.223 Seat / Crimp

[Graham Smith]

I think I've sorted out most reloading issues for .223 but one thing still seems a bit vague - to crimp or not to crimp, that is the question.

Some seating dies can also be used to crimp or not, to a greater or lesser degree, depending on how you set them.

Some die sets come with a crimp die, some don't.

Some reloading recommendations call for crimping some don't.

So, what's the story? Does it matter or not and if it does what's the preferred way to do it?

[ALBY]

i am using a $12 lee factory crimp die and i like it.

[RiggerJJ]

for a bolt gun, no crimp.

for an autoloader (AR15, etc), just enought crimp to prevent setback. load a mag, shoot one, then manually eject one. do this 4-5 times and measure the ejected rounds checking for setback. work the crimp up to just enough to prevent it. (kinda just like a pistol round)

jj

[Wanted]

Same here, A very light crimp for my AR's.

[Taildraggerdave]

Same here, A very light crimp for my AR's.

+1

My Dillon Die set has a crimp die so I use it. Have some 1 moa targets I can't argue with.

Take care,

Dave

[JACKAL]

The Lee Pacesetter dies come with a fcd. Thinking about getting them for single stage reloading.

[jaredr]

for a bolt gun, no crimp.

for an autoloader (AR15, etc), just enought crimp to prevent setback. load a mag, shoot one, then manually eject one. do this 4-5 times and measure the ejected rounds checking for setback. work the crimp up to just enough to prevent it. (kinda just like a pistol round)

jj

+1 to crimp .223 (or any rifle round) for an autoloader. for bolt gun, only need to crimp to avoid bullet pull on recoil, can't see that being a problem with any .223 loading

-jaredr

[Dan Sierpina]

I like to be the dissenting opinion. I use no crimp on rifle ammo. That's in the AR or M1a.

Besides 3gun, I've shot Highpower, and never had a problem with bullet set back, unless there was a magazine issue that resulted in a failure to feed. Proper neck tension is sufficient.

[smokshwn]

for a bolt gun, no crimp.

for an autoloader (AR15, etc), just enought crimp to prevent setback. load a mag, shoot one, then manually eject one. do this 4-5 times and measure the ejected rounds checking for setback. work the crimp up to just enough to prevent it. (kinda just like a pistol round)

jj

+1 on JJ's advice.

I generally just take a loaded round measure the OAL, push it against the loading table and measure again. If the length shortens I increase the crimp until a good solid push on the bullet does not shorten my OAL.

[DougCarden]

My gunsmith told me that I needed to add some crimp, not a lot, but some crimp. He stated that he after the first couple cases blowing up in ARs that he experienced with factory ammo with no crimp (60K of pressure in an aluminum receiver near his face) that he wouldn't shoot reloads or reman. ammo that didnt have some crimp. It works for me, and I have targets that show that the crimp doesn't affect accuracy either....

Good luck,

DougC

[Graham Smith]

OK, crimp it is. Now for the second part of the question.

Some seating dies (like the Lee) can also apply some crimp while others require a separate crimp die. My starter dies are Lees and have both a Seat/Crimp die and a separate crimp die. Right now, I have it set so that the seating die does not crimp at all. But if the seating die can also crimp, what's the advantage of the separate crimp die?

Edited February 8, 2010 by Graham Smith

[paul gilman]

OK, crimp it is. Now for the second part of the question.

Some seating dies (like the Lee) can also apply some crimp while others require a separate crimp die. My starter dies are Lees and have both a Seat/Crimp die and a separate crimp die. Right now, I have it set so that the seating die does not crimp at all. But if the seating die can also crimp, what's the advantage of the separate crimp die?

I have found that the most important thing for consistent ammo when using brass that is not of all the same head stamp is to use a premium micrometer seating die and then use dillion taper crimp die.