Hornady Leverevolution 45-70 brass??

[KenSel]

Another 45-70 brass question.  I've got 2 boxes of Hornady Leverevolution brass for my 45-70 and I wanted to use it to reload but I believe it's too short for my intended use.  The brass measures 2.033" after being resized.  With the brass being this short, I'm not able to crimp it in my die.  It could be used in a single shot but I'm afraid that without a crimp the recoil would move the bullets all over the place and cause some serious problems for me.  I have a Lee Factory Crimp die.  Is there another way to crimp?  If not I'll just load it up and shoot it individually but I would prefer to load a few rounds in the mag tube. 

Thanks,
Kenny

[LaOtto222]

Wow -  That is short You might try a Lee Factory Crimp die. I do not have any, but reportedly they will crimp any bullet, even when there is no crimping groove. If it will not go into the die far enough to crimp (I do not know for sure) you can grind off enough at the bottom of the die to do so. It will not hurt the function of the die and would let you run the case in further to make a crimp. It would still work for "full length" cases as well. The grinding may not be needed, I just do not know. The Lee Factory Crimp dies are typically under $10.

[drdougrx]

Hi Ken

I think LaOtto is right about the Lee die.  I use it and like it allot.  I'd probably not grind a die however..that's just me...need to stay away from power tools!!! 

[KenSel]

I have the Lee factory crimp die but the brass is too short to be crimped in it and I don't really want to take a grinder to it so I'll just shoot them individually.

Thanks,
Ken

[Graybeard]

Dunno anything about Lee dies as I refuse to use them myself but with any other brand I'm aware of all you need to do is to screw the die down a bit further if you wish to crimp with a shorter case. Quite simple and then just readjust for the longer cases. Easy as falling off a log.

[quickdtoo]

Should work fine as Bill said, I use the 45-70 crimp die with a spacer on the shell holder to crimp 45-120 rounds, the opposite should work just as well by turning the crimp die into the press a bit further for the shorter brass.

Tim