Crimping 375 H&H

[Selous]

This has been a very exciting week indeed! Variation has returned giving permission for .375 and .458, a 2021 trip abroad has been approved by SWMBO and booked, and a 375 H&H is inbound (although slowly) to Ronin for borescope and function assessment prior to final purchase. I sourced cases, cheapish bullets for practice and dies so have been playing around getting some preliminary loads sorted. Now I haven’t ever used crimps for any of my rifle reloads, only revolvers in the past so am unsure about how much crimp is enough and how much is too much? Close observation shows there is a slight bulge just below the crimp that measures 0.403 whilst mid neck measures 0.398. Providing the neck section of the chamber exceeds the diameter of the bulge then they should chamber OK. What do you guys think about the amount of roll crimp in the photo?
I will probably get round to getting a Lee Factory Crimp die but don’t have one yet, so this was crimped using the RCBS seater die with the seater stem backed out, so that the bullet was not seated deeper during crimping.

 

[Stalker62]

Quick and Dirty.

I only use factory ammo for the trips to Africa.

I reload for just about everything but have never done so for my .375 or .416 - I just do not trust myself that much.

Home loads are great to practice with - although plinking with a .375 or .458 will not be much fun...

I am sure Muir will be along shortly to pass on his wisdom with regards your crimp.

 

[palmer_mike]

I’d maybe seat the bullet a bit deeper so the case neck comes closer to the top of the cannelure

 

[Namman]

I have never crimped .375 H&H. I have never found the bullets move on recoil. Many .375 bullets have no cannelure.
.458 is another matter,, the 500grain bullets do move and I always crimp these into the cannelure.
I have no hesitation in using my handloads in Africa . why would I trust myself to stalk deer with handloads in deer calibres but not bigger calibres? If your handloads are reliable, then they are reliable in all calibres, even the bigger ones.
I remember the days when we had revolvers and how many handloaders jammed their revolvers because of inadequate crimp!

 

[Heym SR20]

I would suggest a crimp for a big game rifle. You do not want bullets to move and they may well be in the magazine over a number of shots.

As regards onlt taking factory ammo on an overseas trip, it is just one less thing for airlines or customs officers / police to make a fuss about. If you are going to use reloads, use factory boxes to pack them in and make sure case headstamps correspond to box. Ie dont’t pu federal cases in an RWS box.

 

[Namman]

I would suggest a crimp for a big game rifle. You do not want bullets to move and they may well be in the magazine over a number of shots.

As regards onlt taking factory ammo on an overseas trip, it is just one less thing for airlines or customs officers / police to make a fuss about. If you are going to use reloads, use factory boxes to pack them in and make sure case headstamps correspond to box. Ie dont’t pu federal cases in an RWS box.

Good advice to use factory boxes. Especially don't take cases made from other calibres so the headstamp doesn't match. The airlines should never be able to tell that the rounds are homeloads.
As I posted I have not had bullets move under recoil in a .375 even those which are in the bottom of the magazine but a crimp won't hurt.

 

[BigPat]

I hand load my .375 and have never crimped, also never had a bullet move. I got caught up with the whole crimping debate and started measuring any round after it had been in the Mag. Waste of time, none Of the bullets had moved.

Also never had a problem with customs and always take bullets in the green plastic after market boxes. Thinking about it I have never been asked to open the Metal ammo box containing the plastic boxes.

 

[Selous]

Ok thanks that is reassuring. To be honest I trust my handloads more than factory loads after nearly 30 years of handloading practically everything

 

[levigsp]

What amazes me is that you are allowed to use reloads! I have found a number of places in Africa will only allow commercial ammo, new un opened box to start the trip.
I know some will allow, but enough don't for me to be asking the question.

 

[Heym SR20]

If you are going to Africa, especially Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia etc most of the roads are gravel roads and unless recently graded they will be corrugated. Add in a Toyota Land Cruiser or Hilux on Leaf Springs and anything that will come loose will be shaken loose.

You won’t have an air-sprung Range Rover that glides over these, hunters use Land Cruisers as they are tough and many hundreds of thousands of km. (important when you operate on dirt roads and pay 100% import duties. Your $25,000 pickup will cost well over $50,000 in Zimbabwe).

So i would crimp all rounds I would be travelling with, otherwise you might well find you have loose bullets and box full of powder when you open your ammo box.

And with the rifle, once you are happy with the set up, strip it down, degrease and rebuild using a bit of locktite on the threads. Scope bases, i would use a thin smear of epoxy so they are firmly in place once screwed down. Scope rings - again lapp them so you have full contact with scope, apply a thin smear of epoxy and loctite down the screws.

Choose the right loctite / epoxy and easily removed with a little heat.

It’s not the recoil thats the problem, its the travel in a vehicle and bouncing through the bush in a hunting vehicle.

 

[Namman]

If you are going to Africa, especially Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia etc most of the roads are gravel roads and unless recently graded they will be corrugated. Add in a Toyota Land Cruiser or Hilux on Leaf Springs and anything that will come loose will be shaken loose.

You won’t have an air-sprung Range Rover that glides over these, hunters use Land Cruisers as they are tough and many hundreds of thousands of km. (important when you operate on dirt roads and pay 100% import duties. Your $25,000 pickup will cost well over $50,000 in Zimbabwe).

