COAL or band

[Mark Daiute]

As far as I know all my brass is trimmed to the right length. I'm using the Lee HB .459 mold in my trapdoor. If I load to an OAL of 2.55" I'm applying the crimp with some of the last band on the boolit showing. If I seat to a depth sufficient to cover the last band IIRC my OAL is less than 2.5.

Which is more important, and AOL of 2.55 or crimping so as to cover the last band?

Thanks,

Mark

[JSnover]

With a single shot, you can seat the boolits as long as you need to reach the rifling if you'd like (I do). Only problem is longer boolits might cause the rim to hang up when you try to chamber a round.

[NickSS]

What JSnover says is true of rolling blocks but I have not had a problems with falling block or trapdoor rifles with too much oal. I find that the best accuracy is to have the bullet touching or even engraving the front band when loading it.

[Mark Daiute]

Well, I was basing the need for the crimp on reading "Wolf".

Best,

Mark

[Lead Fred]

When the soldiers reloaded for their trapdoors in the field, they used the chamber to set the OAL, and didn't crimp.

Id not crimp unless you want to up the pressure. My single shots has a longer chamber than 2.55, so I run the boolit out to the lands