Crimp or no crimp for a Savage M99 in 243

[flipajig]

I'm going to start loading for a M 99 and I have a cupel questions
1) As I've stated do I need to crimp
2) Do I need to stay with factory COL or can I load them closer to the lands
I know that each gun is different but with a leveraction cycling the action is my concern
Thanks Flip

 

[788Ham]

I load for a '99 in .300 and .250, yes, I always crimp on my reloads. Some on THR will tell you no, up to you. I use a Lee FDC die, just "a smidgen" of a crimp, you can tell when you first start with it, thats about all you'll need, I've never had any problems. As far as setting closer to the lands, you'll find out with the action, and ability to load rounds, if they won't go into the rotary magazine, too long. You can load single shot and have them longer, not good if you're hunting and need a quick second shot. YMMV

 

[FROGO207]

As said the rotary magazine is the limiting factor when making ammo for the Savage 99 in .300. I found with both of mine that the longer than MAG length was not as accurate so I load mine slightly shorter than factory for I found that the best results in my rifles. Also now I do not crimp my ammo. If your neck tension is sufficient then it will not be necessary unless the firearm is tube fed or has problems with bullet movement due to recoil like with my 500 S&W revolver. I tried the Factory crimp on 223 and 308 for a test. I found no better results when crimping my ammo over not doing so. I am even thinking that it degraded my reloads to do so but could not positively prove that either. So I stopped years ago to save time on each round and be able to reload more rounds each session. YMMV