Judge My Crimp

eddiememphis

eddiememphis

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Other reloaders, especially new ones, may want to add pictures of their crimps to see if they look correct.

.45 Colt.
Dies are Lee 4 piece.
Cases trimmed to 1.280". Loaded length 1.598"

First is a Missouri Bullet 255gr. Normal loads in the 850fps range.

i-2t8FKrg-M.jpg

I crimped until there was a smooth transition between the bullet and case.

Next is a Hornady 300gr XTP.

i-F5Mtrn5-M.jpg

i-nFc6cgw-M.jpg

This one I am concerned may be over crimped, but I have never used the Lee crimp die before. Is the ring at the mouth normal for these dies?

The cannelure on this bullet is .050". The exposed cannelure is .014"

These will be Ruger Blackhawk rounds, seated over 19gr of H-110 so I want it tight, but is it too tight?
 
eddiememphis said:
This one I am concerned may be over crimped, but I have never used the Lee crimp die before. Is the ring at the mouth normal for these dies?

The cannelure on this bullet is .050". The exposed cannelure is .014"
Click to expand...

This is ONLY my opinion....................on the cannelure bullet, it looks like the "bottom" of the crimp is below the cannelure........... I would seat them ever so slightly deeper so the crimp falls in the cannelure....

Take it for what it's worth-------as I stated above............ONLY my opinion.............:)

The crimp on the lead bullet looks awesome.............:thumbup:
 
Your cast bullet is crimped into the driving band and looks fine. I am stuck doing that a lot in 357 due to the short spec and not having more room in my guns. Can you get the bullet to function when crimping in the crimp grove. You look a few thousandths from getting there.
 
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Soonerpesek said:
This is ONLY my opinion....................on the cannelure bullet, it looks like the "bottom" of the crimp is below the cannelure........... I would seat them ever so slightly deeper so the crimp falls in the cannelure....

Take it for what it's worth-------as I stated above............ONLY my opinion.............:)

The crimp on the lead bullet looks awesome.............:thumbup:
Click to expand...
Agree and I think the 2nd crimp shortens brass life/over works the edge. The crimp should roll over, but it shouldn’t be concave.
 
A concave crimp like the one produced by a Redding Profile Crimp die does have a purpose to prevent both crimp-jump in a revolver, and bullet set-back in a tubular magazine. A roll crimp alone is suitable for revolvers. I can't see the crimp produced by the Lee die well enough to say anything about it in particular.
 
On the one hand, the lead bullet crimp is not perfectly symmetrical. Your case mouth might not be perfectly trimmed, or there may be some slop in your press or shell holder. Or you might just have crimped into the driving band itself, which is rarely perfectly even. It's best to leave a few thousandths of crimp groove exposed, so that you know you are actually crimping into the groove rather than the driving band.

The jacketed bullet is not seated deeply enough and the case is over crimped. You shouldn't ever see that flattened portion of the case mouth, regardless of your brand of die.

On the other hand, none of that matters in the slightest, and assuming the bullets fit your gun, both loads will outshoot you every day of the week. You are to be commended both for your handloading and your bravery.

<edit> The way to determine whether your "overcrimp" is actually detrimental is to measure the case just below the crimp, and another tenth of an inch lower than that. If there is a bulge just below the crimp, that indicates significant overcrimping which is likely to reduce tension on the bullet. Which is bad. Looking at your pictures, you may actually have gotten yourself into that neighborhood, if just barely.
 
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@Walkalong, for what it is worth, is some kind of crimp genius. Just the slightest bit of "wasp waist" - indicating perfect bullet pull - along with a beautiful roll crimp right where it belongs and no hint of case bulge or any nonsense like metal or lube shaving.

I assume he made a few hundred thousand crummy ones and pulled the three perfect examples as illustrative. :p
 
I’d classify them as a “heavy” roll crimp. If it were me, I’d back them off a bit and try them to see if there’s any bullet movement. I suspect, as they are now, there’s no bullet movement.
 
My impression of the jacketed bullet is that it's seated about right, but we're all going by eye. I suggest you measure the width of the cannelure and seat the bullet so the mouth of the case is about in the middle of the groove.

A little over zealous on the crimp IMHO, but not going to cause an unsafe condition.
 
Most of my W-296 jacketed loads in 357 and 44mag look just like yours. Mine shoot great.

Most of my cast bullets are taper crimped, but again these are low recoil loads with fast burning powders and not fired in a tube magazine either, just revolvers.

I tested the W-296 loads at one time and the results between taper crimped loads, and firm roll crimped loads were basically the exact same. Same accuracy, no real difference in extreme spreads in velocity. Similar velocity average. No jumping crimp under recoil either. These were 357 mags from a 6" model 28. I could see 44 Mags jumping crimp easier with the heavier recoil, and heavier bullets, but never tested that..... in conclusion, I still roll crimp, but only slightly. The absolute "necessity" for a heavy roll crimp when using W-296 IMHO is overblown.....but I've discovered it doesn't hurt, so better safe than sorry I guess.
 
When you get the hang of it better my thought is to only crimp as much as needed. By doing this your brass will last longer before the neck/mouth splits due to work hardening. You will have to test the crimps so that you will find the minimum limits with regards to setback or bullet jump.
 
Next batch I would try a few lighter crimping for each, take a picture, then put two in the pistol, shoot one and inspect the other load for movement compared to image. If it doesn’t move then you know it is sufficient.
Just to keep the brass healthy and for accuracy.

on the other hand too much crimp is better than a squib
 
I think your crimps look great. I understand some posts about the crimp on the Hornady's being a bit over done but Hornady rolls such a deep cannelure it's hard for me to get it uniform on a 360 circumference unless I bottom it out in the cannelure. I work around that to a certain extent by seating only until I can roll the crimp over the bottom edge of the cannelure, it does leave a lot of the cannelure showing but it works for me. BTW as Walkalong said you could back out on the LSWC just a hair.
 
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