Another question about reloading

[G38xOC]

Im still waiting on my press/dies , as of now im reading lyman and crimping pistol case subject came up .

it seems most of reloaders taper crimp their pistol rounds for better seating i guess . which i dont have die for . if its really necessary i would purchase .

for now , I did have 4 different types of factory 45 ammo . winchest , federal , gold dot . and i have measured at two point on each ammo . it it appears it doesnt have any taper crimp . measurement shows same in two point . i measured at the mouth and bottom of the case . like ur measuring piston wall for taper wear .

I do want to follow the factory setting for a bit till i get little more experienced .but getting somewhat confused about if i need to taper crimp or not .

[Dark Mod]

Dude no one crimps .45, theres no reason to, so dont even worry about it. Even if you didnt have a factory crimp die, most bullet seating dies will apply a roll crimp. You only need to crimp levergun and revolver rounds

[G38xOC]

got cha ! thanks

[Southpaw45]

Dude no one crimps .45, theres no reason to, so dont even worry about it. Even if you didnt have a factory crimp die, most bullet seating dies will apply a roll crimp. You only need to crimp levergun and revolver rounds

Incorrect!! You need to crimp. Revolver ammo gets a roll crimp and auto ammo gets a tapered crimp. I assume your talking about .45ACP ammo. After you bell your case to aid in bullet seating, if you dont apply a tapered crimp, you will have FTF problems. Like mentioned, your standard seating die should be able to apply a proper crimp when adjusted properly. I personally like to take the extra step and apply the crimp separate from the bullet seating prosses. I like to use Lee factory crimp dies for the job. For .45ACP, I like to apply a crimp of .471 inches. Not to much because auto ammo head spaces on the rim of the case. For revolver ammo, I use just a strong roll crimp.

[Cowboy T]

Actually, markdoddridge is correct. Semi-auto rounds do not need a crimp. All you have to do is simply iron out the flaring and make the case straight. That is not a criimp. A crimp goes past just straightening the case mouth back out. However, some people prefer to "crimp" their bullets, and therefore with a semi-auto round, the maximum you should ever do is a light "taper crimp".

Regarding revolvers, I don't go beyond a medium crimp, even for Magnum-style rounds, to keep the brass in good shape for as long as possible. Light crimping happens on my powder-puff .38 Special round. Medium crimps go on my hotter rounds. Others may differ in their methods, and that's cool. But this is what works well for me.

[G38xOC]

^
I just read lee carbide die set and standard die will crimp slight taper to full roll . just not sure if slight taper will run without any FTF issues . once i get set up i will measure and come back and compare

[XDRoX]

Use your seating/crimping die to seat a bullet and completely remove the bell that you created with the expanding die. You don't need to go past removing the bell, it's not necessary and can hurt accuracy if you cut into the bullet.

After you make you first couple rounds pull them to see if you marked the bullet. If you did then you went to far. Slowly back off until you leave no mark. This way you know you have the optimal measurements.

Also, although all this sounds easy to do, it's not, especially for a newb. Seating/crimping dies are very hard to set for beginners. It's going to be the most difficult part of learning to reload.

Many experienced reloaders still don't know how to properly set them which is why Lee sells so many of those Factory Crimp Dies.

So be patient and if you know an experienced reloader ask for help. Once you do master the seating/crimping die you'll be much happier that you did.

[Fjold]

Do not roll crimp ammunition in non-rimmed rounds (45 ACP, 9mm, 40 S&W, etc) These cartridges headspace off the mouth of the case and a roll crimp will give you headspace issues. Use a light taper crimp if any.

Rimmed rounds like the 38 Sp, 357 magnun, 44 Mag, etc, headspace off the rim and you can roll crimp them all you want.

[Bill Steele]

As others have said, for .45ACP the crimp is a taper crimp which your bullet seating die will do for you when adjusted properly. You can buy a separate crimp die which makes die setup easier and in my opinion produces superior rounds, but certainly is not required. The Lee Factory Crimp Die is such a die, I prefer my Dillon crimp die for this, but again, it is not required. Redding also makes an inexpensive crimp die in .45ACP.

If you were loading, for say, .357 Magnum the crimp for that round (being a rimmed revolver round) is a roll crimp, again the bullet seating die has that crimp built in. If you were to buy a separate .357 Magnum crimp die, it will be a roll crimp.

