I have a seating and crimping die in one step (Lee 3 Die Set) so since it's seated and crimped in one step it's not as easy to tell what the results are like step by step. I suppose I could back the crimp portion of the die ALL the way out to test.
I originally had it set to crimp to where I could see an obvious visibile crimp (looked like yours but maybe not quite that much). Now I have backed it off to where I can't see any visible crimp (the side profile looks straight and with no tool/work marks that would be evidence of a crimp on the outside of the case mouth area).
I think my biggest problem was too much flare. I had flare to where I could get the bullet at least 1/2 as far as it would be seated. Now it just fits in the mouth. Most cast bullets have a chamfer on the bottom anyway so this doesn't take much bell at all. I can push it just a little beyond the chamfer and into the diameter of the bullet's belt if I try by finger pressure before seating it.
All I know is that I now have rounds that work 100% in everything I've tested with (Ruger, 1911, G30 - but not with SWCs, RN only for the G30) and ALL of them pass the plop test very easily as with factory ammo assuming the seating depth is correct for the barrel and not extending into the rifling. I found a depth that works well for the SWC's I'm using and can make a round that works in almost any .45 if I want to, or make them longer for guns that will take it (where rifling is deeper).
So that's my suggestion: 1. Bell only enough and 2. Crimp only enough... .469 is what I was originally getting at the mouth and still having problems due to the bell being too much and creating a bulge below the crimp (once in a while, it'd even smash a case as it crimped... yeah, the bell was way too much). Now even .472 works just fine after fixing my bell issue.
I originally had it set to crimp to where I could see an obvious visibile crimp (looked like yours but maybe not quite that much). Now I have backed it off to where I can't see any visible crimp (the side profile looks straight and with no tool/work marks that would be evidence of a crimp on the outside of the case mouth area).
I think my biggest problem was too much flare. I had flare to where I could get the bullet at least 1/2 as far as it would be seated. Now it just fits in the mouth. Most cast bullets have a chamfer on the bottom anyway so this doesn't take much bell at all. I can push it just a little beyond the chamfer and into the diameter of the bullet's belt if I try by finger pressure before seating it.
All I know is that I now have rounds that work 100% in everything I've tested with (Ruger, 1911, G30 - but not with SWCs, RN only for the G30) and ALL of them pass the plop test very easily as with factory ammo assuming the seating depth is correct for the barrel and not extending into the rifling. I found a depth that works well for the SWC's I'm using and can make a round that works in almost any .45 if I want to, or make them longer for guns that will take it (where rifling is deeper).
So that's my suggestion: 1. Bell only enough and 2. Crimp only enough... .469 is what I was originally getting at the mouth and still having problems due to the bell being too much and creating a bulge below the crimp (once in a while, it'd even smash a case as it crimped... yeah, the bell was way too much). Now even .472 works just fine after fixing my bell issue.
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