Fyi, hornady ftx

[x_wrench]

i bougt some hornady 325g ftx bullets, to load in my 45/70. i started on them last night. i had no major issues, until i went to crimp them. if you do not know, you MUST shorten the brass cases in order to use these. and in doing so, you move the point where it needs to be crimped downward as well. since these go in a tube magazine, and this thing definatly recoils. they simply MUST be crimped. anyway, this morning, i called hornady to see if they had any ideas. they did, it was to call midway or some other supplier, and buy one of their (hornady's) dies. well, first off, i did not want to wait a week to get a die. second, i did not want to order another die for one bullet, and 3rd, i am cheap! so, i went to work trying to figure this out. i ended up using a 40 s&w shell holder, and setting the cartridge on top of it. that allowed the case to be pushed in far enough to get the crimp. then, for grins, i tried something else. i set a penny on top of the 45/70 shell holder, set the case on top of the penny,and it did the same thing. so, if you have not already spent the money on a new die, dont. invest a penny, and the best part, is you get the penny back.

[William T. Watts]

When I read your post I had to read it twice to understand what you had to do and why. I've never heard of having to shorten a case in order to use a projectile, screwy! Non the less your solution is 1st class, you escaped there mouse trap! Good show! William

[TXGunNut]

Welcome to the asylum, x_wrench. I happen to have a set of Hornady dies but wonder why your dies didn't work, hard to figure out why they'd make a seating die that long. I don't have any seating dies that touch the shell holder or even come close. What are you using? When I started loading the FTX bullet it wouldn't feed in my Guide Gun. I got some very valuable info from the Load Notes section of the Hornady website. Trimming the cases on my Zip Trim was a bit of a chore even after I modified my case length gauge. They had some other good load data, IMR4198 powder worked as advertised.
As for the recoil I stop just short of the advertised velocity of the factory loads, about 150 fps south of max. Still plenty of thump, on both ends!
Quite accurate in my Guide Gun but this is one of those rifles that seems to like any reasonable load, even some I find unreasonable

[steveno]

you will find that the brass Hornady uses in their 357 mag flex tip ammo is also shorter than standard. after I changed the die to crimp the 25 rounds of that brass loaded I threw the brass away. it ain't worth the hassle. with their ammo knowledge you would think they could have come up with something else to allow for standard length brass.

[TXGunNut]

It's an adjustment that has to be made to use the FTX bullet in some cartridges. In a 45-70 Guide Gun I think it's worth it. I'm thinking about trying it in 45 Colt, 35 Rem and 30-30 but if I had to trim the cases I'd probably pass. Don't have a .357 rifle (yet) but pretty sure when I do I'll be feeding it cast lead for plinking distances. For small and medium game the FTX would be worthy of consideration in your 357. Sorry it didn't work for you, x_wrench. Thanks for the heads-up.

[dsv424]

Your idea works great. I was concerned with the lack of a good crimp with this round because I was using them in a 1895. Although, I prefer a 2 penny height crimp. Just my 2 cents. What a horrible pun, huh!

[PA-Joe]

Doesn't Lee make a factory crimp dies for these rounds. Could you use that?

[TXGunNut]

I'm thinking OP's goal was to do it with the tools he had on hand and he had the smarts to pull it off.
I was lucky enough to have some RO's give me a box of once-fired LeverEvolution brass. I also happened to have Hornady dies but I'm guessing other dies would work. I only had to trim the first ten cases and now have all I'll need for awhile.