Wondering what most of you guys do when it comes to crimping bullets on the belted magnums? I'm thinking about a limited number of rounds of hunting ammo that you would potentially have in your pack during a hunting trip on the remote side of a mountain after you waited a long time for a special tag. I've never had issues with bullets pulling or moving in non-crimped rounds, but I don't do a lot of shooting with fully loaded magazines and have no idea if the recoil would potentially pose a problem or not. Thanks!
Crimping Belted Magnum Loads… to do or not to do?
- Thread starter Full Curl
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The only thing I've crimped was 223 ammo for my AR. I used a lee factory crimp die. If i had to crimp again I would use the same
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
Same here, no crimping for any of my rifles. Only thing I crimp is handgun ammo, and that is very lightly, just enough to taper the lip for loading.
J E Custom
Well-Known Member
Crimping is not only to hold the bullet in position during recoil, It also helps slower burning powders
build pressure and start ignition before the bullet starts to move giving better consistency.
In some cases it will improve accuracy with hunting bullets that have a cannelure. I would not recommend any crimping on bullets without a cannelure because it can cause the neck to enlarge
slightly, affecting chambering.
If using a very slow burning power more neck tension can serve the same purpose. This is where the bushing dies really shine, especially after annealing when the necks have the least neck tension
a smaller bushing can make a difference.
Better ignition can be the results of either method if used properly.
Just my opinion
J E CUSTOM
build pressure and start ignition before the bullet starts to move giving better consistency.
In some cases it will improve accuracy with hunting bullets that have a cannelure. I would not recommend any crimping on bullets without a cannelure because it can cause the neck to enlarge
slightly, affecting chambering.
If using a very slow burning power more neck tension can serve the same purpose. This is where the bushing dies really shine, especially after annealing when the necks have the least neck tension
a smaller bushing can make a difference.
Better ignition can be the results of either method if used properly.
Just my opinion
J E CUSTOM
Lefty7mmstw
Well-Known Member
Crimping is one more variable to mess things up with. That said, you can achieve good results with crimped ammo, assuming the bullet has a crimp groove in the proper location and you are very careful about case lengths.
I personally don't bother crimping unless it is for my revolver or certain rifle loads using lead bullets or destined for my lever gun.
I personally don't bother crimping unless it is for my revolver or certain rifle loads using lead bullets or destined for my lever gun.
MagnumManiac
Well-Known Member
I don't crimp belted mags, even my 375 Weatherby goes uncrimped.
My DG cartridges get crimped, but, they are not long range prospects.
Cheers.
gun)
My DG cartridges get crimped, but, they are not long range prospects.
Cheers.
gun)
With the exception of some of the big bore cartridges and cast lead for handguns and lever guns, I have not found it necessary to crimp. Another issue besides bullet setback with heavy recoiling rifles is the cartridges in the magazine slamming into front magazine well which can deform the tip or dislodge a plastic tipped bullet. One of the added benefits of having a good muzzle brake. I never had any of these issues with my braked rifles.
Thanks for the replies guys. I don't think I'm going to be further exploring crimping anytime soon. I was more concerned with shells in the magazine being damaged due to the recoil from heavy belted mags than accuracy issues. And if none of you guys have ever experienced any damage issues in the magazine due to recoil, I'm not going to worry about it. Interesting point on potential bullet tip deformation due to recoil... never thought about that. Thanks again for the replies!
I would think adjusting neck tension with a bushing die would be a much better option than crimping
I don't crimp anything including ammo for my ar's
Frank in the Laurels
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I never heard of anyone ever crimping a rifle cartridge....only the slightest crimp in for my pistols, a hair !
J E Custom
Well-Known Member
At one time, many factory's loaded crimped ammo. Weatherby, Remington Winchester and Hornady for a few. many still do.
Brass cartridges and chambers were not as consistent and most hunting bullets had cannelure's.
There are still lots of bullets from 22 cal up with cannelure's and most bullets 375 and up have cannelure's. If it did not benefit the cartridge, bullet manufactures would not spend the time and money doing it.
Also, Lots of military ammo is still crimped and most military spec. bullets have a cannelure.
Just because many re loaders don't crimp, doesn't mean it doesn't have a place. In fact I find that on big cartridges with 100 + grains of powder it improves SD's in many cases and improves velocity.
J E CUSTOM
engineer40
Well-Known Member
I have yet to venture into bushing dies. I have however used multiple Lee Factory Crimp dies on different cartridges.
You do NOT need a cannelure on your bullet to use it.
Instead of me typing tons of data here, I'll just post the results of the first 5 Lee FCD's that come up in Amazon search results. These were not cherry picked.
In regards to how much we all spend on our shooting and reloading... Lee dies are so inexpensive, this is a cheap thing to experiment with. That's a ton of 5 star reviews just to ignore. But I know we all have our own style and methods we put our faith in. That's part of what makes this hobby so enjoyable right.
You do NOT need a cannelure on your bullet to use it.
Instead of me typing tons of data here, I'll just post the results of the first 5 Lee FCD's that come up in Amazon search results. These were not cherry picked.
In regards to how much we all spend on our shooting and reloading... Lee dies are so inexpensive, this is a cheap thing to experiment with. That's a ton of 5 star reviews just to ignore. But I know we all have our own style and methods we put our faith in. That's part of what makes this hobby so enjoyable right.
J E Custom
Well-Known Member
I have yet to venture into bushing dies. I have however used multiple Lee Factory Crimp dies on different cartridges.
You do NOT need a cannelure on your bullet to use it.
Instead of me typing tons of data here, I'll just post the results of the first 5 Lee FCD's that come up in Amazon search results. These were not cherry picked.
In regards to how much we all spend on our shooting and reloading... Lee dies are so inexpensive, this is a cheap thing to experiment with. That's a ton of 5 star reviews just to ignore. But I know we all have our own style and methods we put our faith in. That's part of what makes this hobby so enjoyable right.
I like everything about the way the Lee die crimps and find the results better than any other system for crimping, But I do have concerns with crimping bullets without cannelure's.
I have not tried to crimp using bullets without cannelure's because the crimp will compress the bullet and can possibly shift the balance center of the bullet if it does not compress equally. the material has to go somewhere so my concern would be what effect it has on BC's and balance.
This may be a case of over thinking (I have been guilty of that before).
I personally find it cheaper and less risky to use a under sized bushing ($10.00) and not risk altering the bullet.
As you said, Everyone does things differently and this is no exception. I have no way to prove
this could be a problem, It is just the way I feel. I do crimp in many cases, but use different methods depending on the circumstances and use and use all methods discussed.
PS: I could not open the links you provided to get a boarder view of the good and bad of crimping non cannelured bullets. (Never to old to learn something).
J E CUSTOM
