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Old August 4, 2009, 07:46 PM   #1
.284
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To crimp or not to crimp, that is the question.

I was talking to a fellow reloader in a gun shop. He threw out that I should always crimp my rifle hunting loads because the recoil of the gun will change the OAL of the rounds in the magazine. Opinions?.......fire away.
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Old August 4, 2009, 08:03 PM   #2
RKG
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I have never crimped rifle rounds for bolt guns. Of course, I don't own a .458 Win., either.

I always crimp rounds for tube mag lever actions.

The closer question is for autos. So far, I have no problem leaving crimp off rounds for 5.56 (M4, Mini-14), .30-06 (M1) and .30 Carbine (M1 Carbine).
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Old August 4, 2009, 08:39 PM   #3
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It's not too common for a jacketed rifle bullet in a medium power rifle round to push in far enough to matter. Cast bullets will if you don't crimp, though.

That said, it is certainly the case that most commercial hunting bullets have a crimp cannelure and that commercial hunting loads and military ball ammo loads are crimped for rough handling resistance. At the same time, match jacketed ammo is never crimped that I've seen, despite being fired in semi-autos all the time without a hitch.

So, what's a person to think? My own experience is that its not really necessary to crimp jacketed bullets unless you have a very light-for-caliber rifle with sharp recoil. Sometimes crimping can improve ignition consistency, though. If you want to try it, do so and shoot groups to see how it affects the load? If they're better crimped, then crimp. If they aren't, then don't.
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Old August 4, 2009, 09:00 PM   #4
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The best way that I have found to decide whether you should crimp or not is to test a few loads and try them out. I have done several tests with different bullet and 30-06. I can see no difference at all in whether it has a VERY heavy crimp or no crimp at all. My rifle still shoots about the same size groups at up to 200 yards.That is the farthest I have tested since that is the farthest I would or have ever needed to take a deer.

For those reasons I put a light crimp on the ammo I use for hunting, just since the accuracy is no different and that way a dont have to worry about the OAL changing when in the magazine.
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Old August 4, 2009, 09:08 PM   #5
QBall45
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I crimp every rd I load. It works for me. I'm loading for my AR and cast lead 45ACP.
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Old August 4, 2009, 10:17 PM   #6
dmazur
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Some cartridges/powders require a heavy crimp, such as H110 in .44 Mag. Others require a "taper crimp", for proper headspace, such as .45 ACP. Yet others require a crimp for use in tubular magazines, such as .30-30.

Since I only reload 4 cartridges, I can only relate actual experience with these -
  • .45ACP - taper crimp
  • .44 Mag - firm roll crimp
  • .243 Win - no crimp
  • .30-06 Sprg - no crimp, except light crimp for Garand loads

As related to your question, the .44 Mag is used in a Ruger carbine with a tubular magazine, so that is another reason for the crimp. The .243 Win and .30-06 Sprg are used in bolt-action rifles with internal box magazines, and I've had no trouble with recoil causing the COAL to change. The crimp for the Garand is optional...some Garand shooters crimp and some don't.
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Old August 4, 2009, 10:23 PM   #7
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I know what you mean. I started out loading revolver rounds exclusively and it's pretty much mandatory to crimp for things like my 44 mag and 480 Ruger so I kind of got used to the nuances of what a good roll crimp is for those. So now I'm loading for things like 7 mm mag and all the manuals say you don't need to crimp for them. Sounds good.... but.... there IS a cannelure on my 7 mm mag bullets.... it MUST have been put there for SOME reason. I still don't know the answer. All I know is it don't seem natural to have no crimp at all. What I've been doing is turning the die body down just a tiny bit compared to no crimp at all. I can't SEE the crimp it puts in while seating but I think I can feel just a tiny bit of extra pressure at the top of the stroke so I'm guessing I'm putting a very mild taper crimp when I'm seating. I can't measure it or see it, but it just makes me FEEL better about it all.
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Old August 4, 2009, 10:39 PM   #8
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One more thing -

The Hornady 150gr FMJBT's I'm using for Garand loads have a cannelure, so there is some place to crimp into without distorting the jacket.

The bullets I'm using for hunting are either Hornady or Nosler -- the Hornady SST's have a cannelure and the Nosler BT's don't.

