factory crimp die and coal

[earlcurtis67]

While using my Lee FCD i noticed it was reducing the coal by about .008", I set up the die as per the instructions and I'm only putting enough crimp to lightly mark the case, what gives? The bullets are hornady 130gn sst.
Also, does a canelured bullet even need to be crimped for a bolt action? I am new to reloading and am not sure how to proceed or just scrap crimping altogether......E

 

[jimbires]

you really don't need to crimp for a bolt action rifle , I don't .

 

[Sooner44]

Earl,

As Jim stated, you really don't need to crimp for a Bolt action, however if you are loading these for hunting purposes and the cartridges may see a little rough treatment (like I treat mine) and light crimp is not a bad idea. I'm sure you know what COAL you desire, so don't worry about crimping on the cannelure when seating for your desired COAL.
Regarding the change in OAL, I would suspect the action of the collet is causing this to happen, but I'm not sure on that one. I use the same die, when I crimp I have not noticed this change. I just "kiss" the brass with the Lee crimp die, with no real noticeable markings on the case mouth, a little pressure goes a long way on that die.
hope this helps, and maybe a more knowledgeable re-loader will chime in and have a better answer

 

[earlcurtis67]

rather than pull all the bullets and reseat, I reset my seating die and pushed all the bullets down to 3.221 from the original 3.230. I will not crimp any more for my bolt gun, at least untill i have some more experience.....E

 

[jimbires]

Earl , here is a page out of my Lyman reloading book , it talks about crimping . also notice in the picture how the neck can loose it's grip on the bullet when crimped . Jim

 

[Sooner44]

Yeah, I've read that before, yet wondered why all (or most) of the manufactures crimp factory rounds. I guess it's knowing where and how much that matters.

 

[jimbires]

we work trying to eliminate runout , and get consistent neck tension . crimping just throws that work away .

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Yeah, I've read that before, yet wondered why all (or most) of the manufactures crimp factory rounds. I guess it's knowing where and how much that matters.

Ive wondered this myself. I only assume they do it as a saftey precaution because they dont know what kind of rifle the rounds will be used in, how they will be stored or transported etc. I personally dont crimp my rifle rounds in my mind its just one more variable to control and more work. I only ever crimp straight cases that i use flat based bullets with to rid the case of the flare i put there to help start the bullet, and i do it as a seperate operation after seating the bullet because i feel its easy to set up and maintain consistency.

 

[Sooner44]

I don't crimp, as a general rule, either. I do mostly hunting and really I am not concerned with precision accuracy on 80% of what I reload. As long as I can shoot 1" at 100 yards, 2" at 200 yards I'm good with that performance for where I hunt, as most shots are well under 200 yards. I do lightly crimp most of my hunting cartridges and see very little change in POI from the uncrimped rounds at the distances I shoot, so it's no big deal to me. If I was shooting 600 yards, I would do things differently for sure.
Regarding factory crimped cartridges, they crimp to make sure the COAL remains constant and set-back does not occur, as they don't know how the cartridges will be handled by the end-user.

 

[earlcurtis67]

At the range today I shot the crimped loads, well most of them. Three rounds each of 43 up to 44.5 gns. they all shot very well with two cloverleafs. I also shot some 140 gn accubonds, also loaded with various powder charges, they were not crimped. Groups on both loads were very similar.
Not sure what all this means, but it sure didnt make a big difference. Im I gonna start crimmping everything? hec no! if I could have a consistant COAL after crimping then I might consider it at least on some hunting only ammo....E

 

[leebotx]

The Lee Factory Crimp Die applies a radial crimp by means of a collet. I use it to maintain consistent neck tension and see no increase in indicated total runnout.