If you start loading lead bullets in your .45ACP (like 200gr LSWC's), you may find setting your crimp a little more than just taking the belling out of the case will aid with feed issues. For many guns, setting your taper crimp so the case mouth measures in the .469 to .471 range when finished, will greatly aid in feeding. With jacketed .451" bullets, just taking the belling out with the crimp should work fine.

[huckberry668]

I tried everything when it comes to crimping on pistol rounds. Found out years ago while shooting competition that uniform case length for revolvers is very important to accuracy. It's impossible to set proper crimp with variable case lengths. Cases can differ by several 1000ths of an inch and you end up with inaccurate rounds.

I read somewhere 9x19 shoots best in a 1911 with .750" case length. The chamber depths are .752" to .753" on my guns so I selected .750" to make sure it fits snug and loads properly. Beretta chamber is not easily measured due to the recessed bolt face so I measured my 1911, Glock, a P226.

My Beretta 92 Brigadier never shot less than 2" groups at 25 yards even with the front barrel play removed. This less than 1" group was shot handheld rested on the bench aimed with laser @ 25 yards. Had a few more similar size groups later that night none larger than 1.5". The only change is uniform case length @ .750".



Load data:
* .750" +-.001" cases of mixed headstamps
* 4.8gr of HP38 (my favorite pistol powder)
* Zero 115 JHP
* .0001" crimp at the mouth.
* OAL 1.125"

[Southpaw45]

Actually, markdoddridge is correct. Semi-auto rounds do not need a crimp. All you have to do is simply iron out the flaring and make the case straight. That is not a criimp. A crimp goes past just straightening the case mouth back out. However, some people prefer to "crimp" their bullets, and therefore with a semi-auto round, the maximum you should ever do is a light "taper crimp".

Regarding revolvers, I don't go beyond a medium crimp, even for Magnum-style rounds, to keep the brass in good shape for as long as possible. Light crimping happens on my powder-puff .38 Special round. Medium crimps go on my hotter rounds. Others may differ in their methods, and that's cool. But this is what works well for me.

His answer was "no one crimps". I disagreed with that. I and all reloaders I know apply some type of crimp or like you say to just iron them out. Also depends on what type of bullet your using. I have pulled bullets on some factory Winchester .40 cal ammo and found that they applied a pretty tight taper crimp on there ammo. Tight enough to put a ring on the bullet. Like I said, I like using a Lee Factory Crimp Die. While this die get the ammo to spec, I found that it wont get the bell out of the case to my liking. I settled on a crimp of .471 on my .45ACP ammo and all the FTF problems that I was having were gone. This was a big topic on the 1911forum.com site at most reloaders agreed that some form of crimp is needed. Everybody is different. Thats just my two bits...

[Dark Mod]

His answer was "no one crimps". I disagreed with that. I and all reloaders I know apply some type of crimp or like you say to just iron them out. Also depends on what type of bullet your using. I have pulled bullets on some factory Winchester .40 cal ammo and found that they applied a pretty tight taper crimp on there ammo. Tight enough to put a ring on the bullet. Like I said, I like using a Lee Factory Crimp Die. While this die get the ammo to spec, I found that it wont get the bell out of the case to my liking. I settled on a crimp of .471 on my .45ACP ammo and all the FTF problems that I was having were gone. This was a big topic on the 1911forum.com site at most reloaders agreed that some form of crimp is needed. Everybody is different. Thats just my two bits...

Your right, i should have said that I personally dont crimp and i cant think of a good reason anyone would..

[GetBulletsandBrass]

This subjects is a topic that comes up for debate often, I see some guys no crimp and others who say crimp everything. Applying a crimp allows for a consistent powder burn.

For a long time I did not crimp my .45 rounds either, but always had some inconsistecies. Once I applied a crimp, alot of my problems went away as well. I had a conversation this past weekend at the Turlock gun show with a few customers. One gentleman was nearly up in arms over the whole crimp vs. no crimp conversation.

[Sub95]

only reason i crimp is because i dont want the bullet getting set back, yes i am rough with ammo.

[huckberry668]

The rules I follow:
1. Reliability first then decide crimp or not or how much.
2. Accuracy 2nd then decide crimp or not or how much.
3. If crimp, don't damage the bullet.
4. If no crimp, make sure the bell is iron out (friction crimp).
5. Don't crimp rifle bullets w/o cannelures.
6. Don't resize loaded rounds, which is why I had my Lee FCD sizing rings enlarged.