hello all, Im new here so first off hello. I've lurked for awhile and since I finnaly bought all my gear thought I would start posting, im new to reloading and really excited to get going on this new hobby.

Anyway I wanted to start with loads for my mini-14. But im debating weather I should crimp or not. The main purpose of the load is just for plinking, but I want it to be reliable and not have to worry about the oal changing. I would like to load allot of them for just stock pile ammo for shtf.

From the load books I have most of the ammo with the can for crimping in them is 55 grain so it limits the tinkering I can do to find the most accurate grain of bullet. So I would rather not crimp if I don't really need to. Anyone with experiance with loading for the mini have some advice for a newbie. Much thanks.

Also my mini is a 1 in 9 twist, any adive on what grain to try first if I don;t crimp.

I used to load for a mini-14. Mine had a 1-in-10 twist. I never dreamed of crimping and never had a problem. In fact, just try to pull the bullet out after loading and you will see what I mean. I used the slowest powder I could find for mine. My criteria was that I should get good velocity and a full case. The powder I chose was also good for my 303 Brit. The only problem was the slow powder gave it rather vigorous ejection which resulted in the occasional hang-up against the scope. Mine still had the spring loaded ejector pin. I solved that problem by fitting a gas port nipple with a smaller diameter hole. Faster powders gave crappy accuracy. I would suggest Varget as a good powder to start with. Oh yes, fit a buffer between the gas cylinder and the piston mount. I used a thick piece of leather. I think you can buy things like that now. When I was doing it, no-one believed me when I said it worked!

I just started reloading for an AR, and in the Serria manual, they commented that they didn't like to use a crimp unless the bullet is already set up for it.

They recommnend to increase the neck tension instead by sanding down the expander ball by 1 to 2 mil. I haven't done this yet.

I haven't noticed any movement of the bullet in the case in the ones still in the magazine, but I normally only put 5 to 8 rounds in anyway.