The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015 ... Newsletter

A reloading PSA has popped up in a Facebook forum known as the Shooting Bench, complete with pictures to really hammer the message home. Apparently the reloader in question was loading .45-70s and failed to crimp;

Crimp is essential for any round which is fed from a magazine. For single shot rifles all it achieves is shorter brass life.
Fred

I'll take your word for that as I don't reload my own....

Still, it serves as a warning I suppose.

I have never crimped anything and I reload loads of cals several of which are magazine fed and never had a problem.

FredB wrote:Crimp is essential for any round which is fed from a magazine. For single shot rifles all it achieves is shorter brass life.
Fred

i don't crimp .223 for my AR and it shoots sub MOA all day at 100 yards.

I'm a bit of a novice reloader though, why should I be crimping? Is this a safety issue?

FredB wrote:Crimp is essential for any round which is fed from a magazine. For single shot rifles all it achieves is shorter brass life.
Fred

For semi-auto .... Yes.

For magazine fed bolt action ... no need.

Mezzer

Some calibers I crimp and others I don't but I assess each round on its own merit. For example, my rcbs .223 sizing die produces a nice tight neck which firmly retains the bullet, so much so that it takes at least 4-5 hard blows with the kinetic hammer to remove, needless to say I don't crimp this calibre. However, my .30 carbine die produces a relatively loose neck which I then crimp to ensure that the bullet is not seated deeper when being chambered.
I think you just need to inspect your home loads on an individual basis and make up your own mind if the round is safe and fit for purpose.

Cad Monkey wrote:Some calibers I crimp and others I don't but I assess each round on its own merit. For example, my rcbs .223 sizing die produces a nice tight neck which firmly retains the bullet, so much so that it takes at least 4-5 hard blows with the kinetic hammer to remove, needless to say I don't crimp this calibre. However, my .30 carbine die produces a relatively loose neck which I then crimp to ensure that the bullet is not seated deeper when being chambered.
I think you just need to inspect your home loads on an individual basis and make up your own mind if the round is safe and fit for purpose.

Interesting about .30 carbine as I have this as well and have never crimped, in fact I'm sure when I first started out with this cal I read or heard that it's not supposed to be crimped. I use lee dies and load lead and jacketed bullets and never had a problem in my M1 Carbine.

I personally don't crimp and I reload for three AR 15's, two semi auto and one of them a select fire. I do however have my dies set up for good neck tension. To date I have never had a problem and all three have had a shed full of rounds through them.

Blu wrote:I personally don't crimp and I reload for three AR 15's, two semi auto and one of them a select fire. I do however have my dies set up for good neck tension. To date I have never had a problem and all three have had a shed full of rounds through them.

But this is probably set by a taper crimp in itself.

I think people get confused by the roll crimp that you see commonly on a pistol cartridge running into a cannular on the bullet and the taper crimp that some dies have in the seating die and others have as a separate operation.