CRIMP OR NOT

[shoot57]

In a conversation with a friend yesterday i mentioned that i crimped my reloads,he was very shocked that i did and said he knows of nobody that crimps varmint loads so just had a read of my lee reloading book and the author seems to say he is a great believer in crimping, i use hornaday v max and nos ballistic tips, none of which have crimping grooves in them, WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK, AM I RIGHT OR WRONG ?

[PAULT]

In a conversation with a friend yesterday i mentioned that i crimped my reloads,he was very shocked that i did and said he knows of nobody that crimps varmint loads so just had a read of my lee reloading book and the author seems to say he is a great believer in crimping, i use hornaday v max and nos ballistic tips, none of which have crimping grooves in them, WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK, AM I RIGHT OR WRONG ?

I dont crimp no need.

[phaedra1106]

I use the Lee factory crimp on .308 168g A-Max and it certainly improves things with my setup.

[CZ550Kevlar]

I don`t crimp on Varmint loads but i do crimp on target loads, just the way i was taught.

[Shootingman]

I reload .22/250 for fox & .308 for deer & I crimp both.When taught to reload that's what I was shown.

[shoot57]

forgot to say that i also use the lee factory crimp, my friend thought that i would be reaching high pressures but i have never seen any signs of this

[Harnser]

Its a matter of choice . I have always ,but always crimped every round that I have loaded ,rifle or pistol . Crimping will give you uniform neck tension and will hold the burn back a Milli second or to to give you a better combustion . Rounds loaded into a mag of a sporting rifle can be loaded and unloaded a number of times before being fired . Crimping will hold the bullets in tighter and stop them getting loose with the type of handling that they may have to put up with . You can crimp any bullet with or without a crimping grove . Believe me no crimping grove will be apparent on the bullet after it has gone through the barrel . I have tested load after load crimped and uncrimped and crimping definitely aids accuracy . The lee factory crimp die is as good as it gets .

 

Harnser .

[shoot57]

glad to hear you say that harnesser, because part of the reason i crimp is that i do lots of foxing from a vehicle and it dosnt feel right to me to have a loaded rifle in the vehicle with the safety on , so if i cock the rifle and don't shoot i then take the round out and as you know this may happen several times

[Vince Green]

I have seen articles on crimping in various magazines over the years. Its inconclusive, some loads are better for it, some are better without. Across all the zillions of different combinations of calibres, bullets and powders frankly you might as well flip a coin.

One thing seems clear though, heavy crimps are generally not so good but even that does not apply in every instance.

 

You could say that if you absolutely don't need a crimp the neck tension might be a bit too heavy. For safety I alway put a light crimp on just to make sure the bullet doesn't snag and get pushed back into the case when being loaded from the mag into the chamber by the bolt. That will cause a dangerous overpressure.

 

Different sizing dies reduce the neck diameter by different amounts, and case wall thicknesses vary as well. So there is plenty of possible variation in neck tension just by using different dies and different cases.

 

I would say a light crimp