Hey guys- I have been perusing the old threads on here and found a couple regarding crimping bullets in magnum cartridges. I am asking this question in reference to a Browning lever gun in 30-06 and a bolt gun in 300 H&H. Has anyone done any specific experimenting with roll crimping bullets with the attachment provided in the RCBS dies? I read one reply that stated they were so variable that it was worse than not crimping at all. I just loaded some 180 Hornadys in my 300 and crimped them, but have not shot them yet. I know that crimping is supposed to create more uniform pressure curves between rounds, thus producing tighter groups. What do you guys think?

[ 10-10-2003, 20:33: Message edited by: Wyocowboyshooter ]

Wyo - Many years ago I used to try to put some sort of crimp on my /06 ammo and doing a Roll Crimp you can run into some noticible inconsistencies if you vary brass mfgr's and if your cases are all sorts of different lengths etc.
Was any of this worth the trouble or necessary. Not IMHO.

And certainly both the /06 & H&H have enough neck on the case to hold the bullet firmly without crimping.

Bottom line, this is a non-issue in my mind for you. Not worth your time and trouble.

The only kind of crimping I do any of these days is with Lee factory crimp dies. They are far less affected by the things that drive roll crimp dies crazy. Unfortunately they don't make them for every cartridge.

Hope some of this helps with your questions.

[ 10-10-2003, 21:53: Message edited by: Pecos45 ]

I'm the guy who made that statement. The reason is that the amount of crimp is controlled by the length of the case, so very slight case-to-case variations will make very different amounts of crimp. Also, in adjusting the dies, the distance from the case holder to the die is critical. If you're making any small adjustments in the die position you're also adjusting the crimp. It's a bit tricky to get it set just right and to repeat the setting if you've taken the die out of the press. The Factory Crimp Die is a lot easier to set up and gives very repeatable results, with slight case length variations producing little effect on the crimp.

I don't own any Lee Precision stock or anything, I just like those dies.

I agree with you N.R. I'm not a fan of roll crimp at all.