Crimping Rifle Loads

RSS
Email

0 Kudo

Forum Jump

Author	Comment
Thor96	Crimping Rifle Loads	Lead	[-]
Posts: 6747 (04/12/09 1:09 PM) MODERATOR Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Tags : None Okay, I got another ball bouncing around in the ole gray matter. I've heard people say that crimping improves accuracy. A few years back Arkie55 was playing with Barnes and couldn't get decent groups. He was about to quit when he decided to crimp. VOILA. His groups tightened up and he found a sweet load. Pros? Cons? Next question. Are all dies designed to crimp? I back my dies off about 3/4 turn. I do know that some dies are designed so that in set up you close the gap until you get a crimp. Then set your bullet depth. I have some pretty good loads, but am always looking for a way to improve. Yeah, I know. Lay off the coffee. "The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money".... Margaret Thatcher
HerrMesser		#1	[-]
Posts: 383 (04/12/09 4:32 PM) Active Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	If the bullet has a cannelure you can crimp but should not without it. Rad NRA Benefactor Member AMA Life Member
velvetnsteel		#2	[-]
Posts: 2541 (04/13/09 7:51 AM) MODERATOR Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I don't like crimping rifle loads. Lee is big on it, and pushes their equipment to do that. I know RCBS says you can crimp with their dies, but as HerrMesser said, it just doesn't work good without a cannelure. The dies need to be set just right. All the cases lengths need to be very close to the same lengths, and I still end up collapsing the shoulders too often. So I just stay away from it. It also limits you overall cartridge length as you need to crimp at the cannelure every time. You can't shoot as good as your Swedes do anyway, so settle down !!!! Long live the Swedish Mauser!! Last Edited By: velvetnsteel 04/13/09 7:55 AM. Edited 1 times.
NC Cruffler		#3	[-]
Posts: 53 (04/13/09 12:50 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I use a Lee Factory Crimp die on anything going into a semiautomatic, taper crimp on straight-walled pistol & rifle (.30 carbine). All of my regular RCBS dies have a roll crimp feature except the straight-walled dies. Uniform trimmed case length is essential when crimping for consistency. Dave Dave Green, NRA Life Member since 1973
AlleyOop007		#4	[-]
Posts: 1184 (04/13/09 2:50 PM) Contributing Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Its been quite awhile since I reloaded any .223, but after I got rid of my Mini 14, I had only one rifle of that caliber, a Mini Mark X Mauser so I decided to do neck resizing only and crimping with a set of Lee Dies. It was tedious (and I ruined a few cases), but overall it worked out fine with cannelured bullets and provided some very accurate loads. AlleyOop007 NRA Life Member since 1969 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "History does not entrust the care of freedom to the weak or timid." - Dwight D. Eisenhower
Fat Albert.parallaxscurioa...	Their all wrong	#5	[-]
Posts: 3 (06/04/09 7:09 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Everyone here should e-mail all the ammo manufactures all over the world and let them know that they should have not been crimping rifle bullets, that don't have cannelure, for the last 130 yrs. Give me a break!
lid9cog		#6	[-]
Posts: 1691 (06/05/09 9:13 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I do not crimp rifle cartridges with the exception of tube feed rifles. I have tested crimped Vs. non crimped and have found that adding a roll/tapered crimp, will lower accuracy. My results are based on a minimum of 100 round for each method, for each cartridge Tapered crimping add approx. 100 fps to .30 cal rounds. Most accuracy has resulted from neck sizing and ensuring that the cartridge goes into the chamber in the same "o'clock" position ever time
velvetnsteel		#7	[-]
Posts: 2693 (06/05/09 9:30 AM) MODERATOR Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Ed Harris wrote a thing about this 19 or so years ago. Look here: http://yarchive.net/gun/ammo/crimping.html Long live the Swedish Mauser!!
bayouray		#8	[-]
Posts: 214 (06/05/09 1:53 PM) Active Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I use the Lee factory crimp dies on everything I reload (6.5x55, 7mm08, 30.06, 7.62x25, .233). I've done no studies comparing crimp or not crimped but the guy who taught me reloading taught me that way. I have no complaints with accuracy once I find my pet load for each gun. I do not do any competitive bench shooting so I am basically loading for plinking, practice, and hunting. Ray
Abe Normal	Crimp or not to crimp, that is a question?	#9	[-]
Posts: 175 (06/06/09 8:43 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Ok, I'll offer my 2 cents worth in this matter... Everything I load gets a crimp, of some sort. Now that being said, not everything gets crimped in the same way or with the same type crimp die. Once again we fall back on the old adage; Use the right tool for the right job. For military rifles and cartridges where the bullets have a cannelure I'll use a Lee "Mill-Spec" crimp die. For hunting rifles where the bullets have a cannelure, well, it depends, some will use the taper crimp of the seating die others may receive a light "Mil-Spec" crimp and yet others could get a slight roll crimp. It rather depends on all other factors, what rifle, what bullet, what cartridge, what loading, the intended use and so on, and on and on. The amount of crimp used from any die on any case/bullet is also a hot button issue. How do you determine