I am new to reloading. I shoot Cowboy guns in .38sp (rev. and rifle)and .32hr(rev. only). My gunshop sold me Redding Profile Crimp dies in lieu of roll crimp. I have read various post and see that some prefer profile crimp vs roll crimp. Two questions (1) Is profile any better, worse, same as roll? (2) How do I tell I have crimped the casing enough? At least on roll you can see it.

Much Obliged

You probably won't need much beyond a light crimp for most cowboy loads in either gun. A moderate crimp might be better for the rounds used in the rifle. Most reloading manuals have some pictures to show what the crimp should look like. If you are crimping so hard that the round really "sticks" in the die, then you are probably maxing it out.

I don't know that one style of crimp die is better than another. Whatever your guns shoot better is probably the best.

Experiment with increasing levels of crimp to see if this reduces the variation in velocity of your loads. This sometimes works and could help accuracy.

BTW, Welcome to the boards!

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I know the next rifle will be perfect.......

I have both the Redding Profile Crimp dies and Lee Factory Crimp dies. I would recommend for your purpose going with the Lee factory crimp dies. They are less expensive and work great. Your rounds end up looking like factory rounds, really!

Reddings profile crimp die does apply a roll crimp. The die is also much tighter around the case than most other roll crimp dies, preventing the case from bulging around the bullet - but you can still buckle the case if the die is not adjusted correctly. Some refer to this as putting a taper crimp and a roll crimp on the case in one operation. You do need to have the bullet already seated before you can use the profile crimp die.
I use these dies exclusively, and I'm very happy with them. One loading session I was working up loads in Lil' Gun for my 41 Magnums, and somehow missed getting powder into 4 cases. When fired the primers (WLP's) backed out and locked up my Redhawk, but the bullets never moved. Saved me from getting a bullet stuck in the barrel, the usual ending to this reloading mistake.

I recently bought Profile crimp dies for 32 H&R and 41 Mag and have only used them a few times. Redding suggests lubing every 4th or 5th round; does anyone do this? I really like the results so far. For wadcutters in the 32, I only use the taper part of the crimp which irons out the belled mouth much better than the standard roll crimp and provides sufficient grip.

What I don't like about the profile crimp is that is leaves the mouth of the case as a straight sharp edge unlike the rool crimp which turns the mouth of the case inward. When I put profile crimp cartridges in the revolver cylinder the case "grabs" on the edge of the mouth. Also when feeding into my MArlin I don't like the thought of that sharp edge always scratching the loading gate.
Unless I am doing something terribly wrong I believe I'll order Lee's crimp die.

Much Obliged