Crimp or not to crimp?

[Dragon]

I'm new to reloading ,some books say to crimp will others say no need what do you think ?

I will be loading for 223/5.56 for an AR aswell as a Weatherby bolt action, 45acp ,40 , 9mm.

I have read that there is no need to crimp on a bolt action ,or a single shot,only in auto loading an lever action rifles ,and pistols.I also read that you don't need to crimp on 9mm or 45acp ,but they are auto loading,so do they need to b crimped or not?

When do i need to crimp and what caliber ?

Any info would be great. Thanks.

[ocabj]

223/5.56 - only if the bullet has a cannelure and you are seating to that cannelure.

45, 40, 9mm - yes, taper crimp

[Dragon]

I have the Rcbs 9mm die ,does it have the taper crimp built in ,or do i need to get the taper crimp die separately ? I have not bought the dies for 45acp or the 40 yet ,should i stay with Rcbs?

[mark2203]

Crimping is so 80s

[ETD1010]

223/5.56 - only if the bullet has a cannelure and you are seating to that cannelure.

45, 40, 9mm - yes, taper crimp

I thought the Lee factory crimp die can crimp w/o cannelure.... Actually, i know it can, cause I have one for all my caliber dies. . . Just trying to be polite The only rounds I don't crimp are .308 for my bolt gun... Everything else is crimped.

[bohoki]

I thought the Lee factory crimp die can crimp w/o cannelure.... Actually, i know it can, cause I have one for all my caliber dies. . . Just trying to be polite The only rounds I don't crimp are .308 for my bolt gun... Everything else is crimped.

what experience caused you to crimp?

my 9mm and 45 acp crimp a little but to me its just to remove any belling from the expanding die

[What Just Happened?]

I have a Dillon set of 45acp dies, which gives me a separate crimp die. I just crimp enough to get the rounds to pass a chamber gauge.

[Dragon]

Ok i'm getting mixed feelings about crimping ! If i don't have to crimp that would be nice ,easyer on set up i think.

Last week I loaded some 9mm for the fist time, and I did not crimp .I only loaded 10 rounds because i did not trust my self .I had no problems with those rounds and they went where i wanted them to go ,made me happy.

I would still like to know if crimping is necessary or not .

thanks for the replies.

[Dragon]

WOW!!! still can not get a straight answer

[kurac]

You don't "need" to crimp but if the mouth of the case ends up sticking out a little from the bullet you may end have feeding problems.

You need to crimp guns that will have a heavy recoil like the .44 magnum so that the bullets don't work there way out of the cartridge.

[Captain Evilstomper]

i crimp because it's part of the die and it won't hurt anything to do it, however undercrimping is bad because of feed issues, and overcrimping is bad on certain cartriges because they headspace on the case mouth

[becxltoo984]

This is what i use on 5.56... http://www.leeprecision.com/html/cat...ies-crimp.html

[jmzhwells]

I crimp slightly for pistol rounds, to remove the expander expansion, for .223 in my OLL i dont crimp, have never had a problem. dont think its necessary. For whatever reason some people crimp everything. Its up to you really.

[Dragon]

The Speer books and Hornaday books say to use no crimp or very little crimp on 45acp and 9mm .

Thanks guys, this is starting to help.

[rayra]

WOW!!! still can not get a straight answer

That's because there is no straight answer. Crimping depends on your round, weapon, action type, brass type, bullet type, neck tension, and personal preference. Or any combination of those factors. There is no one right answer.

I crimp my .45acp when using 200gr LSWC because the blunt noses of osuch bullets were producing some setback issues in my 1911.
I crimp my magnum rounds because I reload them pretty damned stiff and again want to avoid having the bullet move in the case.
Most of my pistol and rifle calibers I do not crimp.