Crimping issue

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maxwell

Well-Known Member
I have an issue crimping 270 loads, 243 no problem, in that when crimped the bullet moves in the cartridge and isn’t solid. It a Lee crimping die and I’ve tried re-setting numerous times but get the same effect. The bullet is crimped but isn’t solid in the cartridge.
Has anyone come across the same issue or has a fix (or is it a faulty die).
I suppose I could just neck tension but always feel the bullet could move and affect overall length/consistency!
 
maxwell said:
I have an issue crimping 270 loads, 243 no problem, in that when crimped the bullet moves in the cartridge and isn’t solid. It a Lee crimping die and I’ve tried re-setting numerous times but get the same effect. The bullet is crimped but isn’t solid in the cartridge.
Has anyone come across the same issue or has a fix (or is it a faulty die).
I suppose I could just neck tension but always feel the bullet could move and affect overall length/consistency!
Click to expand...

May I ask why crimp?

Personally I’ve never crimped a bullet, never seen the need too.
 
maxwell said:
I have an issue crimping 270 loads, 243 no problem, in that when crimped the bullet moves in the cartridge and isn’t solid. It a Lee crimping die and I’ve tried re-setting numerous times but get the same effect. The bullet is crimped but isn’t solid in the cartridge.
Has anyone come across the same issue or has a fix (or is it a faulty die).
I suppose I could just neck tension but always feel the bullet could move and affect overall length/consistency!
Click to expand...
When you seat the projectile before crimping is there movement?
 
maxwell said:
I have an issue crimping 270 loads, 243 no problem, in that when crimped the bullet moves in the cartridge and isn’t solid. It a Lee crimping die and I’ve tried re-setting numerous times but get the same effect. The bullet is crimped but isn’t solid in the cartridge.
Has anyone come across the same issue or has a fix (or is it a faulty die).
I suppose I could just neck tension but always feel the bullet could move and affect overall length/consistency!
Click to expand...
Hmmmm. By not solid do you mean the bullet can be moved? If so your neck tension is wrong and the die needs adjustment to give a better grip. Re the crimp issue - are they multiple fired brass?
🦊🦊
 
Funny thing is I have crimped everything for more than 25 years of reloading and only full length resize if I encounter chambering issues - inevitably as a result of stout loads (which I rarely use except for working up and testing new recipes). I long ago observed that anything getting hit at an additional 100 fps or so above my usual moderate loads fell over just the same…
I remember at my initial dive into that particular burrow reading Dr Richard Lee’s seminal work on reloading and he recommended it for all hunting rounds; that was good enough for me. Nor incidentally did I ever notice excessive wear through neck-sizing.
Whatever floats your particular aquatic vessel I guess…
🦊🦊
 
Have you trimmed the case necks to below specification? If so the only way to get the Lee Factory Crimp Die to engage correctly with the neck is to either machine down the base of the die (to allow case to enter deeper) or remove material from shell holder face.

K
 
Stop trying to make life difficult. You do not need to crimp your bullets into your cases unless you’re using a rifle that recoils so excessively that it is likely to cause the rounds to move in the magazine & in doing so alter seating depth. Although if they’re doing that with jacketed bullets in normal stalking or target shooting combinations it demonstrates you already have a problem with neck tension. (The exception might be lead bullets in pistol cartridges used in lever guns etc such as .44 magnum etc.)

Whether you neck size or full length size, you really only need a couple of thou of neck tension to hold the bullet in place. That is, if you have a .264” bullet & case neck thickness is, say, 13 thou your loaded round will have an outside neck diameter of .264+(2x.013)=0.290. When you resize you want to reduce that diameter to 0.288”.

In all my reloading ‘career’ I’ve never had any issues caused by not crimping bullets.
 
Can you post a picture of a round at the crimp , you may be over crimping, you might be compressing the bullet and brass does always have a bit of spring back which the bullet will not.

I have never crimped, why don't you just increase neck tension if you are concerned about bullet moving, full length resize without the expander ball in and get a mandrel die, and you can choose your neck tension then with the mandrel.
 
A close-up picture of a crimped round would be helpful.

The following better informs my question about case length:
Klenchblaize

Post in thread 'Tip Of The Week'

For those who either over-trim their brass by design or mistake and still wish to crimp using the the Lee Factory crimping die that affords zero adjustment in this regard, either machine down a second die base or shell holder. I chose the former approach using a lathe but it could be done just as effectively with a file and production paper.

Once you’ve reduced the die or holder to allow case to reach the petals you’ll need to experiment with die height adjustment as it will be very easy to over-crimp as demonstrated by the case on the right!
DE0ACF41-1286-4078-A281-1F277F26EEBF.webp
A068CE93-E575-4000-B9CE-1A4C2407161C.webpK
K
 
For minute of deer you can overthink stuff.........

Sticking with a FLS die with an expander and bumping the shoulder should really be sufficient? I go a bit exotic and remove the expander ball from the equation and use a bushing die to set the neck tension. I'm trying to maximise case life though.

How many firings have the cases got on them? May be losing 'elasticity' due to work hardening.......so only annealing will really sort that......

I don't think any bottle neck cartridge really benefits from crimping.
 
I don't think you can solve the problem without knowing the cause. More details such as brass make, number of firings, trim length etc might help.

I load several rifle calibers and don't crimp most of them. I do crimp my 303 rounds for practical rifle as the cheap bullets I use can be a little variable. I also started crimping them when I was running light loads, it gave a more consistant round. It's a fairly light crimp and I use a magnifying glass to.check.

However, the bullets are seated firmly before crimping. I mainly just use Lee dies and I have polished off half a thou off a decapping pin to ensure the neck tension is right for my 308.
 
maxwell said:
I have an issue crimping 270 loads, 243 no problem, in that when crimped the bullet moves in the cartridge and isn’t solid. It a Lee crimping die and I’ve tried re-setting numerous times but get the same effect. The bullet is crimped but isn’t solid in the cartridge.
Has anyone come across the same issue or has a fix (or is it a faulty die).
I suppose I could just neck tension but always feel the bullet could move and affect overall length/consistency!
Click to expand...
Never felt the need to crimp. 0.002” of neck tension works for me. Unless you’re “jamming” (not the musical version) the bullet won’t move.
Regards,
DG
 
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