Another reloading question

B

Blake

New member
I'm starting to get the basics of reloading figured out and appreciate all the feedback. As I go forward, I will continue to post many questions here, some of them seemingly stupid. Although, it has been said, the only stupid question is the one not asked. Or was it, there are no stupid questions, only stupid people who ask questions? Anyway, is it necessary to crimp your bullet seats, i.e. lee factory crimp dies? What are the advantages vs. disadvantages? Thanks for the input.

Blake
 
I rarely crimp rifle rounds, though I regularly crimp pistol rounds to facilitate loading the cartridge. This is particularly important in autoloaders. I suppose that in hard-kicking rifles, crimping would keep the recoil for seating the bullets deeper in the cartridges in the magazine. I haven't had a problem with this in rifles up to .338 Win Mag, but have read (no personal experience) of it with heavier recoiling rifles in the .375 and up classes. In short, I've never felt the need to crimp, but if you get bored, try it and you might like it.

Dont' feel bad about asking questions - that's the best way to learn.
 
My understanding of crimping is when shooting auto's say like the AR's, was to prevent the bullet from going deeper into the case when the bullet hit the feed ramp during firing.

And this of course caused the pressures to go up in the case and cause some serious problems.

I don't crimp my rounds as I only shoot bolt rifles, never had a need to. I would if I shot reloads out of my AR or auto pistols but I don't.
 
Yes, I shoot an AR. Are you saying that there would be a benefit from crimping for shooting with an AR? One thing I have noticed is that occasionally, with white box Winchester 45 grain JHP from Wal-Mart, I'll get a round that won't chamber because the bullet was pushed back into the cartridge. Is this because those rounds aren't crimped? Thanks.

Blake
 
Blake, if your sizing die's expander ball is set up right, "bullet pull" can be enough to hold a bullet in place adequately for your AR. The crimp does help if the bullet doesn't fit very tight in the case and also helps the case mouth clear the magazine during the feed cycle. When I shot 3 Gun competitions I saw quite a few failures caused by not crimping/properly sizing over the years. As you mentioned bullet setback is possible with some factory loads (especially with some full GI 30 round mags). The mil spec calls for a crimp for reliability reasons. I crimp all my AR ammo with a Lee Factory Crimp die for this reason and use only bullets with a crimp groove. If loading match bullets without a groove I'd rely on proper sizing alone.
 
For safety,reliability,and uniform start pressures I would use the Factory Crimp Die along with full - length sizing of the brass for the AR.And a bullet with cannelure(crimp groove).

You can see + feel the die closing on the case while crimping and won`t buckle it using the FC die.

The down side of full length sizing is lubing the outside of the case and a little inside the case neck to prevent cases stuck in the die and exaggerated case length growth.You do not want a stuck case in a die early in your reloading career....for sure.

No matter what brand of dies you prefer,I would get a FC Die to use along with it.I use it even on bullets without a cannelure(70grVarmint Ballistic Tips) with satisfactory results at 200yds in my Ruger#1 in 243Win.Snugging this bullet in place with the FC die only helped the load with this long throated rifle.

In the end crimping for a bolt or single shot rifle is a debate that can only be solved by testing in individual rifles.
 
In many years of competition, I have never seen any higher level competitor crimp ammo. Thousands of people shoot the AR types in across-the-course matches. (The most popular type of competition.) I have never heard of anyone beyond a rank beginner crimping.

There is always the possibility of coming up with a better mouse trap, but doing what the winners do is much more likely to be successful.

Jack
 
I have never crimped a single round that I loaded for my AR. I have shot my share of rounds between IPSC, prarie dog, and just shooting for fun and have never had a failure to feed due to bullet set back.
Tuco
 
I too, have never crimped a round for my AR 223, and never had a problem, loading several thousand rounds over the years. The expander ball must not be too large or there would be problems, but if a tight neck fit is there, there should be no need to use one. Never crimped for bolt rifle action ammo either, and think that crimping often causes some variation because of even tiny differences in case length, causing the crimp to not be even from round to round.
 
I do crimp my cases but I always have. The few loads I have shoot very nice and I have no problems so why change?

If the guys on this board are telling you that you don't need to crimp for an AR believe them. They won't steer you wrong.

I started crimping my loads with a Lee Factory crimp die from day one. When I started loading for my AR I was told to crimp for an auto loader so I did.

I also load for .45/70 and use the Lee Factory crimp die for these loads too. Using the die really helped the accuracy of my ammo.
 
I forgot to add that I do crimp straight-wall cases, such as the 45-70, 44 mag, etc, and think they should be crimped,for ignition improvement with some powders, but also for tube magazines, and bullet jump in say the 44 mag. Bottle-necked cartridges Ive never needed too, regarless, if a proper undersize expander ball is used.
 
All my rifles are bolt actions, chambered for bottleneck cases so I've never found it necesary to crimp my reloads. I don't think many shooters crimp their loads today, although threre are situations where it is wise. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal
 
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