Being fairly new to reloading hand gun ammo,how do I know the proper amount of crimp to apply..
Being fairly new to reloading hand gun ammo,how do I know the proper anount of crimp to apply..
Since your talking about handgun ammo that is roll crimped I apply a pretty decent one.... You can start light and work up to more crimp to find the correct amount... Fire a few and pull the last round out of your pistol and measure it or look for unburned powder if your not seeing any and your not getting bullet jump from recoil your good.... You should have plenty of neck tension if your dies are setup per manufacturers directions.... Also I crimp in a separate step with the Lee factory crimp die and have zero problems with it over thousands and thousands of .38 spl rounds.... That way you don't have to keep adjusting your die back.... Plus I do either group after re-sizing or trim my pistol brass to all one length or pretty darn close...Being fairly new to reloading hand gun ammo,how do I know the proper anount of crimp to apply..Should have added that these are 44 cal with cast bullets..44 special and 44 mag..
I use those LEE FCDs for my auto pistols that I reload for, not quite for the same reason(s) in your post. I use them because the carbide ring irons out the last vestiges of case bulge on the range brass I almost always use. For revolvers my dies are all RCBS with carbide sizers, for crimping I purchased extra bullet seating dies and removed the bullet seating stems and use them only for the roll crimp they have built in.The lee factory crimp die with a carbide ring in its base is a cheat for reloaders who do not trim their cases to the same length. Meaning the longer cases can bulge below the crimp, the carbide ring in this Lee die will size down any crimp bulge. This same die will also size down oversized cast bullets in its carbide ring.
That being said I have this same Lee die for all my handguns but you need to know this dies limitations. And if you shoot oversized cast bullets or coated bullets this die may do more harm than good. I trim all my revolver cases to the same length and buy cast bullets that are sized to my cylinder throat diameter. And this Lee factory crimp die can size these cast bullets smaller in diameter if the carbide ring post-sizes the cartridge again.
Below the lee factory crimp die with a carbide ring in its base.
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A good roll crimp will help you get a better burn , just that few micro seconds matter.... I ran into that problem with the wife's down loaded.38 spl , it's a very light gun ( Ruger LCR ) and I don't even like shooting a box through it of full power loads... The powder I use ( win 231 ) becomes very position sensitive and a better crimp really helped and was suggested by many members... What I like to do is take an empty case , no powder or primer and put a quarter turn then pull that bullet... Then a half turn and pull , then 3/4 and pull and finally a whole turn and pull the bullet so I can see the amount of crimp... So I waste a few bullets but learn exactly what the crimp looks like.... Like I said I use the Lee factory crimp die for almost all my crimping needs and it takes ALOT more crimp than you think to screw up accuracy.... Don't be scared to load a few groups of 5-10 with different settings and find out exactly what works for you.... Experimenting is part of reloading , just be safe while doing it.. As far as case life they will live a long time for pistol , to me they start getting hard long before they split or if you're hotting them up they stop holding the primer tight... We can give you a bunch of advice but you have to figure out what your gun likes.... Yes you need to get your cronograph involved....So tell me,how much is accuracy effected by crimp..I fired a few loads and got some black cases..Would to light a crimp have caused this??And too heavy would possibly effect the cast bullet..????/
like deform it, change pressure and velocity..i gotta get my chronograph out...plus shorten case life...