Hey all,

I've been trolling this great forum for a while. It's helped me decide on which reloading machine to purchase (Dillon 550B will be here this week!). I have a question regarding .223 bullets for a semi-auto/gas rifle. Is it necessary to use cannelure bullets for this type of rifle? If not, would non-cannelure bullets still need to be crimped? The Lyman reloading book, volume 46 says cannelure only for semi-auto, but I have yet to read that anywhere else and haven't received my updated Lyman bible (volume 49). Thanks in advance!

Whether your bullets need crimping depends on how smoothly your auto feeds. Lots of autos are pretty rough and tend to knock the bullet around, thus need a crimp. Others feed as smoothly as your bolt rifle, making the crimp unnecessary. You have to discover which type auto you have by shooting several samples of uncrimped ammunition in it to see.

I avoid crimping, for a number of reasons I won't go into here, when at all possible.

Thanks for your input, Stonecreek! I'm ordering bullets and will get both types to determine which is necessary/best.