Crimping wisdom

[DocSavage]

All,


Working with my Hornady Lock n Load AP, their custom grade 9mm Ti dies, and 9mm shell plate, taking it slowly and am setting things up as per the video provided and on Hornady's YouTube site. I'm a bit stuck now...

Let me first say that I am not dropping powder yet, nor am I priming these rounds. These are "dry runs" to ensure I have my process correct and OAL right...

So station 1 has to be the decapping and resizing die, its all set well and no issues. Station 2 is supposed to be the expanding die, but I've moved my powder drop up as I'm using the PTX setup. I get a good bell, just enough to capture my 115 gr RN from Berry's, and a full swing of the pistol metering insert. Station 3 is a powder cop (or will be - wanna get rid of one?), empty for now... Which brings me to dreaded station 4...

Station 4 is the bullet seating and crimp die. I have it adjusted for great depth, 1.1125-50" always repeatable and I understand how to adjust for even more fine tuning. I seem to get a good neck tension but when chambering these they seem to creep shorter. I am able to hold them in my hand and press them against my bench and get the same kind of slip in tension.

So what gives? I am not using a factory crimp die, and I have over tightened the crimp on a couple of these causing a funny ripple in the case. I've backed off a bit but I'm still not confident in the crimp.

I've attached a photo of what I've made...











Any advice would be great!

Cheers,

Doc

 

[mike_in_md]

The document that come with the dies should have instructions how to set up the die for crimping. Do not roll crimp. Taper crimp to .375. My recommendation is to get a Lee factory crimp die, which is what I use for all my pistol loads.

 

[Pinecone]

WAY over crimped.

For semi auto pistol rounds, you should just remove the bell mouth. You should not see ANY crimp.

Especially with bullets without a cannelure (groove).

 

[lx1x]

The document that come with the dies should have instructions how to set up the die for crimping. Do not roll crimp. Taper crimp to .375. My recommendation is to get a Lee factory crimp die, which is what I use for all my pistol loads.

+1 on Lee.

 

[dj_in_md]

Lee factory crimp will solve a lot of your issues.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

WAY over crimped.

For semi auto pistol rounds, you should just remove the bell mouth. You should not see ANY crimp.

Especially with bullets without a cannelure (groove).

Got that right. The final crimp should not even be noticeable. When I complete my rounds with my Lee dies it's hard to see any crimp. I don't have a fancy set up here. I do one process at time with a single stage press. It also appears that the bullet is too big for the brass. I assume the brass was sized before the bullet was seated ?

 

[hvymax]

Lee factory crimp will solve a lot of your issues.

Got that right. The final crimp should not even be noticeable. When I complete my rounds with my Lee dies it's hard to see any crimp. I don't have a fancy set up here. I do one process at time with a single stage press. It also appears that the bullet is too big for the brass. I assume the brass was sized before the bullet was seated ?

Way overcrimped.

 

[splatt]

I always crimp as a separate operation, I get better results. Back out the seater die so it seats without crimp, then use a taper crimp die or the Lee FCD.
Load a lot of Berrys and Rainier, they only need enough crimp to remove the flare.

 

[John from MD]

Get the Lee Factory Crimp Die and adjust semi auto cases to just take out the bell. These cases headspace on the mouth of the case and you can wind up with misfires if you crimp too much. You can also raise pressures too high by overcrimping.

Regards,

John