Who crimps their bullets in the case?

[memtb]

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 my handguns when using heavy Bullets with magnum charges. I've never crimped rifle cartridges,except with cast bullets. But then, almost all of my rifle loads are "compressed" loads.....nowhere for the bullet to go.

I did at one time experience extreme tip "flattening" using cup and core bullets in my .375 AI, by being "battered" while in the magazine. Problem resolved with mono's! memtb

 

[Greyfox]

I crimp with most all my straight walled handgun, tubular lever rifles, most loads for my AR15's, and my big bore DGR's. I do not crimp my bottle necked cartridges used for precision competition or LRH.

 

[new2mud]

I crimp my handguns when using heavy Bullets with magnum charges. I've never crimped rifle cartridges,except with cast bullets. But then, almost all of my rifle loads are "compressed" loads.....nowhere for the bullet to go.

Some would claim that compressed loads create opportunity for the bullet to actually work its way out slightly, and therefore crimp for that (opposite) purpose. Haven't seen it personally.

 

[Rich Coyle]

Some would claim that compressed loads create opportunity for the bullet to actually work its way out slightly, and therefore crimp for that (opposite) purpose. Haven't seen it personally.

Most certainly I have. When my hunting tool was a Freedom Arms .454 the bullets would slide forward until Dick Cassul told me to crimp in a second press. I had to move quickly otherwise the bullets would move before I could crimp them. Worked!

My favorite load was a 240 grain Freedom Arms bullet at 2,014 feet per second.

 

[ButterBean]

If you do a search for WildRose you'll find that few of us have done a bunch of testing in hunting rifles and the crimped loads always shot better

 

[Old Rooster]

Man I got a bunch of experienced shooters giving great advice.
I LOVE THIS SITE!

 

[ButterBean]

Man I got a bunch of experienced shooters giving great advice.
I LOVE THIS SITE!

The Lee Factory crimp Die is as useful of a tuning tool as anything on you bench , if your interested I will tell you how i use it

 

[ButterBean]

Reduced accuracy when using Lee FCD or other crimp dies?

I have never had any reduced accuracy using the Lee FCD ever, It is a tune able and very useful tool in load development

 

[milo-2]

Of coarse pistol rds, tube fed rds, and some semi auto rifle rds should be crimped. but even on AR 15 rds adding neck tension will about eliminate any issues. That is if there is no feeding issues, if the rifle is a jammo-matic, maybe you ought to look into a crimp, or try a different magazine.
Most premium rifle cartridge seating dies today do not even offer a crimp feature, there was some thought that went into that decision.
I think one of the keys to reloading is to realize one size does not fit all, for every bolt action rifle that may need a crimp, there are 5 or most likely way more that will never benefit from a crimp if some effort went into load development.
I am positive there are some guys in this conversation that know and understand interior ballistics and make crimps work for themselves. But in my experience being around reloaders who rely on crimps, they seem to be trying to equalize pressures that could have been achieved using less invasive means.
If you have a rifle that is not living up to your expectations, and feel you've done all you can, buy a crimp die and run a test, you are the only that can make the assessment if it worked.

 

[new2mud]

The Lee Factory crimp Die is as useful of a tuning tool as anything on you bench , if your interested I will tell you how i use it

I, for one, would be greatly interested in how you tune loads using Lee FCD, and how you ensure consistency in crimp pressure in testing.

 

[436]

I, for one, would be greatly interested in how you tune loads using Lee FCD, and how you ensure consistency in crimp pressure in testing.

The LCD pretty much does all the work, just set if for the tension you'd like.

 

[ButterBean]

I, for one, would be greatly interested in how you tune loads using Lee FCD, and how you ensure consistency in crimp pressure in testing.

The LEE FCD is adjustable, it comes with set up instructions and they work fine but i have found this a very effective tuning tool,This is my procedure, work up a load as you always do Brass Prep, powder, charge weight and seating depth, once you have this established set your die up and loosen til you just have a few threads left, raise a loaded round as if you were gonna crimp it and screw the die down until it touches, take a fine point Sharpie and mark both the Die and the Press, lower the round and turn the die in about 1/16th or so lock the die crimp 5 rounds shoot and compare ( you wont see any indication of a crimp but i assure you if you try to pull that bullet that it did) and then just keep increasing pressure on the Die in small increments until you find the sweet spot. This is my final step in Load Development, I am not a competition shooter by any means and I have never claimed to be. This has been discussed a million times but I will say again that I personally have never seen a load that i loaded that did not respond to FCD, Some more than others but that's another story

 

[Old Rooster]

ButterBean I looked up wildrose and read all posts.Great information.
As I mentioned I use a Lee Factory Crimp Die for lever action guns except my 358 BLR since it's a magazine lever and never had a problem with receding bullets into the case but I always have around .001 neck tension as that's the size of the bushing I use.
I also enjoyed your way of tuning a load and I will try it.I own a few and ordered more for the calibers I did not have one in.
Using all you guys and gals information pool,is it possible for a well used case to loose it's neck tension and possibly allow the bullet to recede into the case with recoil as it gets older and super well used?
I have positive neck tension but fear that using well worn and well used brass the ability of the case to retain positive neck tension is my concern.
I don't own as many rifles as I used to own but don't want to ruin any of my rifles like the guy I mentioned.
Again thanks for ALL your help on this matter.
Old Rooster

 

[ButterBean]

ButterBean I looked up wildrose and read all posts.Great information.
As I mentioned I use a Lee Factory Crimp Die for lever action guns except my 358 BLR since it's a magazine lever and never had a problem with receding bullets into the case but I always have around .001 neck tension as that's the size of the bushing I use.
I also enjoyed your way of tuning a load and I will try it.I own a few and ordered more for the calibers I did not have one in.
Using all you guys and gals information pool,is it possible for a well used case to loose it's neck tension and possibly allow the bullet to recede into the case with recoil as it gets older and super well used?
I have positive neck tension but fear that using well worn and well used brass the ability of the case to retain positive neck tension is my concern.
I don't own as many rifles as I used to own but don't want to ruin any of my rifles like the guy I mentioned.
Again thanks for ALL your help on this matter.
Old Rooster

Bras will lose neck tension to an extent If you don't anneal