[rodfac]

I concur that belling the mouth of the case is necessary to prevent damage to the bullet...but have found over the years, that removing that belled mouth is difficult with a normal rolled crimp/seating die. Instead, I've used another sizing die with the decapping pin removed to remove the bell.

I load .45 ACP in a four die set-up on a Dillon 550B...Sizing and decapping, followed by case mouth belling/powder charging, then bullet seating, and finally, taper crimping at the 4th station, on another FL sizing die with the decapping rod removed.

I'd also say that the small amount of crimping shown in your pic is probably insignificant accuracy wise, at normal hand gun ranges, say out to 25-30 yds. Unless you're engaged in NRA Bullseye competition, I'd not worry about it...

For best accuracy, lead alloy bullets should be sized .001-.002" over groove dia. as determined by slugging the bore. You might find that an exceptionally tight case neck may actually swage the bullet down from your carefully measured and sized offering as you seat it. With softer alloys, it can be a problem.

Lyman's "M" die does a great job in sizing the inside of the neck for a good snug fit, allowing uniform neck tension, but not deforming the bullet. I use the "M" die for nearly all my rifle loads with alloy bullets, but have found that most current production hand gun dies come with a properly sized expanding button. My experience is with RCBS and Lee dies predominantly, but two sets of Hornady's in 9 mm and .30 Luger and one set of Lyman's in .41 Magnum were also good in that respect.

Rod