Do I need more crimp?

[Joe4d]

I did the 25cent trigger job and am at about 10 DA,,, gun is stock But I wouldnt suspect trigger pull has anything to do with bullet set back ,,, Although. You mentioned yours wouldnt fire with factory ammo and having other issues.. I wounder if you have a head space issue that is causing both your light strikes AND bullet setback. Like there is too much play between the face of the moonclips and brass and the breech face. One of these threads I have a pictured of fired moonclips from my gun and reloads loaded with 2007 era wolf primers, which are pretty hard.

[ysrracer]

42 minutes ago, Joe4d said:

I did the 25cent trigger job and am at about 10 DA,,, gun is stock But I wouldnt suspect trigger pull has anything to do with bullet set back ,,, Although. You mentioned yours wouldnt fire with factory ammo and having other issues.. I wounder if you have a head space issue that is causing both your light strikes AND bullet setback. Like there is too much play between the face of the moonclips and brass and the breech face. One of these threads I have a pictured of fired moonclips from my gun and reloads loaded with 2007 era wolf primers, which are pretty hard.

 

No, I'm just shocked you can fire LAX reloads, but with 10 pounds double action, that makes sense.

 

I no longer have light strikes at 6 pounds, but now I use Federal Small Pistol Primers.

[VincentVanGopher]

I have never been able to get Federal Brass to hold a bullet in either my S&W 986 or my Ruger SGP100 9mm revolvers - not FMJ - not coated.  Tried many times & gave up.  Seem like the brass is just too soft and they walk out.  Use RP brass or Blazer brass and have no problem. 

[GOF]

On 5/21/2023 at 2:11 PM, Vic said:

I've used DG ( Damn Good Bullets) for many years, great prices, always in stock, and never experienced any bullet creep in either 38 special or 38 SC.

I'll second that in 38 SPL, 38 Long Colt, and 9mm, and I use a taper crimp for each.

[DougCarden]

Maybe try less case mouth bell.  You want more case tension to hold the bullet in place.  When you over bell the case you have less case mouth tension and when you crimp the case it will spring back.  Crimping more doesn't help sense the part of the case that needs to hold the bullet is loose.

[shred]

Maybe pull the sizing die and have a close look at the carbide ring.  I found one of mine was cracked chasing a similar problem.  Because it all went through the same gun, the lack of sizing was less obvious.

 

Another possibility might be too much expanding at the powder drop or swage (1050) stations.

[testosterone]

On 9/14/2023 at 7:04 PM, DougCarden said:

Maybe try less case mouth bell.  You want more case tension to hold the bullet in place.  When you over bell the case you have less case mouth tension and when you crimp the case it will spring back.  Crimping more doesn't help sense the part of the case that needs to hold the bullet is loose.

 

This guy knows things, pay very close attention.

[Speedwagon]

I had the same problem so now I use a Lee 91180 die to apply a slight roll crimp. It's a 9mm Makarov seat and crimp die but I remove the seater and seat with a Redding seat die. I called Lee twice and they told me they don't have a 9mm die that applies a roll crimp, but talking to people at a range found that this die does.

I use a Precision Delta RN FMJ 124gn bullet with 3.7gns of Clay's powder. 

I use a FMJ bullet because the roll crimp will break into a coated bullets coating which is something they advise against doing. I've shot twelve local matches without problems so I plan on using this process moving forward. 

[ysrracer]

1 minute ago, Speedwagon said:

I had the same problem so now I use a Lee 91180 die to apply a slight roll crimp. It's a 9mm Makarov seat and crimp die but I remove the seater and seat with a Redding seat die. I called Lee twice and they told me they don't have a 9mm die that applies a roll crimp, but talking to people at a range found that this die does.

I use a Precision Delta RN FMJ 124gn bullet with 3.7gns of Clay's powder. 

I use a FMJ bullet because the roll crimp will break into a coated bullets coating which is something they advise against doing. I've shot twelve local matches without problems so I plan on using this process moving forward. 