While I don't know this to be a fact, I believe I've read somewhere that you can get into trouble trying to crimp into a jacketed bullet with no cannelure.
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Old August 4, 2009, 11:08 PM   #9
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If the bullet has a cannelure "Crimp" if it doesn't don't. Don't use a bullet without a cannelure for 357 mag, 41 mag, 44 mag or larger. If the mag. moves the bullet it will be forward and jam your revolver and you will have to have it repaired.

All pistol cases are straight wall (T/C in rifle cal are not pistol). Pistol rounds are seated in the chamber with the case wall. (clean your pistol barrel and you will see what I am talking about). If you roll crimp your 45 ACP or 9 mm cases you take the chance that the case will go in too far and jam in the barrel and when you pull the trigger blow the back of your case off as well as the slide. (NO CRIMP on pistol cases, not even roll crimps please) Revolvers are different than Auto's some cylinders will index on the mouth of the case other will index on the rim of the case. Know you gun before reloading for it, like pressure limits, how it indexes and what is safe and what is not.

Have fun reloading but stay safe.

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Old August 4, 2009, 11:21 PM   #10
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What about the Barnes TSX's ?

last year hunting with my 300 WBY and 180 TSX's I had some in my pocket for a quick walk from camp, I knelt down with a suprise,, the bullet was leveraged into my leg and belt in the crease somehow and the bullet was inside the case. They were not full case loads (compressed). It totaly caught me by suprise and I worried about others doing the same thing in the magazine. My point<> I will always crimp hunting loads from now on so I don't worry about any length issues and movement of the bullet in the case on a trophy hunt. I did kill an nice 4 pt. buck but it was in the back of my head the whole hunt about (COL) and did the point of impact change. Just a light crimp solved everything and gave me peace of mind for future hunts.
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Old August 5, 2009, 11:11 AM   #11
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If I was loading rifle ammo and the book calls for no crimp, I would not crimp it.
However, you could always check you ammo. It would be a pain in the butt, but you could load the rifle, fire, unload remaining rounds and measure them. Reload all the ammo, fire and measure again.
It would be a little time consuming, but you would get the answer to your question. Who knows, maybe the rounds you are shooting really do not (or DO) require a crimp.
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Old August 5, 2009, 11:23 AM   #12
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Not yet...

I have yet to crimp a rifle round.

God bless.

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And remember: Hug your God and your guns - 'cause he's coming for them both and soon!
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Old August 5, 2009, 11:24 AM   #13
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That's an excellent idea Uncle Buck, and I think I'll do that. If for no other reason than just for my own peace of mind. All my previous reloading has been for big revolver rounds that call for some kind of roll crimp. It just kind of feels wrong to have no crimp at all on the big magnum rifle cartridges. I mean those bullets sure seem to slide into the case pretty doggone easy...
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Old August 5, 2009, 12:30 PM   #14
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Typically, I crimp handgun cartridges and not rifle rounds, but there are exceptions to the rule. Tube-magazine rifle rounds get crimped, but not autoloader rifles. Autoloader pistols get taper-crimped, revolvers get roll crimps (magnums really need it for several reasons).

To further confuse this issue, some magnum rifles using very slow powders like a crimp, as do heavy recoiling rifles, but I never crimp rifle cartridges any more.
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Old August 5, 2009, 01:37 PM   #15
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Rifle - 25-06 no crimp. Bullet is very snug and will not move even when pressed hard on a table top, shot out of a single shot gun.

44mag & 357 mag both get a roll crimp that is a little more than what I would called snug.

38 Special gets a nice roll crimp

Pistol - 380, 9mm, 40, 45 all get s little bit of a taper crimp enough so that the bullets will not move when forced down against a table top. I try to do as little as possible but you still need to taper these rounds to get the bell out.
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Old August 5, 2009, 08:45 PM   #16
.284
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uncle buck and everyone else

My shooting buddies and I did exactly what you suggested. The test loads were out of my 280 rem and used two differnet powders (both max loads). We checked the second and fifth rounds (for both loads) prior to shooting. There was NO change in the C.O.A.L. However, we have only checked during this one range session. We are going to check both of my buddies' 06's as well. My opinion, it's not needed. Naturally, when loading straight walls like my 44 mag a roll crimp is required.
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Old August 9, 2009, 12:38 PM   #17
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The Barnes # 4 manual suggests crimping the .308 130 grain TSX

Due to the short shank. Straight from Barnes. 30-06 section 130 TSX
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