Now, I am really confused!

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IWAC

IWAC

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I bought a Lee Factory crimp die for my .257 Roberts. Immediately lost the instructions! :eek: "O.K."sez I; "let's see what's what." :)
Read the Lee reloading manual re: crimping, watched Lee's YouTube video, and thought;" Is that all there is to it?" The Lee recommendation of 25 lbs pressure on the press handle to form the "standard" crimp seemed a bit much, but, what do I know?
Adjusted the die per instructions. Tried a dummy round in it. Lots of force required. Too much?:confused: The segments of the collet were tight together!:scrutiny: HMMMM...

Watched some more YouTube; OBOY! One guy says the collet sizing fingers should barely move, another says you need to see daylight between the segments, and yet another uses "finger feel" and just runs his cartridges into the press till it feels right. The final opinion is the standard (recommended?) crimp will essentially make its own cannelure, and deform the bullet. That can't be good, right? Waaaayy too much conflicting information!::banghead:

For those who use the Lee Factory crimp die for your rifles...Does it really increase accuracy? Will the factory recommended adjustment recommendation damage jacketed or cast bullets in any way?

Am I in the mode of "When all else fails, follow the instructions? " :D

Thanx
 
Is there some specific reason, or need to crimp those cartridges?

If your not shooting them from a tubular magazine, delete the crimp, it's totally unnecessary and only adds one more variable to the process.

GS
 
I lower the FCD until it touches the shell holder, then turn it an extra half turn. Here's a link to the instructions:
http://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/RM3655.pdf

Does it help with accuracy? IDK, never really tested it.

Do you need it to secure the bullet? I don't think so. Try using a kinetic bullet puller to remove a bullet from a bottleneck rifle cartridge. Not easy.
 
The crimp should not deform the bullet, and whoever told you that, do not take his advice. He is either someone who "thinks" he knows what he is talking about or has been given bad information by another misinformed know it all and don't know any better.:uhoh:. Think about it, why would you want to crush the jacket of the bullet and deform it when it is what contacts the rifling of your barrel??:scrutiny:
 
Crimping .257 Roberts? Seriously? Do yourself a favor and lose the dies as well.
 
The destructions state to adjust the die until the collet fingers just touch each other. Anymore than that and you will damage the die, As to how hard to push, just look down into the die when the fingers close that's it.

As to crimping that is a whole other debate.
 
Watched some more YouTube; OBOY! One guy says the collet sizing fingers should barely move, another says you need to see daylight between the segments, and yet another uses "finger feel" and just runs his cartridges into the press till it feels right. The final opinion is the standard (recommended?) crimp will essentially make its own cannelure, and deform the bullet. That can't be good, right? Waaaayy too much conflicting information!:
Click to expand...

I believe the Lee rifle FCD is a FEEL thing. It is suggested to use about 25 lbs of force on the end of the stroke. But that depends on what kinda leverage your press gives! You can definitely overdo it. And if you need crimp to prevent setback, you can underdo it.

I've heard of some folks rigging up a weighted lever for putting on the crimp.
 
Offfhand said:
Crimping .257 Roberts? Seriously? Do yourself a favor and lose the dies as well.
Click to expand...
I crimp lots of rifle loads that shouldn't need it and see an improvement in accuracy in most of them, but they're always in guns with generous chambers and exorbitantly long throats, a.k.a. military surplus bolt actions. I have a 257 roberts also and I have seen a reduction in accuracy when crimping with that one. Work up loads both ways and see which one is more accurate.

On most of mine, I do the same as readyeddy and go a half turn past contact with the die. I've gone as far as a full turn and it doesn't mangle the bullet the way it's portrayed on some interwebs. There's a slight indentation around the full circumference of the bullet, but it's nice and even. If that's throwing off your groups, you can already shoot much better than I can.

All that said, I think you'll find that it's a waste of time on a 257 Roberts and you'll just work the brass more than necessary. But try it both ways and see which one is more accurate.

Matt
 
Eddy, and morcey 2 and all; Thanks for the information: :) The instructions were much clearer than Lee's video presentation, so I copied them to keep in my reloading log. Got the die adjusted to my satisfaction, and crimped half of my cast reloads.

Now, as to why? Maybe Mr. Lee saw me coming. But, his reloading manual and ad copy seems to indicate better accuracy and consistency in start pressure, and I am all for that.

Fortunately, the $$ outlay was not excessive, and the learning curve is not steep. Now, all I have to do is wait for better weather for a trip to the range. And, best of all, my curiosity will have been satisfied. ;)

Have a good week end!
 
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