So i would crimp all rounds I would be travelling with, otherwise you might well find you have loose bullets and box full of powder when you open your ammo box.

And with the rifle, once you are happy with the set up, strip it down, degrease and rebuild using a bit of locktite on the threads. Scope bases, i would use a thin smear of epoxy so they are firmly in place once screwed down. Scope rings - again lapp them so you have full contact with scope, apply a thin smear of epoxy and loctite down the screws.

Choose the right loctite / epoxy and easily removed with a little heat.

It’s not the recoil thats the problem, its the travel in a vehicle and bouncing through the bush in a hunting vehicle.

All my bullets are seated properly . I have never had a round come apart this way with any amount of bouncing about on these gravel roads.
I have never heard of this happening in nearly 40 years of hunting in Africa.

 

[zambezi]

crimped using the RCBS seater die with the seater stem backed out, so that the bullet was not seated deeper during crimping.

I do the same for the first round. Once that first round is made and measured to be dimensionally correct, I re-insert it into press and adjust seater stem down to rest on completed cartridge and lock that off. Thereafter, all same-length cases can be seated and crimped in one pass rather than two.

That "same-length" caveat is important. I have found quite a variation in once-fired case lengths. If I don't trim cases to same length, I have to be committed to per-case crimp+seat faff.

 

[Namman]

What amazes me is that you are allowed to use reloads! I have found a number of places in Africa will only allow commercial ammo, new un opened box to start the trip.
I know some will allow, but enough don't for me to be asking the question.

Never come across that. Have always used handloads as have all my fellow club members..

 

[levigsp]

Never come across that. Have always used handloads as have all my fellow club members..

I can only say as I find.
I kniow three people who were stopped from using their own home loads last year., 1 in Namibia other two on eastern cape. The Ph/or organizer in each case said they were fed up having to recover game that was injured by using hand loads, apparently a lot of loaders down load large calibre ammo.

 

[Namman]

I can only say as I find.
I kniow three people who were stopped from using their own home loads last year., 1 in Namibia other two on eastern cape. The Ph/or organizer in each case said they were fed up having to recover game that was injured by using hand loads, apparently a lot of loaders down load large calibre ammo.

Never come across that in either area. Mind you that has happened in the UK in the past. Best to contact outfitter first before booking! That would detract from my safari.

 

[Namman]

I can only say as I find.
I kniow three people who were stopped from using their own home loads last year., 1 in Namibia other two on eastern cape. The Ph/or organizer in each case said they were fed up having to recover game that was injured by using hand loads, apparently a lot of loaders down load large calibre ammo.

Come to think of it , some friends of mine were hunting cape buffalo some years ago and took some advice on loads for their .416 rifles. The advice turned out to be catastrophic as the ammunition was well under what it should have been resulting in some long tracking .

 

[Muir]

I do the same for the first round. Once that first round is made and measured to be dimensionally correct, I re-insert it into press and adjust seater stem down to rest on completed cartridge and lock that off. Thereafter, all same-length cases can be seated and crimped in one pass rather than two.

That "same-length" caveat is important. I have found quite a variation in once-fired case lengths. View attachment 165770 View attachment 165771 View attachment 165772 If I don't trim cases to same length, I have to be committed to per-case crimp+seat faff.

Technically, the OP is correct in his method of crimping. The bullet is then not still moving as the crimp is applied. In a 375 HH it might not matter but in competition pistol shooting we never seated and crimped together.

I will not roll crimp rifle cartridges any more Lee FCD only.

Yes to factory ammo on dangerous game. I thought that was mandatory everywhere?~Muir

 

[zambezi]

stopped from using their own home loads last year., 1 in Namibia

Not encountered that personally in SA or Namibia. But I have never had a PH that did not make me demonstrate range competence before 1st stalk. If you can demonstrate perfect placement at all relevant ranges, you would have to download by a huge margin for it to be non-lethal.

I have never been asked to open the Metal ammo box

My experience mirrors the post above, I have only ever had the airlines interested in the ammo box security and total weight. They show zero interest in the cartridge specifics.

 

[Selous]

PH has said he is happy with handloads and that there should be no problems importing them into SA
The above story with the 416 implies the reason for the problems was they had not chronographed their loads and potentially did not make adequate first shots. Surely if the velocity is adequate at Uk temperatures then the pressure and therefore velocity will increase in warmer climes. The other thing is That the majority of wounded animals are down to shooter error rather than ammo failure!
If you look back in history there are occasions where factory ammunition has fallen short of published velocity and caused problems (eg 458 win mag) so I’m not sure that buying factory ammo makes anyone immune from issues like that but proper preparation should reduce the chances of issues occurring

 

[BigPat]

It’s SA that I travel to and my PH has never questioned home loads. I simply have to demonstrate my ability to repeatedly hit 4” target at 100m and then good to go. The shooting test also makes sure that fouling rounds have been used prior to hunt so no excuses in the field.

Maybe other parts of Africa are different hence the different experiences. I fly into Johannesburg and then take internal flight to Port Elizabeth and never had a problem with customs.