Over crimping with the LEE factory crimp.

warrenb

warrenb

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
19   0   0
Location
Quebec
I tried a few of my first reloads this morning. I was pleasantly suprised with the outcome but nothing to brag to you guys about.

However I guessed when I crimped them I had over crimped a few. After examining the spent shells I see some have about 7 little splits at the end of the neck. The depth goes to a max of about 20 thou on some of the splits.

Are these junk, can I trim and recheck case size or is it normal and nothing to worry about?

I'm getting my moneys worth from CGN at the moment. :D
 
I've had a few spent casings with cracks or splits on the mouth, which I read somewheres is caused from over crimping. This was with .40 S&W, and I chuck them out. Are you talking rifle or pistol cartridge?
 
joe-nwt said:
Are they actuually splits or just marks left from the crimp?

BTW congrats on your new hobby!;)
Click to expand...


Well in the worst cases they are perfect cuts rather than marks. But yes they are weakened from the crimping die. From a few to about 20 thou deep.

thanks for the congratulations, I can see this becoming addictive once I get the hang of it.
 
I have quite a few factory crimp dies. I'm having a hard time comprehending how you can "overcrimp" with them. They will only crimp until the segments in the crimp portion of the die touch each other. That is the way mine are set up and I don't have an overcrimping problem.

Have you noticed this with other LFC dies, or is this your first one?

Maybe one of us has a defective die.....
 
These are the first cases I have reloaded. What I did was seat the die and then turn it a half a turn lower as per instructions. Then as I did not see any noticable crimp, I turned the die lower until I did, maybe another half a turn. I was also looking to see the collet close fully. I believe initially I was not putting as much pressure on the press. So I probably turned the die further than I needed to. By the end of the 50 rounds I was over crimping.
Nothing wrong with Lee dies, its all my fault.

I'm taking all these steps as learning experiences and appreciate you guys helping me out.
 
Interesting. I set mine so the segments in the collet close fully and my results have never been what I would classify as overcrinping. Hmmmm.

I don't suppose you have a pic of your loaded round and a fired case?:)
 
Sorry I am wasting your time, with my crappy camera here are the two worst culprits and as close as I could focus.


bullets005.jpg
 
Wow... Can you please give up a measurement of the neck at the end? Sure looks like a huge difference between the spent round and the crimped one....

Shoulder looks whacked too.... You sure you loading/shooting the right ammo? (Looks like a .308 case after firing from the photo... .243 based off .308).
 
Last edited:
The empty sure looks like a 308 !
You sure you didn't pick up someone elses brass ?

Don't sweat the FC Dies I tried 2 of them on 2 of my rifles with zero benefit.

OOPS ! You beat my response.
 
Last edited:
What are you shooting these out of, a bolt or Semi?

If using a bolt rifle I would not bother crimping at all. If using a Semi, then I would put a light crimp. It doesn't take much pressure to get a crimp on the bullets.
 
The Factory Crimp has a place.Accuratereloading did a test with a bunch of pretty standard 308 loads,they found overall,a 10% improvement in accuracy.Where I find them great is OAL and neck tension. Being cheap,for range use, I use my cases until the necks split. The necks get so stiff that the Collet die(I'm lazy,too) doesn't do any more,so the FC holds the bullet without loss of accuracy. My tests with OAL,a difference of .100",opened the group up 1/8",from 3/4" to 7/8".
 
Well that's not a bad looking group you got there, Warren! Beginner's luck, I'd say!;):cool:

Although I'm still sceptical about 7, 20thou cracks in each brass, without a good pic I'll take your word for it. Just back the crimp die off a bit and don't sweat it. Brass is not that expensive and a handful could be a very cheap lesson compared to other mistakes a person might make.

Have fun.
 
I owe you all an apology

I don't know how to say this without looking bad . So here goes. I realised last night after posting the pick only some of the 308 cases have the cuts. The 243s have definite marks, but apart from indentations I don't think any are what you can call split. The 308s are factory super X and these seem to have a very heavy crimp. The brass almost looks like its bulging at the bottom too.

I panicked when I saw the cuts on a couple of cases in the pile and just assumed I had ruined my reloads. Every spent case I looked at last night seemed to look worse than it does this morning.

Sorry for wasting your time. I would'nt blame you guys if you never help me again.
:redface: :redface: :redface:

That group was only at 50 yards, I was sighting in a scope so its not so good.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom