Taper or roll crimp?

[snaketail]

I have a .45 Colt lever rifle. I use Lee dies (roll crimp) to reload and am curious if I'd be any better off with a taper crimp.
I'm only applying a slight roll, so to not deform the boolit too much. I've never had any 'set-back' problems from recoil. And I wonder if I'd get better accuracy with a taper crimp.
Your thoughts?

Snowed-in in St. Louis
Michael

[jmort]

If you have a revolver and/or a tubular magazine, then a roll crimp makes sense. You don't want the bullet to jump-crimp either in or out.

[NSB]

I've shot a lot of handgun where the bullet needed to be taper crimped and I've had a lot where it's rolled crimped. I don't think there's any gain in accuracy simply because you taper crimp. I also shoot lever guns and I'd recommend you roll crimp so you are sure you won't get set back.

[Scharfschuetze]

Generally speaking a roll crimp is correct for a rimmed case that headspaces on the rim and is not dependent on the case lip/mouth to support the primer against the firing pin strike such as your 45 Colt. A taper crimp is the crimp of choice for a rimless case that headspaces on the lip of the case such as the 9mm Parabellum or 45 ACP.

Most cast boolits and jacketed bullets designed for rimmed cases will have a crimping groove for the roll crimp while most boolits and bullets for rimless pistol cases will not have such a groove and are thus best taper crimped not only for headspace purposes, but also not to damage the projectile. If your boolit has a crimping groove, and you are crimping into it, I wouldn't worry too much about damaging your boolit as the boolit is designed to take the crimp in this groove. Some of my most accurate loads with rimmed cases in rifles use a moderate to heavy roll crimp.

[truckboss]

I don't think it really matters,try it.Taper crimp one round,load it first so it will be your last shot then take it out of your gun and measure to make sure you have no set back.The advantage is you can seat your boolit out farther and now you can play with length.:Fire:

[ReloaderFred]

Roll crimp. When the magazine is full, there is a lot of tension on the column of bullets, and add into that the recoil every time a round is fired, and the another one is removed from the magazine. There is a lot of tension and jarring going on inside that magazine, and you don't want the bullets collapsing into the cases.

I shoot a lot of .45 Colt in lever rifles, and you don't want the bullets being pushed down into the cases.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[358wcf]

Crimps- In general- a rimmed case will work well with either a rolled crimp or tapered. They both do the job, as the case headspaces on the rim, and case length is not critical here. On the other hand, with a rimless pistol case, such as 45ACP or 9mm, which headspace on the mouth of the case, require a taper crimp both to keep a uniform case length and to still have a lip on the case mouth for headspacing.
Crimp carefully, as it is easy to overdo it-

358wcf

[northmn]

From a different angle I doubt if any gains in accuracy from a taper crimp would be apparent in a lever action rifle in a pistol caliber. I rool crimp my 38-55 with cast and find it satisfactory.

DP

[OverMax]

FWIW: Doing either well reduce the accuracy of your rifle somewhat. My suggestion. If you want the utmost accuracy from your rifle. Don't fill it magazine full. {Which requires a cartridge to have a heavy crimp if intentionally doing.} One or two shells at most in the magazine tube is all you'll need.

Most supervised Rifle Ranges your not to have any shells in a levers magazine period. Hunting purposes. If you can't knock something down within reasonable shooting distance for the caliber used with 3-rounds. Time to pack up and go home.

[snaketail]

Thanks for the advise. I'm not hunting with the rifle, just shooting for accuracy, in Lever Action Silhouette (NOT Cowboy Action). We have to load from the magazine, but many of us only load two rounds, lever one into battery and fire, lever the 2nd then load another round. This helps the shooter slow down, and other things. So - only one round gets recoil before being loaded into the chamber.
From these reports it seems that it won't matter which style crimp I use. I think I'll stay with a light roll crimp.

M

[UNIQUEDOT]

I want a good tight crimp for my levergun 45's so as to get the cleanest burn possible. My crimp dies of choice are a ringless lfcd and a custom collet lfcd.

[phaessler]

Roll crimp in all my rimmed straight case, I prefer the Redding Profile crimp die, it seems to no touch the boolit diameter or the case, just the crimp when adjusted correctly, allowing for properly sized boolits before and after loading.
Taper crimp on all the auto pistols, assures a good hold, and more importantly lets the headspace be controlled by the end of the brass as it was intended.

Pete

[Scharfschuetze]

For the best possible roll crimp, I might add that a good roll crimp is often done in a separate operation from boolit seating.

Another note is that case length has a great deal to do with the uniformity of the crimp, either taper or roll crimps. For the best and most uniform crimp, cases should all be of the same length.

[TXGunNut]

I like a roll crimp for leverguns. Some cartridge/powder combos seem to want a heavier crimp than others. In my guns 45 Colt in both smokeless hunting and BP plinking loads seems to like a heavier crimp than 45/70 or 35 Rem. Still trying to figure that out so you may want to experiment a bit with your gun, see what it likes.

[northmn]

Some pistol calibers need a crimp with slower powders to get the most out of the load. As for accuracy, no crimp is generally accepted as best especially for paper/steel shooting.

DP

[rhead]

A taper crimp die is not that expensive. Try both in a side by side comparison. then you will know which one you rifle likes best with that load.