PC question, coating scraping off?

[Shadow9mm]

So question. I am loading for 44spl, and mag. For those loads I am using a heavy roll crimp to keep them in place. is there a chance the roll crimp is scraping the powder coating off as it is leaving the barrel? just did some shooting today, had leading problems.

[oley55]

it is possible. I use the Lee Collet Crimp die and set the crimp a micro-millimeter below the top of the case so that I am not curling the case mouth into the boolit.

https://leeprecision.com/44-magnum-c...crimp-die.html

[downzero]

Do the hammer test. Even if you do cut into the coating with your crimp, you shouldn't be getting any leading with powder coated bullets.

[Shadow9mm]

Do the hammer test. Even if you do cut into the coating with your crimp, you shouldn't be getting any leading with powder coated bullets.

so the hammer test is a bit tricky as I am using a clear powder coat. however after a few hammer blows, the area where I have struck still fells smooth and slick and the coating appears to be staying in place as best I can tell.

[mehavey]

Grasp the nettle -- kick the pressure up unless dead soft.



Remind us, what brand powder coat ?


WARNING: YMMV -- This load is disgustingly safe/normal in my rifle, for that bullet.
Start lower/work up as may be directed by published manuals/manufacturers

[405grain]

When reloading with any cast bullet, I always make seating and crimping a separate operation. If you try to seat and crimp all in one stroke it can shave the lead (or powder coat) off of the driving bands. This will cause barrel leading, and accuracy will suffer. Just back off the die body so that it won't crimp, then seat the bullets to the desired length. After all the bullets have been seated back off the seating stem and then screw in the die body to get the desired crimp. Run all the cartridges back through the die and they're done.

An afterthought: Are you flaring the mouth of the case before seating the bullets? For cast bullets there needs to be a slight flare at the mouth of the case to prevent shaving lead. It doesn't take much. I usually use a Lyman universal flaring tool, but an "M" die also works well. For gas checked bullets I flare the case mouth just enough for about half of the gas check to enter the case. This amount of flare also works good for plain based bullets.

[mehavey]

Flaring is good... just enuf to have the bullet self-seat about a dime's worth at the start.
Crimp while-simultaneously-seating is no problem as long as the crimp operation begins when the case mouth is just rising above the bottom of the crimp groove

[gwpercle]

1.) Use a Lyman M-Die to flare/expand the case mouth for seating lead boolits w/o scraping .
2.) Seat the bullet in one operation without crimping it .
3.) Crimp the boolit in a seperate step with no further seating .

These are the 3 basic tips that work for me . #1 is most important .
Gary

[Cast10]

Over-crimping can ‘smush’ the bullet a bit and result in the case digging into the bullet, exposing lead.

[Dragonheart]

I would suggest two step, seating and then crimp. I would also suggest a taper crimp.

BTW: A hammer test only shows the bond and elasticity of Polymer; the Polymer can be under cured and pass the hammer test. Use a scrape/scratch test to determine the hardness.

[mehavey]

ALCON: Single-Step seat/crimp works fine, as long as you have a crimp crimp goove
-- and start the crimp process at groove bottom as seating continues to final seat length

See:
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...=1#post5432504 for
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...=1#post5434291

[BJung]

Seat and then crimp a dummy load. Then, extract the bullet with a kinetic bullet puller. That should answer your question.