diderr
Well-Known Member
I'm going to start hand loading a 44 rem mag soon, and I was wondering if I should crimp it. What are the benefits of crimping?
diderr,
Do you have a copy of the Winchester reloading guide?
It gives you all the reasons you NEED to crimp the 44 mag.
I have a Rossi Puma in 44 mag,and I use Win 296 exclusively.The guide tells you that you MUST apply a heavy crimp when using this powder.
It would take too long for me to explain here,but if you don't apply a heavy crimp,a roll crimp by the way,you may get 'squib' loads,which is DANGEROUS.
Quite a few reloading manuals have explanations on this.
MagnumManiac
gun)
That makes sense, thanks for your help.Diderr,
In a word, yes. With revolvers it is recommended that you crimp. A revolver's recoil causes the bullets to move out, sort of an inertial bullet puller. A more important reason for a firm crimp is to supply enough resistance to get the powder well ignited before it (bullet)starts to move. A uniform start pressure is even more important with handgun ammo. Benefits? safety first, accurate, dependable ammo next.
I've been loading revolver/pistol ammo all week. Monday night was .45 Colt night, Tuesday was .45 ACP. Today I started prepping my .44 Mag brass. Will start loading them tomorrow night (Wednesday night is church night). I'll be packing 24.0gn of W296 with 240gn Hornady HP/XTP's. Holler if ya need anything else. JohnnyK.