Samson:
No Crimping necessary. This is what I do to work up a load from scratch:
1) Start by arbitrarily selecting a bullet that fills your general needs as Gorski has advised. Arbritrarily select the type of powder your would like to work up & arbitrarily select a primer & Case.
2) I start with at least 200 identical cases (manufacture, # of times fired, ect). I then size and trim them all to uniformity in an attempt to eliminate one variable.
4) I prime 100 of the cases with the same primer, thereby eliminating a second variable.
3) I then review published load data. You will find most all published data will provide you a minimum charge and maximum charge for your cartridge, bullet weight & primer. I start with a charge at approx 1/3 of the way between min & max. & charge 50 of your primed, sized cases with the same charge, thereby eliminating a third variable.
3) I then seat seven separate strings of five cartridges varying the overall cartridge length. Maximum length should be approx. 0.020" off lands. You might want to purchase a Stoney Point Gage to accurately know this dimension. (Keep in mind that sometimes a rifle will chamber a cartridge that is too long for your magazine. If so, you have a decision whether or not you like a single shot rifle or not?)I very the depth by shortening each string by a fixed amount such as 0.005" per string.
4) You then have 35 loaded cartridges. The remaining 15 cases I load as 'Foulers' and I am not concerned with uniformity of these foulers as they are not recorded at the range anyway.
5) Next I load up my goodies and head to the range. I shoot 3 foulers then the first string of 5, clean the gun, shoot 2 foulers and the second string of 5, ect.
6) I pick the OAL and with the best five shot grouping (optimal) then repeat the loading process verying charge, working my way up from minimum to maximum.
7) After I have found the optimal OAL & charge, I very the primer types.
8) I then make suttle changes to each to fine tune the load.
Obviousely the trick is to keep all but one variable constant in an effort to find the optimal. Its a long process, but it gives you plenty of chances to shoot which is ultimately the goal.
