confused about crimping

fetchingdrake

fetchingdrake

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I am confused about crimping, please help.
It states in my reloading manual that bullets must have a cannalure to crimp but many bullets used are ones without the grove. (reloading for a BLR)

Also, can you crimp with out the Lee factory crimp die? How and can I use the seating die? If so do you do this all in one step while seating the bullet.

Thanks
 
Normal reloading procedures(sizing) should provide plenty of neck tension to hold bullet firmly, you should not require a crimp. The seating dies will crimp as well as seat bullet if it is set up right,see die instructions, providing the bullet has a crimp groove. Crimping may be required on ammo for use in a tubular mag., very heavy bullets, ammo for use in revolvers, or in any case where there is not enough neck tension to hold bullet. Most of my reloads require a crimp and I crimp with the seating die in a separate operation. The cast bullets i use have crimp grooves for this purpose.
 
Ben has given you a very good answer.

Your manual is incorrect in saying that bullets MUST have a canelure in order to crimp. It does help to hold the bullet firmer to prevent any movement especially under recoil but it is not essential. You can crimp without it .

Many reloaders suggest having more than one manual . Although they are usually very accurate, the writers do make mistakes and also sometimes they print theories as the " truth ".
 
Like Ben says you can crimp with the seating die and do a reasonable job. The Lee crimping die is still a good invention and does a good job though (imho). It makes it a bit easier to control the strength of the crimp and the die is a little more forgiving of variations in case length than the regular seating die. So, if a guy is doing a lot of crimping it isn't a bad purchase to make. The whole issue of needing a crimping groove to do a crimp reminds me of an argument Lee had with others in the shooting industry when they claimed something called "...the factory advantage...". As I recall, Lee said you didn't need a cannuler to do a crimp using their die and that rounds were more accurate when crimped this way. Others denied this and the argument was on. Personally I don't crimp unless the bullet has a crimping groove. I have tested crimping without the groove and found no difference one way or the other, but, unfortunately, I didn't test further out than 100 meters. I 'suspect' it would be a bad idea to do it if one is shooting further out. I 'think' the distortion of the jacket might set up more drag but...
 
Just to add my opinion, and to give my view, do not crimp unless there is a cannalure to crimp in.
Without the groove, if you crimp hard, it will just distort the case. I guess this is the advantage with the Lee crimping die, it will distort the bullet instead of the case, if there is no groove and the die doesn't break!
I tried the Lee, so called factory crimp die, but quit using it because i prefer doing the crimping with a standard seating die.
 
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