I'm new to reloading and my hornady set says to turn in 1/16 to 1/8 turns until desired crimp. How do I know when I have a good crimp??

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Originally posted by jwamp82:
I'm new to reloading and my hornady set says to turn in 1/16 to 1/8 turns until desired crimp. How do I know when I have a good crimp??

Are you loading rifle or handgun ammo? Generally speaking, rifle ammo does not need to be crimped, however, there are exceptions. For handgun ammo, I like Lee's taper crimp dies.

I'm loading hunting rifles.

300 wsm, 7 wsm, 243 wssm, 223, 300 win mag, all bolt action model 70

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300 wsm, 7 wsm, 243 wssm, 223, 300 win mag, all bolt action model 70

I would never crimp any of those round even if the bullet had a grove to allow it. Back the die off so it doesn't touch the brass and then adjust the seater to give you the OAL you need.

I don't crimp those calibers at all. I do use a very light crimp on the real big bore double rifles and on a few very large caliber bolt gun calibers that tend to bump bullets back in the case. A light crimp and a near full case of powder cures this in the big bores.

Great to know. Every book I've read said it's a must to crimp hunting loads. It's good to find out from actual people not some author who got it out of another book

To answer your original question, measure the OAL of 4-5 rounds, load your weapon (either rifle or handgun), shoot 2-3 rounds, then unload and remeasure the OAL of the unfired rounds. If your OAL hasn't changed, your crimp is good. BTW, Capstick told a story in "Death In The Long Grass" of when he was culling elephants, shooting a .458 WM, IIRC. He had fired several rounds from a full magazine, re-loaded, fired some more, then finally had a misfire on one of the last rounds. They were factory .458 WM ammo. Apparently, the ones left in the bottom of the mag, after firing 4-5-6 rounds, had starting shifting the bullets out of the remaining rounds. Not a good thing with elephants charging...

I've never hunted DG, but if I were to, and were loading my own rounds, I would make damn sure I had a good crimp on my loads using the method above.

Food for thought. BTW, I've never crimped rifle rounds that were used for deer/elk hunting....

MKane160

If all you have are the standard roll crimp/seating die as provided in a normal RCBS die set, for example, then trying to crimp smooth bullets will most likely just result in buckled shoulders. The Lee Factory Crimp die is a better solution, whether the bullet has a crimping groove or not. With that tool at least you can get consistant crimps, however light, with less risk bulging shoulders or buckled cases.

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Originally posted by Wink:
If all you have are the standard roll crimp/seating die as provided in a normal RCBS die set, for example, then trying to crimp smooth bullets will most likely just result in buckled shoulders. The Lee Factory Crimp die is a better solution, whether the bullet has a crimping groove or not. With that tool at least you can get consistant crimps, however light, with less risk bulging shoulders or buckled cases.

I crimp everything I load with the Lee Factory Crimp Die

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Originally posted by tsturm:

quote:

Originally posted by Wink:
If all you have are the standard roll crimp/seating die as provided in a normal RCBS die set, for example, then trying to crimp smooth bullets will most likely just result in buckled shoulders. The Lee Factory Crimp die is a better solution, whether the bullet has a crimping groove or not. With that tool at least you can get consistant crimps, however light, with less risk bulging shoulders or buckled cases.

I crimp everything I load with the Lee Factory Crimp Die

+1