Originally Posted by
garandsrus
I don’t know if your boolit is too large, but your crimp is definitely not correct. You can see a lot of lead that is shaved/deformed near the case mouth.
Are you expanding the case mouth before seating the bullet? A taper crimp should remove the flair and that’s about it. The case is not rolled into the bullet.
To correct your die setting, you will need to screw out the seating die several turns. Run a case in with a bullet and get the correct seating length. The case flair will still be there. After the bullet is the correct depth, turn the seating stem out by 4 or 5 turns. You can even completely remove it. Now, turn the seating die in by about 1/2 turn and see if the case flair is removed. It probably won’t be. Keep turning the die in by 1/2 turn and check the flair until it is removed. This is your taper crimp. Then, run the case back into the die and turn the bullet seating stem back down until it touches the bullet and stops. This should seat a bullet and set the proper crimp.
It is never a bad idea to seat and crimp in a different step but both can commonly be done at the same time.
I have also run loaded rounds partially through the sizing die with the decapping stem removed. The die is started high and the cartridge is run into the die. It shouldn’t touch anything. With the round in the die, screw the die into the press until the case is contacted. Lower the ram, then screw the die in about 1/2 turn, run the case into the die and see if your round will chamber freely. Keep screwing the die in and testing the fit in the rifle. It will probably take a couple revolutions of the die after the contact is made before the round chambers freely. This should produce the equivalent of a taper crimp. It could also size the bullet where it contacts the case walls, so go slow.