Bixster_inc
Member
Because acclimate weather has done muddied up my shooting spot I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on rounds I’ve made while waiting for everything to dry up.
Other than a mishap with some .30-30’s I crushed in the press I really haven’t given much thought to the benefits of crimping. All my dies say they “roll crimp” but no matter how hard I try I can never seem to find that perfect place in set up to where it actually crimps aside from my .45-70 rounds but that was just dumb luck multiplied by the the fact I was using Hornady FTX bullets. With those, you have to trim off about .060 off the top and it was recommended (by a YouTuber) that after seating you removing the seating stem and give the die body another 1/4 turn or so before running the rounds through again. Because this is a pain I ordered the Lee FCD for future loads.
However a few days ago I was able to kind of get to my spot after a few weeks of dryness and before the rain came back through to play around with some .44 mag/special loads I whipped up for my new Henry and ended up with nice shooting bullets but some just nasty looking casings when I was done. So again with the rain coming back I have some lab time to learn a little more and I’m probably overthinking this (again) but with information I’ve been finding being all over the map I’m confused (again).
With my goal being consistency do I crimp everything? Some of the bullets I use (Hornady Match, ELD Match & Sierra MK’s) do not have a cannelure, does that matter? I’ve read that a crimp allows better, consistent pressure build up therefore tighter groups in the end.
Possibly because my brass is mostly virgin with some stuff from off the shelf ammo that has only been fired from my guns once I’ve never really looked at neck tension. However I have noticed when seating bullets the level of resistance at the lever varies from case to case. I don’t feel like I’m ever forcing a bullet in, I’ve never damaged a bullet jacket but some feel like they seat considerably easier than others. Does this mean I need to look into neck turning or is that another die adjustment I’m doing poorly? I would assume a bullet that seats easier than others would suffer from inadequate pressures but I could be mistaken without a chronograph.
Back when I created those sweet, custom 45° .30-30’s I believe it was Walkalong that praised the benefits of the Lee FCD’s so I’ve picked them up for .30-30, .223, .308 & .45-70 with .44 mag/special, .303 Brit, 9mm, 300 blackout & 6.5 Creedmoor in my Midway shopping cart pending what I hear here and figuring out a few other things I need.
I also should say that my guns are a mix of auto-loading, bolt and lever actions.
As always, thanks in advance.
Other than a mishap with some .30-30’s I crushed in the press I really haven’t given much thought to the benefits of crimping. All my dies say they “roll crimp” but no matter how hard I try I can never seem to find that perfect place in set up to where it actually crimps aside from my .45-70 rounds but that was just dumb luck multiplied by the the fact I was using Hornady FTX bullets. With those, you have to trim off about .060 off the top and it was recommended (by a YouTuber) that after seating you removing the seating stem and give the die body another 1/4 turn or so before running the rounds through again. Because this is a pain I ordered the Lee FCD for future loads.
However a few days ago I was able to kind of get to my spot after a few weeks of dryness and before the rain came back through to play around with some .44 mag/special loads I whipped up for my new Henry and ended up with nice shooting bullets but some just nasty looking casings when I was done. So again with the rain coming back I have some lab time to learn a little more and I’m probably overthinking this (again) but with information I’ve been finding being all over the map I’m confused (again).
With my goal being consistency do I crimp everything? Some of the bullets I use (Hornady Match, ELD Match & Sierra MK’s) do not have a cannelure, does that matter? I’ve read that a crimp allows better, consistent pressure build up therefore tighter groups in the end.
Possibly because my brass is mostly virgin with some stuff from off the shelf ammo that has only been fired from my guns once I’ve never really looked at neck tension. However I have noticed when seating bullets the level of resistance at the lever varies from case to case. I don’t feel like I’m ever forcing a bullet in, I’ve never damaged a bullet jacket but some feel like they seat considerably easier than others. Does this mean I need to look into neck turning or is that another die adjustment I’m doing poorly? I would assume a bullet that seats easier than others would suffer from inadequate pressures but I could be mistaken without a chronograph.
Back when I created those sweet, custom 45° .30-30’s I believe it was Walkalong that praised the benefits of the Lee FCD’s so I’ve picked them up for .30-30, .223, .308 & .45-70 with .44 mag/special, .303 Brit, 9mm, 300 blackout & 6.5 Creedmoor in my Midway shopping cart pending what I hear here and figuring out a few other things I need.
I also should say that my guns are a mix of auto-loading, bolt and lever actions.
As always, thanks in advance.