To Crimp Or Not To Crimp ?

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88 man

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GunNutz
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I'm just about ready to start reloading.Will be doing this for 225,243,284,308,358 & 3006.I've been told that as my 225 is a bolt and the rest are either Winchester 88 or 100's that I don't need to crimp as that is more for using a tube fed gun,is this true ?.I don't want to start out doing things half right and not crimping if I should be.Any help would be great !!!.
Thanks, 88
 
I use the Lee factory crimp dies. Before I had those I crimped with the bullet seater. Nothing too heavy, just enough for uniformity.
Some say it's not needed, but like I said, uniformity, and I don't like to rely purely on neck tension.
 
I never did before with most of my rifle cartirdges, but I used the FC die that came with my die set for the 375 H&H after loading 100 rounds without it. I found that the groups did shrink; probably around 30% give or take.
 
I use the Lee FC die for everything I load. as was stated, it provides uniformity. I figure, if crimping works for commercial, it will work for me and the physics behind it is solid in my mind.
 
I've used the Lee crimp die with my pump rifles. I find they can effect pressure (increase) and they add one more variable to your reloads. The more variables the more chances of variation from round to round. For this reason I would not crimp for a bolt action rifle. Neck tension is fine.
 
No crimps needed. I have never crimped a bottle neck centerfire cartridge. Neck tension holds the bullet in place.
 
I crimp everything. I didn't for a while when I was shooting single shot out of my bolt gun, but why not? I have to crimp my 44mag stuff, and my 30-30 stuff.....I just say to heck with it. You can get away without crimping sometimes, but if you do crimp, there are never any worries about things moving around unexpectedly.
 
I made a comparison once. No difference was observed for full loads in 30-06, much more uniform in muzzle speed for reduced loads.
 
I crimp all my rounds from 308 to 30 06 to 300 rum and 303 I consider it part of the process I do not worry about what others say my belief is based on ensuring the bullet stays put in the case until it is fired. Does it make a difference who cares as long as it consistent. My recommendation is do your own experimentation and decide what is best for you.
 
I picked up a Lee FCD of the EE a while back-

Tested it with a lot of reloads in my hunting 308 at 200 yards- five rounds uncrimped, five crimped- shot a few warm-up rounds then tested. The uncrimped rounds went into a 2" group. The crimped rounds printed under 1.5". Has me sold on the merits of crimping. As the Lee folks state, the crimp uniforms the neck tension, hence uniforming the ignition characteristics, which may turn out improved accuracy. Worked for me.
 
I crimp most of my reloads. If they will be used in my BLR's and any bullet with a cannelure.
I have also found that accuracy has been improved with a light crimp and use Lee factory crimp dies. The only cartridge I do not crimp in my 225 Winchester. I also do not load this round as often as I would like. If you have a look at most factory rounds you will notice that they are crimped.
For the most part 88 man, have fun with your new adventure. Hope to see you at a gun show soon.
David
 
Any round you don't shoot a lot, I try crimped and not, then shoot whichever works best. For the big boomers like the 375, and tube fed guns like the 45-70they all get crimped. For high volume varmint loads, none are crimped.
 
Crimping is a good idea when loading for semiauto rifles. They have a more violent action than anything manually operated and a crimp provides extra protection against bullet setback compared with neck tension alone.
 
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