Who crimps their bullets in the case?

[Old Rooster]

There have been several accidents over the years after the first shell is fired and at that point the bullet in the case in the magazine slips rearward into the case against the powder and unknown to the shooter it gets shot and causes way too much pressure and damage to the firearm and possibly to the shooter.
Would crimping the bullet stop this?
If you don't crimp what would stop this problem?
I went back many years and can't find a thread that confronts this.
Old Rooster

 

[Rich Coyle]

I crimp my .375.

 

[SilverbulletMAG]

I crimp more often than not...regardless of rifle or caliber. Lots of good info out there on the Lee factory crimp die and why you may want to do this.

 

[J E Custom]

Crimping was/is important when using tubular magazines and any bullet that has a point. That's why most ammo for this type of firearm has flat point bullets. There are new bullets with polymer tips that should prevent this from happening. pointed bullets sometimes set off other rounds from striking the primer during recoil.

The old double rifles and dangerous game rifles that have heavy recoil were also bad about bullet movement from the recoil of preceding shots, so they crimped all their loads for safety. In this scenario, the bullets move forward and in bolt rifles could prevent the longer round from being chambered. the double rifles would jam the bullet into the lands causing an over pressure situation.

The tool of choice at the time was a set of pliers with a bump on one jaw and after loading this would be used to dent the case into the bullet locking it in place.

Crimping in to cannelures came along later and did a better job of crimping and improving accuracy. Cannelure's are not as popular as they used to be and finding bullets with cannelure's is getting more and more difficult. With some slow burning powders, a cannelure can help get better burn caricaturists.

I still like to crimp some of my magnums but not to lock the bullet down but to improve the powder burn and accuracy.

J E CUSTOM

 

[codyadams]

I crimp anything shot in my AR-15/10's, and anything shot in tubular magazines or revolvers. Pretty much what I don't crimp for is my bolt rifles/precision rifles, or my non rimmed pistol rounds (.40 s&w, 9mm, 45 acp, 10mm, etc.) as they headspace on the case mouth, I use a factory crimp die on them that doesn't actually curl the case mouth into a cannelure. If I had a hard recoiling Safari type rifle shooting big heavy bullets, I would crimp them too. I have loaded for a .338 NM that is 11.5 lbs all up, but it has a very efficient brake and I haven't noticed any bullet movement with .0015" neck tension, and I am about to start working on my personal 9.1 lb all up .338 NM, and hope to have the same results.

 

[rsmithsr]

fix the problem
if no problem, move on
use proper neck tension
( you never mentioned YOUR GUN)
no details ,hard to fix

 

[Don A Parsons]

Yes,,, I work with neck tension,,, mind you I only shot non magnum standard cartridges...

Non compressed loads,,,.it is wize to check the OAL with the Vernier calipers once in a while...

Just to make sure...

If you don't feel 100% confident in your reloading process,,, then it might be wize to crimp... Each shooter gets to pick and choose what works for them...

Cheers from the North

 

[aushunter1]

fix the problem
if no problem, move on
use proper neck tension
( you never mentioned YOUR GUN)
no details ,hard to fix

I was going to ask the OP what his measured neck tension was??

If you have the correct tension then imo you shouldn't need to crimp.

I agree totally with the rest of the other comments but the OP also does not mention the magazine type, tube magazine then yes crimp.

Crimping changes the load characteristics as well with more pressure, sometimes it has an positive affect in group size but not always.

I load for a 300wsm & do not crimps, no issue with a detachable magazine.

 

[RetiredSniper]

There have been several accidents over the years after the first shell is fired and at that point the bullet in the case in the magazine slips rearward into the case against the powder and unknown to the shooter it gets shot and causes way too much pressure and damage to the firearm and possibly to the shooter.
Would crimping the bullet stop this?
If you don't crimp what would stop this problem?
I went back many years and can't find a thread that confronts this.
Old Rooster

I crimp every round in all my reloads from handgun through rifle !

 

[RT2506]

I have been a hand loader for 40 years and here is what I have learned. This has to do with the Lee Factory Crimp Die mostly. In my "precision" bolt rifles I do not crimp. I have no really heavy recoiling calibers and I believe I have the proper neck tension because of no problems with bullet movement and accuracy.

Here is what I have found with most of the old military bolt rifles that I have collected. Many have throats that are a mile long because many were designed to use long RN bullets. By using the Lee Factory Crimp Die in these loads it has greatly increased the accuracy of loads over those that are not crimped. You can use the Lee Factory Crimp Die with ANY bullet, it does not have to have a cannelure.

In semi-auto rifles I have seen no adverse results by using the Lee Factory Crimp Die just putting a medium to light crimp but depending on the rifle I have seen some increase in accuracy by using it. So I crimp all my semi-auto ammo.

Always crimp all revolver rounds. As has been mentioned powders like H110/WW296, Bluedot, 2400 need bullets crimped to get a good burn.

With pistol rounds to be used in semi-auto always use a taper crimp or better yet I have found that the Lee Factory Crimp Die made for semi-auto pistol calibers works best. It puts the proper taper crimp as well as makes sure that the whole case is sized within specks.

 

[Boomhauer]

I also crimp all my loads, handgun and rifle.

 

[RetiredSniper]

I have been a hand loader for 40 years and here is what I have learned. This has to do with the Lee Factory Crimp Die mostly. In my "precision" bolt rifles I do not crimp. I have no really heavy recoiling calibers and I believe I have the proper neck tension because of no problems with bullet movement and accuracy.

Here is what I have found with most of the old military bolt rifles that I have collected. Many have throats that are a mile long because many were designed to use long RN bullets. By using the Lee Factory Crimp Die in these loads it has greatly increased the accuracy of loads over those that are not crimped. You can use the Lee Factory Crimp Die with ANY bullet, it does not have to have a cannelure.

In semi-auto rifles I have seen no adverse results by using the Lee Factory Crimp Die just putting a medium to light crimp but depending on the rifle I have seen some increase in accuracy by using it. So I crimp all my semi-auto ammo.

Always crimp all revolver rounds. As has been mentioned powders like H110/WW296, Bluedot, 2400 need bullets crimped to get a good burn.

With pistol rounds to be used in semi-auto always use a taper crimp or better yet I have found that the Lee Factory Crimp Die made for semi-auto pistol calibers works best. It puts the proper taper crimp as well as makes sure that the whole case is sized within specks.

YES! I too taper crimp semi auto pistol round. They feed better and function more reliably!

 

[azarcher10x]

I crimp all my 300 RUM loads with a Lee factory crimp die. It does help with accuracy. I think it helps by making the neck a little bit more concentric, even when everything else has been done as well.

 

[new2mud]

I'd be curious to see if others have seen an increase in accuracy using Lee Factory Crimp Dies specifically in their LR hunting/target bolt rifles.

Specifically, if one is not using bushing dies, does the Lee FCD help improve accuracy over, say, FL sizing alone?