to crimp or not to crimp

L

leadchucker

Guest
good day all:
i was just sitting here reloading some .222 rem cartridges for my rem m788( timney trigger,frefloated barrel,bushnell elite)and was wondering if i would get more accuracy if i crimped the round.
20 gr h4198,50gr hornady spsx.

any ideas ??

thanks Z
 
You will not....

leadchucker said:
good day all:
i was just sitting here reloading some .222 rem cartridges for my rem m788( timney trigger,frefloated barrel,bushnell elite)and was wondering if i would get more accuracy if i crimped the round

thanks Z
Click to expand...

In my opinion, you will not realize any accuracy advantage by crimping your loads. Some factory ammunition is crimped to maintain overall length in a variety of different manufactured rifles or pistols.

Reloaded ammunition is loaded for a specific rifle where the chamber and throat characteristics are known, derive no advantage when crimped. Now, if one is reloading for a tube magazine rifle such as the lever action Winchesters or Marlins, then it may be a good idea to crimp the load. Not much accuracy requirement here.

virg
 
Last edited:
99.9% of the time the answer is no. Think of the near impossibility of getting a even neck tension and while the crimp will keep the bullet from moving forward or backward, it loosens the neck and lets the bullet wobble from side to side.
 
Crimped bullet

None, nil, zilch............

Very well get accuracy drop off.......

cale
 
Crimping

With one rare exception, ( the Sierra 22 cal. 77 gr. #9378), I don't believe you will find any, or very few other match grade bullets that include a crimping cannalure groove: a solution to a non-existant problem. I've loaded thousands of rounds for my ARs' & close to a thousand for my M1 Garand, not a single crimp has ever been applied. Fired in hundreds of NRA Hi Power & CMP matches, and have never had an ammunition related alibi. Listened to the "experts" tell me years ago when I first started loading for semi-autos that "You gotta crimp", never did and the 223 crimp die remains unused to this day. So much for what the self-appointed "experts" know. In addition to all that, as stated above, it will certainly not help in the accuracy department. Fagetaboudit!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't know of any mass produced seating dies for rifle, that does not do a friction crimp?

If you are looking for a die to do a roll crimp, I don't know of a die that you can buy outside of a profile die that will do this? Normally this kind of question is talked about by cast bullet shooters and lever action rifles.

For someone shooting from a bench, we look for what can only be described as and interference fit. This is control by neck diameter, and neck ring bushings.


As stated by all the other posters, generally the less or least neck tension is best. But this only applies to to certain types of rifle actions.
 
Didn't work for me...

I tried it probably 12 or so years ago with some Speer bullets in 30 cal. Their bullet at that time was soft enough that I put a reasonably good ring/dent in the jacket. Long range accuracy would have been better had I just thrown the bullets. But your experience may differ.
 
NO to crimping......but I would play with seating depth.
For me a generous bullet jump +/- .060 has worked well with the .22 cals.

Wasn't there a brouhaha several years ago when Speer advocated crimping all their bullets, and there was an ongoing ad war with Hornady over the "virtues" of crimping?
 
Last edited:
LHSmith said:
NO to crimping......but I would play with seating depth.
For me a generous bullet jump +/- .060 has worked well with the .22 cals.

Wasn't there a brouhaha several years ago when Speer advocated crimping all their bullets, and there was an ongoing ad war with Hornady over the "virtues" of crimping?
Click to expand...


I believe you`re refering to Speers statment that a Lee "Factory Crimp Die" was detrimental to accuracy if used on a un-cannalured bullet. The war seems to be still going in some circles.
Lee users swear Speer knows nothing of their bullets and others don`t believe a crimp helps..


From Speers web site....http://www.speer-bullets.com/reloading/reloading_faq.aspx

Q.
I bought a reloading die set and there’s a note with the dies that says something like, “Speer does not recommend using their bullets with these dies.” What’s the deal?

A.
Speer never made such a broad recommendation. Speer’s recommendation is: Do not apply a crimp to any bullet that does not have a crimp groove. The die company in question markets a die to produce a “factory crimp” and recommends it be used on any bullet. Speer’s tests, and those by another bullet maker and an independent gun writer, show that crimping a bullet that doesn’t have a crimp groove degrades group size by an average of 40 percent. Other than the crimp die, we have no problem with our bullets in that firm’s dies, although our preference is for RCBS® products.
We express ours thanks to the die maker for allowing us to make contact with so many new SPEER customers.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
I roll crimp 41 magnum for H110 loads in revolver. You get a better burn and more consistent performance. I also roll crimp 30-30 in Marlin lever gun. I recommend crimping these for revolvers and lever guns.

I taper crimp 45 ACP, and it I loaded other semi-auto pistol, I would taper crimp them as well. I recommend taper crimping whenever feeding is an issue.

I started using Lee dies with dead length seater die (no crimp), then RCBS and Redding with crimp. The no-crimp die is easier to setup.

Everything else has no crimp and no post-seating bullet-sizing.

FMJ and some of the match bullets in .223 have a cannelure, but not necessary to roll crimp for most scenarios. Military ammo is crimped in neck and primer pocket and sealant is used. Sealant is similar to finger nail polish, Brownell's sells it.

Lee promotes their "factory crimp" dies as increasing accuracy.
 
Do some experimenting in your rifle.
What works for one rifle may not work in another rifle of the same make and model.
That said, I only crimp in tubular feed rifles and hanguns. Roll crimp on cannelured bullets and taper crimp on non-cannelured bullets.
 
good day all:
thank you all for your input and after carfully reading all of your replies.
i will not crimp.

thanks Z
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top