I can't seem to get a good crimp on a 30-30. The bullet seating depth is fine � right to the center of the cannelure. But when I try to add more crimp, the shoulder starts to crush.

Suggestions?

kk

Do yourself a favor. Buy a Lee Factory Crimp die for any rifle caliber you intend to load and crimp the case. Best $$$ you will spend and it won't crush the shoulder...ever!

Let me offer some help so that you might continue with your present equipment. The Lee die is very good, but you may be able to make do as-is.

First is that all crimping dies are not created equal, not by a long shot. Some crimping dies, such as those included with regular die sets have dimensions that are suited to a wide variety of components, sometimes too wide for yours. Your batch of cases could be weak or over annealed and soft in the shoulder.

Second is that case mouths must be dead square and even all the way around. If they are not, uneven crimping is assured. By all means put a proper chamfer on the inside and deburr the outside. Pay attention so that you do not do any more than deburr on the outside. Just remove the burr, do not chamfer the outside. You can tell when enuff is enuff by scraping a fingernail across the area.

Third is that a crimp die can only apply so much crimp without buckling the case, in any event. Certain designs are made to get around this, like the Lee or the Redding Pro-Crimp die. In addition, you do not need to crimp the daylights out of every load for every rifle. Only certain conditions warrant a really heavy crimp(like loading for a tubular magazine rifle).

Get a rotary case trimmer, like a Forster or Wilson and make all your case mouths dead square and even and all the same length. Length variations can kill you, too.

Seat your bullets so the case mouth extends a little over half way, beyond the center of the cannelure. That will give you more "lip" to use for a crimp. Experiment a little, eventually you will find the right amount for your setup. It will allow you to push more case into the cannelure. Sometimes it needs to be shorter ,too.

Experiment with screwing your die down a little at a time. Back your seating stem off and start with a sized and loaded shell that has a bullet seated to the proper depth. Put the shell in the shell holder and screw the crimping die down onto it, a little at a time. When the die first starts to just barely touch the case mouth is a good starting point. Don't screw it down to the shell holder, all the way. Then advance the crimp, a little at a time until you have your desired effect, otherwise start over with a slightly different seating depth and try again.

Eventually this whole wretched mess will begin to make sense. Then, if you are observant, you can tell what is needed.

Once you have your desired crimp, leave the shell in the die and set the lock ring so the die adjusment is permanent. Then screw the bullet seating plug back down onto the bullet and set the lock ring.

From then on, you should be able to seat and crimp in one operation.

Hope this helps.

kk - Kentucky is dead on the money. Just cut to the chase and get yourself an inexpensive Lee factory crip die.

30/30 cases are a pain to crimp otherwise. It seems no two cases are the same length or thickness and thus no two crimps come out the same.

However, my brief adventures with the 30/30 have pretty well convinced me that crimping is really unnecessary with most bullets. Especially cast bullets. I've shot a lot of them and never crimped and never had a bullet seating problem. That old LONG 30/30 neck has to be good for something!

Good luck.

kk, all cases must be trimmed to exactly the same length to crimp in regular dies. 243inxb

kk;
I find that 30-30 is a pain in the --- to load because they crush so easily!
I load quite a bit of 30-30 and I have started seating and crimping in SEPARATE steps!
This works a lot better!
NOTE: Trim length is quite critical with the 30-30!

Good luck; Chuck