Crimping your loads ?

[Wayne S]

Just wondering how many here are using either the Lee crimp die or the RCBS taper crimp die on your 223 / 308 cast loads, and is the Lee more of a roll crimp or a taper crimp ?

[North_of_60]

I have several of the Lee Factory Crimp dies including 223 and 300 WM, 405 WCF, 250-3000, 30-06. They are all collet type. They work well and don't break the bank.

[Wayne Smith]

I usually don't crimp cartridges in bolt action or single shot actions. This is common unless a crimp becomes necessary because of the slow powder. 45-70 BP cartridges in 405gr bullets were crimped because the boolit was too light for the powder to completely burn. 500gr boolits were heavy enough to not need a crimp!

[MT Chambers]

I can't imagine why anyone would want to crimp those rounds, with the exception of the hard kicking .405, case neck tension should be all that's required, crimping or crimp dies will destroy accuracy shur as shootin'.

[462]

I don't crimp rifle rounds, except for the Model 94's tube magazine, and for that I use the Lee collet crimp die.

[JeffinNZ]

The Cruise Missile in my 6.5 Carcano requires a crimp to shoot well. The crimp helps up the pressure to assist the H4350 to burn.

My .32-20 likes a light crimp for the Green Dot subsonic like. Makes a big difference to accuracy. As does a crimp on my .32-20 full power, case full of H4227 load.

For the most part I don't crimp cast however.

[altheating]

I use the Lee factory crimp die on all six of my 22 Hornet and K Hornet loads. I get better accuracy and more consistent velocities.

[rintinglen]

I use the Lee FCD for CB loads in the 30-40, 30-30, 30-06, 32-20, 348 Win., and 45-70. I mostly shoot lever guns, but the FCD is a dandy for rifles.

[jonk]

I don't really crimp anything anymore, except in my larger caliber wheel guns. Occasionally I will use the LFCD with J-words and slow powder, but it isn't a common thing I need to do.

[madsenshooter]

I use the FCD for some loads, but only some. One situation where I use it is in a 7.5 Swiss loaded with an Eagan bullet that goes below the neck/shoulder junction. It's a tapered bullet, so once past the aforementioned point, it doesn't take much to knock it back into the case. A little catch on the feed ramp would probably be enough force. I found that one can get too much crimp with the FCD, the bullet gets sized down a tad on it's way out of the neck if the neck is thick enough.

[Buckshot]

..............When I started casting rifle boolits I never crimped. I DID crimp boolits for my (at the time) only revolter as the mention of the boolits in the cylinder moving forward under recoil made good sense to me. Especially since I could visualize it in my mind :-) However these many years down the road when I do experimental rifle reloading, in the process I experiment with 2 things (besides powder charges, etc). One is the use of a filler. The other is a crimp. I do not always test with a filler but will always test with and without a crimp. Either a roll crimp if possible, and if not then a taper crimp.

Nothing is ever cast :-) in concrete and I've found that sometimes a crimp helps. Sometimes it hurts or makes no difference at all. I am a believer that a firm and consistent but not a distorting case grip is VERY important. Without sufficient casegrip you can supply a crimp (as Dean Grennel said) "Like a rabid weasel" and with some loads it will do no good. His illustration was that of a 44 Mag with a close to max load of H110. The slugs barely exited the barrel of the pistol, with unburned powder going all over. Come to find out the case was barely holding the bullet (jacketed) but the crimp was well and truly applied.

.............Buckshot

[Boyscout]

I crimp all of my loads as my goal is to be able to hunt with all of them or shoot in a revolver. I get excellent results crimping my 44 Remington Magnum loads into the crimping groove of the bullet even though I use them in a single shot Handi-rifle. They may also go in my son's Ruger Blackhawk. I have backed off on how strong a crimp I am putting on my 06, 35 Remington, and 7.62x54R rounds. I use the Lee collet crimp dies for all of them.

[IROCZ]

I use the Lee FCD on my cast .44 mag and 30-40 Krag cast loads with excellent results in both.

[DanM]

FWIW, I do use the LFCD die on some rifle carts, but it is adjusted to only smooth out any little excess bell on the case mouth a particular seating die won't take care of.