Bottle neck cartridges - Crimp or Not?

[YRUpunting?]

Talking Handi loading only.  Do you crimp your bottle neck cartridges?  The only one I've crimped is the 22 Hornet. 

[OldSchoolRanger]

No need to crimp if your loading only for Handi's.  The only time I crimp is for semi-auto's.

[craigster]

I don't. And I don't crimp any bottle necked round unless  it will be used in a tubular magazine.

[petemi]

I crimp.  Don't ask me why.  I don't know.  I just always adjusted the seating die to a light crimp.    It may have come from loading .310 bullets in the .32-20.

Pete

[8uck5nort]

I crimp my bullets for the .223 and will for the 8x57 and 35 whelen granting I can find a crimp die for the latter. In theory it is supposed to make your ammo more consistent. Repeatable consistent pressure to get the bullet moving, and granting you keep the other 9 million variables constant, should make your handloads more accurate if the crimp is done correctly. It gives me a feeling of confidence in my own reloaded ammunition if nothing else.

[gcrank1]

It kinda depends on the neck wall tension of the sized or not sized cases and the bullet dia. Im working with. What you want for field/hunting ammo may be a tighter fit than what you would just shoot targets with, too. In general, the snug fit I like for cast bullets wont just fall or easily pull apart, though this wonderful alignment of the planets does not always happen right away. What I do not want to do is mess up a nice cast bullet that fits the throat well by forcing a crimp on it that it will then have to scrape all the way on out of. On jacketed you do not want to crimp if there is not a cannalure or such and the resizing dies are supposed to undersize the neck enough to give very good neck tension on the smooth sides of the recommended bullet diameter.
IMHO, if you cant easily push a bullet deeper or pull it out of the case there is NO need for a crimp, except with certain powders that tend to burn better with high launch pressures.

[tacklebury]

I crimp and have tested with and without.  Most of the loads I have developed do better with a crimp.  The only calibers I don't have an FCD for is the 40-60 Marlin, because they don't make one. 

[SHOOTALL]

There is a lot of different opinion on this subject. Bottom line is depending on what cart. you are working with, which powder, bullet, primer and environmental conditions you may or may not find a crimp necessary or even useful. As a hand/re loader that is the beauty , you can experiment and find just the right combo to get the best out of your rifle. Some powders benefit from a crimp others do not. That can be true even in a SS rifle.

[SHOOTALL]

Of course there are different ways to crimp which also can make a difference.

[gcrank1]

Yep, one man's crimp is another man's CRIMP

[quickdtoo]

Here's some test results of crimping vs no crimp, I crimp all rifle rounds with a Lee FCD, I've made some FCDs for rounds that Lee doesn't make so I could crimp them. 

Tim

http://www.accuratereloading.com/crimping.html

[Groo]

Groo here
 The only time I do not crimp is when I seat the bullet against the lands.
 In handguns [ read non bottle necked cases], I have had too many bullets come out of the case and tie up the gun,
 The older ,or more times you load your brass the higher the chance the primer will blow the bullet out before lighting the powder.
 I have now gone to all heavy crimps.
 The bullets go when and where I want, and don't otherwise.

[craigster]

Might be comparing apples to oranges, but, do the hardcore ultimate accuracy benchrest shooters crimp their stuff?

[snuffy]

If you're going to crimp, you have to be sure the brass is trimmed to the same length. Otherwise the crimp will vary too much. Sure the taper crimp type of die is LESS critical But varying length still results in different amounts of crimp.

That said, I don't crimp ANY bottle necked (BN) rounds. I don't own any lever guns in BN cartridges.

IF loading BN shells with lead boolits, then the need to bell/flare the mouth results in the need to remove that belling. Then just enough crimp is applied to iron out that flare.

[gcrank1]

Well put, Snuffy

[cwlongshot]

Crimping ( or not crimping) nothing to do with case design.

As mentioned its for action design or bullet retention or even powder burning properties.

Good news is nothing harmed if you don't crimp to much. Try it with and with out. Let the gun/load decide if you "need" it or not.

Handis don't "need" to be crimped based on the single shot action alone.

I crimp magnum pistol calibers generally not rifle calibers.

CW