Crimping tool for the heeled .41 Colt

[.41LC]

I made this for .41 Colt but the idea should work for any heeled boolit.

I got the idea from pics I found in a search on the net.

I made the die out of stainless steel on a lathe basically using two drill bits. The first bores nearly through at about a 0.405" diameter, slightly bigger than the case. The next is slightly smaller, I used a U-sized (0.368" according to the net but I swear the bit I used was 0.376 or so and marked U) bit. I would have also tried a W-sized (0.386") bit but didn't have time to make a second.

This bit is bored completely through starting off in the first hole. I then flipped the piece around and trimmed off material until I had a nice little ridge left, which you can see in the third photo.

I craptastically cut it in 'half' with a hacksaw, and bolted it to a cheap pair of pliers. As you can see I had to dremel/file material off the pliers to make clearance for the bullet.

I used a dremel and sized down the ridge slightly after testing it, this is why I would liked to have made a second using the W-sized bit, I think it would have worked fine to begin with.

I crimp by holding the rim of the round and giving a little squeeze, then spinning it and repeating several times. An example of the crimp I get is pictured at the bottom.

[Artful]

Very nicely done.

[J..]

Nice.

An alternative is to pick up a Lee Factory Crimp Die in .38-55, .375 Win, .375 whatever, and cut the collet and die body down to the proper length to function with the .41 Colt. Works great. If you dont want to bother with cutting, you can simply insert the loaded case into the collet from the TOP of the die and when you have the case mouth where you want them in the collet jaws run the ram up to crimp the collet shut on the case.

[Mk42gunner]

I like it, you basically have a length guage bulit into the system so the crimp is always at the right spot.


Robert

[Wayne Smith]

I have a modified Lee crimper made into a crimper for the .41 Colt heeled boolits modified by Old West. If you don't have a lathe and need one you might give Old West Molds a call.