Problem crimping lead bullets/ .380 ACP

[Solothurn]

Loading Lee 356-95-RF, soft lead, powder coated, .357". CCI once-fired brass.

Size/flare/seat with Lee .380 3-die set.

OAL: 0.950"

Seating and crimping with Lee bullet seater die. The tightest crimp I've been able to get measures 0.368" at the outside of the case mouth. Bullets are loose and will pull out of most cases. They will not go any deeper in when pushed by hand. I've adjusted the bullet seater die up and down, and can't get the crimp any tighter.

I use Lee dies in several other calibers and have been able to crimp much more than needed. Would a Lee factory crimp die solve this issue?

[ioon44]

No, a Lee factory crimp die would only make it worse.

[marek313]

This might not be the case here but many times when projectile comes out after the crimp its because there is too much crimp. Definitely confusing when you experience it first time because it looks like there is not enough crimp at first glance. In some cases I've seen projectiles jump out and even get stuck in the die itself. Thats because with too much crimp projectile gets swaged down but brass will spring back enough to basically spit the projectile out as soon as it comes out of the crimping die. Since your using .357 projectiles I would measure one pulled from the case and see if its swaged down to .355 or something small like that. I had to open up bunch of Lee sizing and FCD dies to get what I really needed because they were too small. Polishing paste with diamond dust works great for opening up dies btw. I feel like I had to do that to most of my sizing and FCD dies.

[kungfustyle]

Separate out the actions, ie, seat then go back and crimp the boolits with the seating stem out of the way. That's the only way I can get round to chamber in one of our 45's

[tankgunner59]

Opinions vary. I have a Lee factory crimp die for each caliber I reload, including .380 Auto. I crimp in a separate step. In my semi-auto's I put a light taper crimp on and I have never had any problems with the crimp in all the years I've been reloading. My advice is to get a LFC die and adjust for a light taper. Your bullets won't be loose in the finished cartridges and they won't move due to recoil.

[Solothurn]

I’ve adjusted crimp and seating depth, seated without crimping then running through .380 and .357 Magnum sizers with decaper removed. The best I’ve gotten was seating and crimping at .910” OAL, with crimp about where I’d started. It’s still not as tight as I would prefer. Bullets will move after cycling through pistol two or three times.

I loaded and fired rounds with no problems. When I can find one in stock, I will try a Lee factory crimp die.

[cstrickland]

I’ve adjusted crimp and seating depth, seated without crimping then running through .380 and .357 Magnum sizers with decaper removed. The best I’ve gotten was seating and crimping at .910” OAL, with crimp about where I’d started. It’s still not as tight as I would prefer. Bullets will move after cycling through pistol two or three times.

I loaded and fired rounds with no problems. When I can find one in stock, I will try a Lee factory crimp die.

hmm I was given some of the 356-90 bullets to try in 9mm. I noticed that they were to small as cast. The base of the nose measures at .357, but the bottom driving bands we much smaller. It would not allow me to crimp them . I was having almost the same issue as you .

Did you measure the bottom driving bands after casting / sizing ?? I even powdercoated them and could not get to the .356 I use > I may have been able to do several coats to gert there but just dropped them