Hornady's Reloading Tip of the Month
Posted: 02 Jul 2019 14:52
EFFECT OF CRIMP DEPTH OF SHOTSHELLS
Crimp depth of a finished shotshell reload is an important dimension to monitor for consistent ballistics and safe loads. This is one adjustment on a shotshell loading machine that is easy to overlook. An example of the correct crimp is what is found on factory loads. If your reload crimp is too loose (not enough crimp depth), it will hurt ballistic uniformity. A crimp that is too tight (too deep) can increase ballistics more than what is expected from the reload data. All shotshell reload data on the Hodgdon website has been created using an average crimp depth of 0.055".
Crimp depth of a finished shotshell reload is an important dimension to monitor for consistent ballistics and safe loads. This is one adjustment on a shotshell loading machine that is easy to overlook. An example of the correct crimp is what is found on factory loads. If your reload crimp is too loose (not enough crimp depth), it will hurt ballistic uniformity. A crimp that is too tight (too deep) can increase ballistics more than what is expected from the reload data. All shotshell reload data on the Hodgdon website has been created using an average crimp depth of 0.055".