I'm less worried about the .38 as it seems that the .75 crimp OAL was not changing so much after the first couple of shots.
One note on the .38 side:
I used the Lee die reloading chart as they had the exact grain and type of bullet: 125 gr and plated. However, their OAL was 39.something (39.39mm, I think) and with that the bullet was barely in the case!! About 3 quarters was poking out of the mouth!!
Is this OK?
Quote:
|
I'm pretty sure that none of my 44 Mag loads have ever taken more than .5 crimp, many are .25
|
I see what you're getting at with the terminology. I think my biggest disadvantage, which I touched on in my other crimp conundrum post, is that I have no frame of reference.
Manuals don't provide pictures saying "Fig. A shows a hideous crimp that only an ex-pat in Estonia could manage, whereas Fig. B is perfect!!"
As for your suggestion of .25 turn crimp: my only reservation is that with a half turn crimp, the OAL was clearly getting larger with each shot... The crimp was not holding the bullet steady in the case mouth, and I had understood that this was its purpose in the whole reloading thing...
A quarter turn crimp would surely be even worse.
I'll bow to the greater knowledge of those on here and if you tell me not to worry about that bullet creep, then I'll shrug my shoulders and go with that half turn or less.
However, I just want to do it right.
But if, for example, the bullets I have are not up to .44 Mag performance or the powder unsuited to the bullets, best I know now.... although I won't be best pleased!!