Priley
Well-Known Member
Just a question, I have been handloading for years and only crimp pistol bullets. I guess I have learned many new things over the years but wouldn't this affect your neck tension?
Why I Crimp
- Thread starter ButterBean
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nicholasjohn
Well-Known Member
I would think that it would, but it seems that it affects it positively. The general idea I get from all I've read here is that it makes it more uniform from shot to shot, and improves SD & ES. I haven't tried it yet, but fully intend to.
No, It does not change your neck interference, It works in conjunction with it
Since this thread started I have conducted a little test,maybe not the greatest test but it told me something.
Since I cast and coat my own pistol bullets I have a Cabin Tree Hardness tester.I took a new winchester 300 win mag case and put the tester on the neck and checked hardness all around the neck and found that Winchester brass was the worst with numbers I got.
I ran the needle point in the brass neck 7 times around the neck and got 2,4, 7,2,6,1,4 hardness on the Brinell hardness scale.
I know it's not what some would do and may mean nothing but it showed me neck tension/neck interference is affected by non consistent tensile strength of the neck.I tried Remington unfired brass and it was a bit better but the Norma brass was the closest to perfection at 4,5,4,4,4,3,4 which showed me neck tension or neck interference is much better than cheaper brass and is better with better materials.
This may not be the best way to check neck wall thickness but I found the results I figured I would find and I am happy with the results.
Will I keep crimping my magnum loads?I will retest loaded rounds in the magazine and see if they recede even a little but I get great groups with crimping on magnum rifles and will most likely never change that but I only crimp lightly with a quality case.
I ruined 3 cases for the cause,1winchester 300 win mag cases and 1 norma/weatherby 300 weatherby mag and 1 Remington Peters 300 win mag.
So does that sound like a viable test?Viable results?There are folks smarter than me so let me hear it guys.
Old Rooster
Since I cast and coat my own pistol bullets I have a Cabin Tree Hardness tester.I took a new winchester 300 win mag case and put the tester on the neck and checked hardness all around the neck and found that Winchester brass was the worst with numbers I got.
I ran the needle point in the brass neck 7 times around the neck and got 2,4, 7,2,6,1,4 hardness on the Brinell hardness scale.
I know it's not what some would do and may mean nothing but it showed me neck tension/neck interference is affected by non consistent tensile strength of the neck.I tried Remington unfired brass and it was a bit better but the Norma brass was the closest to perfection at 4,5,4,4,4,3,4 which showed me neck tension or neck interference is much better than cheaper brass and is better with better materials.
This may not be the best way to check neck wall thickness but I found the results I figured I would find and I am happy with the results.
Will I keep crimping my magnum loads?I will retest loaded rounds in the magazine and see if they recede even a little but I get great groups with crimping on magnum rifles and will most likely never change that but I only crimp lightly with a quality case.
I ruined 3 cases for the cause,1winchester 300 win mag cases and 1 norma/weatherby 300 weatherby mag and 1 Remington Peters 300 win mag.
So does that sound like a viable test?Viable results?There are folks smarter than me so let me hear it guys.
Old Rooster
Hey Nicholasjohn do you have a 20 cal rifle?
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epags
Well-Known Member
I wonder if annealing the neck brfore testing for hardness would change the results for the better?
I thought about the same thing but these were unfired brass and should have been annealed at the factory so I don't know.
Help me put together a test that will predict neck tension problems,anything you can think of I am willing to do
Help me put together a test that will predict neck tension problems,anything you can think of I am willing to do
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It will help but the molecular structure of the brass is what causes the erratic readings, It will eventually even out some but it will never be as good as the Norma
I thought about that as well.Maybe shoot 4 or 5 rounds and anneal and then retest.
There is a reason why my RP brass 300 win mag causes the 180 gr bullet to recede a bit with each shot and it would make me feel good to resolve that problem.Any test anyone can think of?
There is a reason why my RP brass 300 win mag causes the 180 gr bullet to recede a bit with each shot and it would make me feel good to resolve that problem.Any test anyone can think of?
I can't think of any other test so I am swearing off cheap brass and only going with Lapua,Peterson,Norma,ADG all top named brass
Laguna Freak
Well-Known Member
I've found that it is very easy to over-crimp cast boolits for my 44 Mag resulting in effective down-sizing. With the Lee FCD, a light crimp results in better accuracy in that handgun. Currently using RP brass but have a bunch of WW Super
asd9055 looks your set up for a while.Good find.
Laguna freak I agree on light crimp on all pistol brass but I don't cast and shoot for any rifle except the 45-70.I tried that years ago and got performance issues to the poingt that I stopped all rifle bullet casting.I only cast for pistols and fishing weights.
I believe you are correct that a heavy crimp distorts the case mouth and does more harm that good so I crimp as light as I can and test if the bullet recedes in the case by leaving one round in the magazine and fire several rounds but leave the last round in and if I get any movement I adjust my FCD a little tighter and retest until I get zero movement and that's my stopping point.
I wish the die had numbers on it so I would have a reference point but thats ok as my notes are light crimp,medium crimp and light hard crimp and then hard crimp but the only hard crimp I have ever used is on a 45-70 with 465 gr bullets.
Laguna freak I agree on light crimp on all pistol brass but I don't cast and shoot for any rifle except the 45-70.I tried that years ago and got performance issues to the poingt that I stopped all rifle bullet casting.I only cast for pistols and fishing weights.
I believe you are correct that a heavy crimp distorts the case mouth and does more harm that good so I crimp as light as I can and test if the bullet recedes in the case by leaving one round in the magazine and fire several rounds but leave the last round in and if I get any movement I adjust my FCD a little tighter and retest until I get zero movement and that's my stopping point.
I wish the die had numbers on it so I would have a reference point but thats ok as my notes are light crimp,medium crimp and light hard crimp and then hard crimp but the only hard crimp I have ever used is on a 45-70 with 465 gr bullets.
CBH Australia
Well-Known Member
Sounds as if it's Worth trying now I'm at page 17
That's what they say, I'm gonna get one
Yeah, I'm having trouble with ES on a new rifle. Never had that problem before I had a chronograph
But I'm always trying to learn and improve.
Same,
Im gonna try, my ES for my new rifle seemed high and taking all things into account I think neck tension is the culprit. I know this is not neck tension as such but it seems to have a similar affect making the tension consistent and I won't have to jam on the lands. Not desirable in a hunting rifle.