the amount of crimp for a given bullet/cartridge/rifle? How do you insure you consistently apply the same amount of crimp to each cartridge? Accounting for the near infinite number of variables of the cartridge in question is enough to test even the sanest among us. This doesn't even touch upon ones ability to exactly repeat the process of constructing another batch of cartridges just like the cartridge that shot the one hole 10 shot group at 300 yards just last month! Even assuming we've kept the very best notes, regarding the brass, bullet, primer, powder and seating depth. How does one quantify how much crimp pressure was used, or did this case get just a little more chamfer cut into it than the one before it? Or is the brass just a little more work hardened than that last batch used? Did the primers get seated exactly the same or did I use slightly too much pressure on that one, or perhaps not quite enough on this one? Each step of the process has an effect. Consistency and repeatability are our friends and at the same time the most elusive aspects of this reloading game. As much as I'd enjoy saying that 15 years of reloading have taught me to how build the most accurate consistent and finest shooting ammunition on the planet, I'm in fact at the point in my reloading where I'm beginning to realize just how much I truly don't know about each and every aspect of building this cartridge just like the one that came before it. In point of fact, am I now able to build better ammunition than I can purchase at the store? Boy howdy you bet'cha I can! Can I do it every time I sit down at the bench? Of course not. Some days it just all falls together and other days despite the very best efforts it all goes for naught. The quest goes on… Abe If everyone thought like me, I'd be a fool to think any differently! Last Edited By: Abe Normal 06/06/09 8:48 AM. Edited 1 times.
Thor96		#10	[-]
Posts: 7310 (06/06/09 10:43 AM) MODERATOR Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Abe Normal wrote: In point of fact, am I now able to build better ammunition than I can purchase at the store? Boy howdy you bet'cha I can! Can I do it every time I sit down at the bench? Of course not. Some days it just all falls together and other days despite the very best efforts it all goes for naught. The quest goes on… Boy, did I open up a can of worms.That's okay. We need to liven up the forum anyway. Abe, I'm glad to hear somebody say it's the bench that can waver, not just the shooter. I've been blaming those lousy days on wind, coffee, flinching, stress... lots of things, but you betcha, the bench makes a difference too. There are so many factors. Once I find a sweet load, I lock in on every variable I can, powder, primer, bullet depth, etc. That means I don't change the settings on my press or dies. I have two turrets and can do that pretty easy, unlike a guy who has only one press and shoots different weight/length bullets, (i.e. 120 grain match bullet one day, 160 grain hunter grade the next). Yes, I do have more than one seater die in 6.5x55 and 6mm and can leave them set once perfected. So I'm not worried about repeating bullet depth or crimp. I suspect the greatest uncontrolled variable is brass. On one day, my test loads of say 20 out of a box of 50, just might have a very tight SD (standard deviation, not sectional density). Next trip to the range, same lot of brass, those 20 are scattered among the rest of the 50 and SD spreads. At this point in life, I'm a hunter, not a match shooter and not that meticulous. But I have seen old timers carry the same lot of screened brass with tight SD, shoot first round, and while others are shooting, go back to his truck and reload the very same brass. Now... Wanna guess who wins the match? When all else fails, BLAME BUSH!
jeeper1		#11	[-]
Posts: 5613 (06/06/09 4:22 PM) MODERATOR Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	But I have seen old timers carry the same lot of screened brass with tight SD, shoot first round, and while others are shooting, go back to his truck and reload the very same brass. Talk about bring back old memories. A goodly number of years ago when I was into Schuetzen (sp?)I only had one case that I used for the matches. That case was never sized just reprimed and loaded with powder. The bullet was seated into the rifling before the reloaded case was loaded into the rifle. I may not be completely sane, but at least I don't think I have the power to influence the weather grog101.forumco.com/active.asp www.GBOCannons.com www.homegunsmith.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi
donmarkey		#12	[-]
Posts: 347 (07/03/09 9:09 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	My personal method, I crimp and seal all hunting ammo. But I hunt is bad weather and sometime walk miles through snow and ice storms to get to my hunting spots. Many days after returning for the night I have to clean ice and snow out of the magazine box and dry my ammo. I also have found even in bolt action rifles the bullet can get pushed back under recoil. Especially in hard kicking guns. This was common in my 300 h+h before I crimped.
Fat Albert.parallaxscurioa...		#13	[-]
Posts: 11 (09/06/09 12:25 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	First you develope the best load you can (bullet-powder-primed) with no crimp. At that point cut back on the powder charge and then work back up with the bullets crimped. If you get no improvment then just don't crimp.

<< Previous Topic Next Topic >>

Yuku free message boards

Crimping Rifle Loads

Crimping Rifle Loads

Quick Reply