Loose bullets on a Cannelure crimp?

[XtK]

Greetings, I have just started to reload my first set of rounds today (.223) with my XL 650 and I'm having a blast doing so, but I have a question in regards to crimping Cannelure bullets. After dialing everything in with the dies I made my first two rounds with 55gr fmj-bt bullets which came out flawlessly (In my head...), but I'm having doubts that the crimp I put on the Cannelure is sufficient because the bullets wiggle a tad that it seems like its loose but the crimp is tight enough to hold them in. Here is an enclosed pic of what I created.

I crimped on the top of the Cannelure and if I were to rotate the bullets from left to right it would snag after a click or two and stop.

Is that common?

Thanks

[chirpy]

Sounds like you might need a smaller expander ball so that the neck has more tension to hold the bullet. Check with the company (Dillon I assume) who made your dies to see if they can furnish a smaller one. Be ready with measurements when you call.

FWIW

Richard

Edited April 19, 2010 by chirpy

[addicted]

Bullets should be tight even without the crimp. somethings up.

[benos]

It's hard to tell from the pic - it almost looks like the case neck isn't resized all the way down?

Will the round drop into the chamber?

be

[blkbrd]

Your case neck should be smaller than your bullet after sizing approx..001"-.003". May have to polish down your expander ball.

After seating you should not be able to push the bullet into a properly sized case with hand pressure.

If you apply a very heavy crimp you can actually crimp the bullet down, the case will spring back more than the bullet and it will be loose.

Looking at the photo it looks like you have WAY over-crimped the case. Think of the crimp as a belling/chamfer removal tool or secondary safety not as the primary means of holding the bullet, thats case tension.

Many of us don't use any crimp at all on rifle ammo.

Edited April 21, 2010 by blkbrd

[XtK]

Thanks for the help guys!

As for the seating die I was having an issue with the bullets falling into the casing (I didint adjust the full length sizer correctly) which I then corrected with the bullets being impossible to put in by hand, but I think Im going to have to back out the seating die a because it's hitting the shell plate on the downpull before its fully pulled down which may limit my sizing die and my crimp die. Some of my loads crimped on tightly, and others were experiancing the same issue I had earlier on the two in the picture.

Ill keep trying some of those suggested adjustments and report back here....

[Romey]

Is there a bulge in the neck? Appears there is which can mean your crimping BEFORE your seating and hence swelling the case neck. Simple die adjustment would fix that.

Also to help with your expander and run out, you pull your expander ball out , stick it in a drill and use 1500 grit sandpaper to polish it up real good. This will allow a little less tension and drag on resizing. That lil trick was taught to me by David Tubb and I do it to all my expander balls no matter the die or caliber. It will also improve case life because your not moving the brass as much.

[XtK]

Well it's been a long time since I last posted and I'm giving an update on whats going on.

After polishing the expanding ball with 1200-2000 grit sand paper I was still experiencing the issue of my bullets being loose on the Cannelure crimp not holding on tightly... I this point opted for a different brand of bullets for testing purposes to make sure I was not going crazy.

Originally I using a loose bag of Hornady 55 gr FMJBT With Cannelure which was the one I was experiencing an issue with, but after trying out a different batch of bullets (I got the bulk package from Wideners) the bullets there were tight enough to hold themselves in the case neck without a crimp.

In comparing both the Hornady vs the Wideners bulk pack I believe the Hornady bullets I got were slightly smaller in diameter than the Wideners. The Hornady batch also contained a deeper Cannelure line than Wideners which made crimping a tad bit useless other than having a line to gauge OAL.

Dont get me wrong though, Hornady does makes some great stuff and the bullets I originally bought that were giving me issues still shot fine out of the gun given the looseness.... But for now I think Ill put my money on Wideners bulk packs till they let me down.

Thanks for the help guys, case closed