Why I Crimp

I know this is going to start the age old battle of crimp or not to crimp and that's not what I'm trying to do so I'm stating "This is why I crimp", This is my opinion so take it for that, I'm just sharing my personal experience and what works for me I am not a competition shooter nor do I claim to be Just a LRH . This is the second time this has happened to me in the past thirty years, the first was an Elk hunt in Oregon where I mailed my rifle and ammo out and then spent a week Horseback and the second time was yesterday, I will tell you that I do not abuse my guns, with that being said I use them for what they are intended for and I do not own anything that hasn't been "Well Used" No safe queens here, Now why I crimp, My Coyote Rig is a Rem 700 in 270 with 90 gr Sierra's, I loaded some rounds last month and got sidetracked and didn't crimp ( I use the Lee FCD on everything I load ) 10 rounds, I just let it go cause I wanted to get in the woods,these were loaded into a 5 rd Magazine two weeks ago, i hunt every evening an twice a day on the weekends 2 to 3 sets a trip and last Saturday my gun slipped off of my shoulder and landed on the Butt stock in a field and didn't hurt anything, fast forward to last night, I shot a ground hog ejected and chambered a new round and while unloading the weapon i saw the bullet in the second round in the mag was gone, upon examination I found the bullet had fell back in to the case, as i said this is the second time this has happened to me and why " I crimp" As for a side note this was 3X fired brass annealed, trimmed and FL resized every loading with a measured .0023 neck tension

ButterBean said:

...upon examination I found the bullet had fell back in to the case, as i said this is the second time this has happened to me and why " I crimp"

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The bullet fell back into the case? Was it a really low case fill with no neck tension? Don't see how that's even possible.

SilverbulletMAG said:

The bullet fell back into the case? Was it a really low case fill with no neck tension? Don't see how that's even possible.

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As for a side note this was 3X fired brass annealed, trimmed and FL resized every loading with a measured .0023 neck tension

And it's an 90% case fill

That would be a valid reason to crimp! Some rifles respond favorably to a crimp, some do not. I have started checking if a crimp helps to improve accuracy and/or SD as a step in the process of developing a new load.

I crimp everything anymore, ha. I shoot alot of monos and I find they keep those slick puppies in place, plus, they give a better 'bullet pull" during ignition...I think, ha. Anyhow, I have never had it hurt anything.

RevJim said:

I crimp everything anymore, ha. I shoot alot of monos and I find they keep those slick puppies in place, plus, they give a better 'bullet pull" during ignition...I think, ha. Anyhow, I have never had it hurt anything.

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I agree 100%

That would be a reason to crimp indeed! I have never experienced a bullet drop in or out so far in hunting or shooting but have also never tried a crimp to see what it does for accuracy or consistency.

Savage 12BVSS said:

That would be a reason to crimp indeed! I have never experienced a bullet drop in or out so far in hunting or shooting but have also never tried a crimp to see what it does for accuracy or consistency.

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I use the Lee FCD the same way I use sizing dies, powder charges and seating depth, It's a tuning tool for me that is just as important as anything on my bench, I do not use the Lee instructions as I set them up in a completely different manner and in my personal experience I have never seen it hurt a load, I've seen some the groups didn't improve ( although it did tighten up ES and SD's ) but I've seen a bunch that it helped, as I said this is the second time this has happened tom but this instance in particular the weapon had been loaded for two weeks and had been in and out of the truck to the field 40 or so times and dropped once, Like I said this is what works for me and once again I screwed up, Didn't hurt anything this go around as I was close by the house but I was disappointed in myself for not following my protocol from a lesson I learned 30 years ago

When using the lee fed what is your process of setting it up n how much of a crimp? I've starting using crimp n have found it helped accuracy, jus not sure how much or tight of a crimp I'm putting on. I'd say it's very light , I think I can just see edge of brass tapered

I had some barnes loaded in 350 rem mag that were left over from the previous year. While taking rounds out of the case I noticed one where the bullet was loose in the case neck. Could literally push it in with light pressure. I've never crimped bolt gun rounds but fmy AR's in multiple calibers I use the lee fcd. In my very informal testing it has helped es. I assume by giving a more consistent neck tension and bullet release.

Rilow said:

When using the lee fed what is your process of setting it up n how much of a crimp? I've starting using crimp n have found it helped accuracy, jus not sure how much or tight of a crimp I'm putting on. I'd say it's very light , I think I can just see edge of brass tapered

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The LEE FCD is adjustable, it comes with set up instructions and they work fine but i have found this a very effective tuning tool,This is my procedure, work up a load as you always do Brass Prep, powder, charge weight and seating depth, once you have this established set your die up and loosen til you just have a few threads left, raise a loaded round as if you were gonna crimp it and screw the die down until it touches, take a fine point Sharpie and mark both the Die and the Press, lower the round and turn the die in about 1/16th or so lock the die crimp 5 rounds shoot and compare ( you wont see any indication of a crimp but i assure you if you try to pull that bullet that it did) and then just keep increasing pressure on the Die in small increments until you find the sweet spot. This is my final step in Load Development, I am not a competition shooter by any means and I have never claimed to be. This has been discussed a million times but I will say again that I personally have never seen a load that i loaded that did not respond to FCD, Some more than others but that's another story

cajun said:

I had some barnes loaded in 350 rem mag that were left over from the previous year. While taking rounds out of the case I noticed one where the bullet was loose in the case neck. Could literally push it in with light pressure. I've never crimped bolt gun rounds but fmy AR's in multiple calibers I use the lee fcd. In my very informal testing it has helped es. I assume by giving a more consistent neck tension and bullet release.

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You are correct

I just crimp them hard! ha But I don't shoot past 375 or so.

Here is a little something I discovered about using the Lee Factory Crimp Die. When you trim your cases leave them 5 thousands longer than the trim to length. This will give you a good amount of case to get a crimp on. When you trim down to the trim to length it does not always give enough to get a good crimp on.