I've shot a bucketload of Hammers in various cartridges. One of the things that I've learned is that the crimp can very well degrade groups and SD. It has been a hit or miss proposition IME. Lately, I've been loading identical loads with and without crimping. Some loads were noticeably better without the crimp.
Yesterday, I shot some 143 Hammers in a custom 7WSM. I had them loaded at .090" off the rifling (with FCD) until I noticed that they wouldn't fit in the magazine. I seated the bullets to .138" off the rifling and tested with crimped and no-crimp loads. The bullets that had no crimp would shoot 5 shots into just over 2.5" @ 417yds. (thats where the clubs target hangers are) The crimped bullets opened up the group and increased the SD.
The Lee FCD is an inexpensive tool that's worth trying but you shouldn't assume that it will always improve your groups with Hammer bullets. Testing with and without has proven repeatedly that the outcome is unpredictable. Just my observation and I have crimped in the groove and on the outer band.
Yesterday, I shot some 143 Hammers in a custom 7WSM. I had them loaded at .090" off the rifling (with FCD) until I noticed that they wouldn't fit in the magazine. I seated the bullets to .138" off the rifling and tested with crimped and no-crimp loads. The bullets that had no crimp would shoot 5 shots into just over 2.5" @ 417yds. (thats where the clubs target hangers are) The crimped bullets opened up the group and increased the SD.
The Lee FCD is an inexpensive tool that's worth trying but you shouldn't assume that it will always improve your groups with Hammer bullets. Testing with and without has proven repeatedly that the outcome is unpredictable. Just my observation and I have crimped in the groove and on the outer band.