 

Interesting, thanks.

[mchapman]

Lee does make a roll crimp die in 38 short colt and I have found that it works on my 9mm's for my 929 and as a side note they will work in my 1911's also. I have been using this same die for years and never switch it out when I go from 38sc to 9mm and back, I change sizing decapping dies and shell plates is all. Using pc'd 147/155 cast projectiles at OAL of 1.160.

[MikeyScuba]

I've used a LEE U 9mm die and LEE fcd for years and probably over 100k rounds.  Not a problem and I leave one hell of a crimp with the .358 bullets.

 

Supposedly I'm doing it all wrong according to some here but I'm sticking to what works.

[Dr. Phil]

I use the same setup. 

My 929 is over 70K and I don't see the problem on my end. I usually re-test for this almost every time I get a new batch of bullets. Even though the bullets are the same from the same suppliers.

[tomjerry1]

Well, I sure wish I could figure this 929 Rev bullet thing out? My last load is Blue Bullet 38/357 147gr, OAL 1.16", crimp is .380", 3.3gr Vectan 9.5(128 pf), Federal SPP, WIN brass, the bullets are still walking out .020". I have also tried Plated with the same results. I have tried many different combinations of dies, I guess I should try that crimp till it tumbles, and than back off the crimp. This revolver goes against anything I have ever done, what a pain!

Oh, the pistol does shoot well, I especially like it since I cut the barrel to 5"

[pskys2]

59 minutes ago, tomjerry1 said:

Well, I sure wish I could figure this 929 Rev bullet thing out? My last load is Blue Bullet 38/357 147gr, OAL 1.16", crimp is .380", 3.3gr Vectan 9.5(128 pf), Federal SPP, WIN brass, the bullets are still walking out .020". I have also tried Plated with the same results. I have tried many different combinations of dies, I guess I should try that crimp till it tumbles, and than back off the crimp. This revolver goes against anything I have ever done, what a pain!

Oh, the pistol does shoot well, I especially like it since I cut the barrel to 5"

Try crimping to.370

[MikeyScuba]

I leave an indent on the projectile.  Never had tumbling issues. Nor creeping rounds.  Simply keep crimping until the creeping stops.

[tomjerry1]

I got nothing to lose, more crimp, here I come.

[NoSteel]

On 9/19/2023 at 12:23 PM, MikeyScuba said:

I've used a LEE U 9mm die and LEE fcd for years and probably over 100k rounds.  Not a problem and I leave one hell of a crimp with the .358 bullets.

 

Supposedly I'm doing it all wrong according to some here but I'm sticking to what works.

I run same dies,  .358  Coated 160gr.  The .358dia bullet fits damn tight in a 9mm case to begin with so it doesn’t take allot of crimp…

[ysrracer]

2 hours ago, NoSteel said:

I run same dies,  .358  Coated 160gr.  The .358dia bullet fits damn tight in a 9mm case to begin with so it doesn’t take allot of crimp…

 

I crimp mine until I see a ring on a pulled bullet. So far so good.

[pskys2]

2 hours ago, NoSteel said:

I run same dies,  .358  Coated 160gr.  The .358dia bullet fits damn tight in a 9mm case to begin with so it doesn’t take allot of crimp…

If you're using a dillon powder measure i think it's uniquetek that has a powder drop expander for.358 bullets.  It does make a difference.

[ysrracer]

43 minutes ago, pskys2 said:

If you're using a dillon powder measure i think it's uniquetek that has a powder drop expander for.358 bullets.  It does make a difference.

 

I tried one of those. It opened up the case too much. I finally settled on a Lee U die, a Mr Bullet Feeder funnel, and a .358 coated bullet.

Edited December 11, 2023 by ysrracer

[tomjerry1]

This is pretty much where I am, going with more crimp for now.

[MikeyScuba]

13 hours ago, pskys2 said:

If you're using a dillon powder measure i think it's uniquetek that has a powder drop expander for.358 bullets.  It does make a difference.

I have the UniqueTek die too.