Some Beginner reloading questions...

[ty423]

I'm reloading some 45ACP with mixed once fired brass..winchester/PMC... Some of these brass are under the max OAL and slightly under the tested length. Does it matter if the OAL length is short by a few thousandths? I'm using a digital caliper from Frankford Arsenal.

I was trying to set my dies up and was wondering how much am I suppose to expand the case mouth? I've watched some youtube videos and one mentioned just enough so when you put a bullet it in it goes in a tiny bit and stays in if held upside down. Is this enough? I figure the seating die will just do the rest once it presses the bullet in.

While we are at seating dies... We don't crimp straight wall cases right? I think I read alittle tiny crimp is ok but this is mainly for revolver style cases?

I have the hornady new dimension dies and was wondering if I need to lube the cases? The dies are Carbide whatever that means. Is it only the bottleneck style cases that need lube during resizing or is it a good idea to do straight wall cases also?

Thanks in Advance..

[Low-Pressure]

OAL: needs to be less than .898" (trim to .888" if longer than .898')

Expand just enough to were the bullet will fit in the mouth of the brass.

I crimp mine

Carbide= no lube on straight walled cases

[joelogic]

The crimp removes the bell.

Some people lube for a smoother stroke. I dont lube pistol brass.

[ty423]

does COAL and COL mean the same? I have a lyman and Speer manuals...

btw thanks for the very useful info...

does crimping affect performance? such as velocity or accuracy?

[joelogic]

Yes
Yes

[Fjold]

Set the belling die to where the bullet will just stand up in the mouth of the case without tipping over. Any more than that and you will work the brass excessively causing it to work harden and crack after fewer reloads.

Set you crimp/seating die so that you fingernail just barely catches the edge of the case as you run it over the case to bullet seam.

I like a taper crimp die for straight walled cases.

[gau17]

do yourself a favor and get the LEE crimp die

Crimping on pistol ammo is suppose to just remove the belling. I crimp my 45 ACP rounds to .469-.470.

[sequoia_nomad]

Crimping also serves to prevent the bullet from shifting in the case under recoil, particularly in a semi-auto. This can result in dangerous case pressures, feeding issues, etc. Too much crimp is no good either, it can shorten case life and cause barrel leading issues if you are loading cast bullets. I recommend comparing your finished product with a similar factory load that feeds well in your gun.

[RaymondMillbrae]

For plated or cast boolits, place a .005" crimp on the case mouth. This will reduce any feeding issues. (Measure the outer circumference of the brass with the boolit inserted into it. Now crimp it so it is .005" inch smaller at the veeeeeeeeery edge of the case opening. Use the razor edge of your dial calipers to get this fine reading).

Personally, I was told not to crimp my plated boolits at all. So I did a batch following this advice. Catastrophy! I had to go back to what I knew. A slight .005" crimp fixed the problem.

Make sure not to crimp the brass too much, or it will deform the boolit, and it will keyhole paper targets. (Tumble and not make clean, round, holes).

For FMJed boolits (like Hornady XTP's), you can crimp a little more.

As for the brass length, I wouldn't worry about it. Pistol brass (like .45 ACP) does not generate the pressures rifle rounds do - so case length is not too much of an issue here.

Now if you're talking about 9mm Major, or .38 Super Comp...well...that's a different animal. (Those pressures are super high)! I am not qualified (or knowledgable enough) to speak on those specific rounds.

Oh yea...one more thing. If you are using moly-coated boolits, make sure you place a nice bell on the case mouth. Some folks do not bell the case mouth enough, and when they seat the boolit, some of the moly-coating gets scraped off. This can cause massive lead fouling of your barrel...which can become dangerous if you do not clean your pistol too much. (It happened to a buddy of mine, and a few other shooters I know).

In Christ: Raymond