out of a Winchester 1892 in 44 mag. Read a post here where Berry's recommended a light crimp, but I believe that was a reference to pistol cartridges. These boolits have no cannelure so I'm giving them a fairly heavy crimp for boolits shot from a lever action rifle. Any thoughts on how much of a crimp is enough or too much or too little? Can this be measured in any way? Thanks.

[charlie b]

If you are using standard seat/crimp dies the limit will be where you start to buckle the case.

Too little is when the bullets are shoved back in the case by the rifle action (either when the bullet hits the feed ramp or in the magazine).

[Dogbone13]

If you are using standard seat/crimp dies the limit will be where you start to buckle the case.

Too little is when the bullets are shoved back in the case by the rifle action (either when the bullet hits the feed ramp or in the magazine).

Thanks Charlie. I've loaded a batch but have not shot them yet. They look fine. No visible deformation of any kind. I read somewhere that if the crimp is too aggressive the boolits will tumble. I'll report back after I hit the range.

[Win94ae]

I crimp mine the same as I crimp any other. I have had no problems whatsoever with Berry's bullets.

[charlie b]

Thanks Charlie. I've loaded a batch but have not shot them yet. They look fine. No visible deformation of any kind. I read somewhere that if the crimp is too aggressive the boolits will tumble. I'll report back after I hit the range.

YW. That's something I had never heard before. I guess if you somehow crimped them off center then it would create problems.

[Chad5005]

i crimp mine with lfcd and always touch the shell then drop the ram and turn down 5/8s turn.on all calibers with berrys, raineers or extremes

[Dogbone13]

i crimp mine with lfcd and always touch the shell then drop the ram and turn down 5/8s turn.on all calibers with berrys, raineers or extremes

Chad, what does "lfcd and always touch the shell" mean? Thanks.

[skrapyard628]

Roll crimp or taper crimp?

The taper crimp is simple. Just crimp enough to get rid of the flared mouth of the case. You will be relying more on neck tension to hold the bullet in place.

When roll crimping them you need to make sure that you crimp so that the rolled edge of the mouth of the case does not cut through the plating on the bullet. If you roll crimp plated bullets too much it is possible that the plating will separate from the bullet when its fired. This could lead to either tumbling bullets or a possible bore obstruction if the plating comes off and gets stuck in the throat of the barrel.

Notice I said possible. Im not saying its going to happen. But why risk it. A light roll crimp wont hurt. Just dont go crazy with it. The method Chad mentioned a few posts above would be good.

LFCD is the Lee Factory Crimp Die. They come for both taper or roll crimping. So it depends which die. For 44mag its most likely going to be a roll crimp die.

The method Chad mentions would be to run the ram up on the press and screw the die in until it touches the mouth of the cartridge (youre basically screwing the die in until you feel some resistance, which should be when the internal portion of the die which does the crimping is touching the mouth of the cartridge). Then lower the ram and screw the die down another 5/8 of a turn and then lock the die in place.

[Dogbone13]

I'm using a Lee Factory Crimp (roll) Die and the exact same procedure you outlined in your last paragraph. As I indicated earlier, I see no visible damage to the cartridges I've loaded to far, but I guess I won't really know until they're fired. Thanks for taking the time to share you knowledge and wisdom with a newbie.

[Dogbone13]

So I finally got the chance to shoot the 200 gr plated boolits with no cannelure from Berry's Bullets. Every round fed and shot without any issues. Very satisfied.