Hello All.Just got my crimper from Wholesale sports and used it on my .444 reloads.First time using on of these devices.How heavy of a crimp is needed? I just adjusted it so the edge of the brass was rounded in the canulare of the Hornady bullets.Tried pushing the bullets in on the bench but they held fast.Didn't need much pressure with Mr Rockchucker to crimp.Also is it worth it for doing 30-30 rounds or just stick with the RCBS crimp in the die?Thanks.
Lee Collet Crimper?
- Thread starter millwright
- Start date
I use Lee crimp dies and nothing but. I prefer the extra security of a crimping step and not one that comes with bullet seating. Even though neck tension is almost always good after sizing the extra 5 seconds per bullet to crimp is worth it to me. The bonus is the die cost is only $13.00 or so. It comes down to personal preference. I like to crimp, some don't. If your 30-30 is a tube magazine then by all means crimp. Nothing worse than a seated bullet that you thought was snug, sliding deeper into a case, then getting cycled in the chamber. I have seen it happen to a friend and his 30-30.
I set my crimp pressure to about 3/4 of a turn past the contact with the shell holder.
I set my crimp pressure to about 3/4 of a turn past the contact with the shell holder.
With my Lee Classic press and a Lee Factory crimp die on the .444 I go to contacting the shell holder plus 5/8 of a turn. Arrived at that setting by using a magnifying glass under a good light and adjusting until it looked right. It took a measured 155 lbs of lift (bathroom scale) to move the bullet at that setting, and that's way more than any effect recoil will have on cartridges in the tube. I use a Lee FCD on all my lever gun ammo, .30-30, .444 and .45-70, even if it's just for shooting at the range - one more variable you can live without when you switch to hunting. Keep them consistent in every way you possibly can.
The collet crimper is invaluable since I do crimp all my loads... when the bullet has a cannelure that is. There are quite a few pros to it.
Since I only reload one type of cartridges with the same bullet brand for each caliber I set the bullet seating die every 6 months to push the bullet about 0.004" from the lands.
Recently, two boxes of 308 Hornady Interlocks bought from Cabellas contained bullets of different shapes. Meaning the ogive looked a bit different and the cannelure sat at a different height. Since the cases are trimmed to the same length, the cartridges look funny, some crimped to the top of the cannelure, some to the bottom. Obviously the bullet-to-lands gap varies, but the accuracy did not deteriorate mainly due to crimping.
Since I only reload one type of cartridges with the same bullet brand for each caliber I set the bullet seating die every 6 months to push the bullet about 0.004" from the lands.
Recently, two boxes of 308 Hornady Interlocks bought from Cabellas contained bullets of different shapes. Meaning the ogive looked a bit different and the cannelure sat at a different height. Since the cases are trimmed to the same length, the cartridges look funny, some crimped to the top of the cannelure, some to the bottom. Obviously the bullet-to-lands gap varies, but the accuracy did not deteriorate mainly due to crimping.
That's the beauty of the simple and cheap Lee FCD - as long as the brass length is within reason the bullet doesn't even need to have a cannelure. Just try to avoid crimping too far forward - on the ogive (can anybody actually pronounce that word??)
