Crimping Pistol Bullets - A Discussion

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Re: Crimping Pistol Bullets - A Discussion

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

GRV01 wrote:I wonder if theres a break-point for how much pressure will cause enough recoil to create a dangerous amount of setback

In any case i find myself surprised with a taper crimp sufficing for 357
In my case with near max loads of H110 and 180 gr bullets in the 357 and same powder and 320 grain bullets in the 45 Colt a taper crimp holds just fine. Neither set back nor "walking" out of the case. And they hold fine in the '92 magazines as well. That's actually how I adjust my crimp I load and crimp 10 dummies and stuff them in the tube then let it sit for 30 minutes, remove the cases and measure, when I find the setting that doesn't let the bullet slip I add an eighth turn to account for recoil action and so far it has worked just like I hoped.

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Re: Crimping Pistol Bullets - A Discussion

Post by Bagarocks »

Spent the past 3 months researching info on reloading the 1911.
I have two 45's and a 45 carbine have reloaded many many of rounds for each without problems.
Then I got 1911 government model Colt competition.
My first fail to battery or chamber was with my Colt.
After much research. I was ready.
After ironing out the fine details I finally was successful with different powders and OAL's.
My Max with RNFP 200gn. Is 1.245
My steps of accomplishing flawless chambering with 200 loads so far as follows.
Lee breechlock Challenger press.
Redding pro series titanium die set.
1: Resize
2: prime with Lee auto bench primer.
3: Lee universal expander die to flare.
4: Powder added with Lee dippers.
5: Redding bullet seat to depth.
6: Lee Bulge buster. Added this step after crimping was not solving case Gage fitting.
7: No crimp on OAL's over 1.200
Under 1.20 get light crimp.
This is my setup for 5 & 10 round test loads.
The thing that suprised me was after seating the bullet then bulge busting with no crimp and they measured at .470 at case mouth.
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Re: Crimping Pistol Bullets - A Discussion

Post by GasGuzzler »

As usual I'm coRnfused but I'll sit back and watch.
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Re: Crimping Pistol Bullets - A Discussion

Post by Ranch Dog »

B'rocks, are your RNFP bullet cast? If so, it seems a bit counterproductive to send them through the BB as something must give and I bet it is bullet diameter.
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Re: Crimping Pistol Bullets - A Discussion

Post by Bagarocks »

I'm not going to disagree.
However I had a multitude of rounds that would not seat in my case Gage nor seat in my barrel.
I pushed dummy rounds in my barrel to get COL which was 1.245. So through much trial and error with OAL's from max to minimum. When I ran my process as mentioned above All my rounds dropped/plinked into my barrel.
Like I said I have a Sig p220 and a S&W 745 and a high point carbine been loading 45 for 6 years.
Never had issues like this with any of those. Now I'm no expert on any of this but I not a novice either.
I put this out as my experience to maybe glean some light on it, good bad or indifferent.
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Re: Crimping Pistol Bullets - A Discussion

Post by Ranch Dog »

looks like you figured it out for sure, they shooting good?
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Re: Crimping Pistol Bullets - A Discussion

Post by Bagarocks »

I just realized you asked if they were lead. CJN lead RNFP 200gn.
I've been trying different powders, WST, N310 and True Blue shot the best.
Universal, ACC #7 was ok I'm tryng #7 with different data to give it another try.
I didn't like power pistol.
I'm trying Nitro 100 nf, Ramshot Zip in my nextbatch.
Seemed like longer OAL's shot better than shorter.
One more thing.
Thanks for the site, Great info on here!
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Re: Crimping Pistol Bullets - A Discussion

Post by Ranch Dog »

Bagarocks wrote:I didn't like power pistol.
Uh oh! Just traded a bunch of Trail Boss for Power Pistol! :|
Bagarocks wrote:One more thing.
Thanks for the site, Great info on here!
You're welcome, but it all comes down to members, like yourself, sharing the various reloading experiences.
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Re: Crimping Pistol Bullets - A Discussion

Post by GasGuzzler »

I have a can of PP but I'm not sure why. .45ACP is kinda like 9X19 wherein there's a bajillion powders. My current crutch is AutoComp. I got 6 pounds in trade so I'm using it for .45ACP.
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Re: Crimping Pistol Bullets - A Discussion

Post by Bagarocks »

Well I have finally determined to the best of my ability that crimping the 45ACP was my problem.
Seems .469 to .471 neck size are the measurements for proper
chambering of a round. I was seeing .472 and .473 on six and seven out of ten cases per batch. So I decided to measure the 100 cases for saami specs. Found couple under .888 but the rest were .888 to .894 This is where I believe my problem started, when I set my taper crimp die. I have to conclude that my first case must have been .894 this would explain cartridges not passing the case Gage. I was lightly crimping.So they weren't getting fully crimped this explains the varying degree of cases not passing.
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