Crimp or no Crimp - 223 Rem

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BeagleBoy360

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I am about to get into reloading, and I plan to load 75 to 90gr A-Max and Berger bullets. I have been looking at the Redding Competition seater.

My question are, should i just then buy the normal RCBS rifle dies for decaping and sizing the neck, then use the Redding for seating; and should i buy a separate crimper to finish it off?

I will be shooting it out of a savage 12. Sorry if these are noobish questions, i gotta start somewhere.

Thanks
 
I would never even consider crimping target loads for any of my bolt actions. Bench rest shooters don't crimp, enough said. If crimping helps accuracy, it is likely because your neck tension is not adequate.
 
I don't crimp for bolt action.
If you want to get serious look into neck tension, eg: Redding competion dies with bushing.
When I load for hunting I'll use a tighter bushing, no crimp needed.
If you start loading for an auto, crimping could be beneficial.

On a side note; I believe the Savage 12 is a 1:12 twist. I could very well be wrong.
*If* it's a 12 twist, you'll be disappointed with your bullet choice. A 90gr Berger need a min of 1:8 twist and the 75 Amax can be shot out a 1:9, but not as good as 1:8.
*If* your barrel is 1:12, a great bullet would be Bergers 52gr Match.

Just an opinion. ;)
 
My Fudd ignorance...didn't know the 12 was a target rifle. Most "normal" rifles can benefit from a slight crimp...
Click to expand...

Actually several model 12s are indeed target models, but some are not.

Crimping usually only benefits accuracy if you don't have adequate neck tension. If you are going to bother with match bullets, as the OP has posted, you are far better off to go to the effort of ensuring that you have adequate neck tension, rather than resorting to a band aid remedy such as crimping.
 
Last edited:
9x19p said:
On a side note; I believe the Savage 12 is a 1:12 twist. I could very well be wrong.
*If* it's a 12 twist, you'll be disappointed with your bullet choice. A 90gr Berger need a min of 1:8 twist and the 75 Amax can be shot out a 1:9, but not as good as 1:8.
*If* your barrel is 1:12, a great bullet would be Bergers 52gr Match.

Just an opinion. ;)
Click to expand...

It depends on the exact model, but 1:9 barrels are more common with the Savage 12 in .223, but was thinking the same thing. Aftermarket barrel?
 
1:9 is the standard for Savage 223. There are a couple of models like the 12VLP that are available in 1:7 that might let you get into that weight range. My 10FP (1:9) shoots the Sierra 77's very well and that's definitely the upper limit. Some have good results with the 75 Amax, but my rifle didn't like them at all.

Oh and my $.02 on the original question
Gas gun = crimp
Bolt gun = no crimp
 
When I first got into reloading this is one of the things I read up on. There seem to be a lot of people who saw better results with a slight crimp.

The caveat is that they weren't target shooters/reloaders who had all the specialized dies that the average reloader would not.





stubblejumper said:
Actually several model 12s are indeed target models, but some are not.

Crimping usually only benefits accuracy if you don't have adequate neck tension. If you are going to bother with match bullets, as the OP has posted, you are far better off to go to the effort of ensuring that you have adequate neck tension, rather than resorting to a band aid remedy such as crimping.
Click to expand...
 
yomomma said:
When I first got into reloading this is one of the things I read up on. There seem to be a lot of people who saw better results with a slight crimp.

The caveat is that they weren't target shooters/reloaders who had all the specialized dies that the average reloader would not.
Click to expand...

And most likely had no clue as to proper neck tension.
 
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