.38 crimp issues.

[DssG19]

Hey guys I was loading some 125 CMJ(montana gold), into once fired .38 brass. I'm crimping into the cannelure with a hornady seating/crimping die, for an OAL of 1.450. About 10-15% of the rounds are loose in the cartridge. The other 85% or so seem to be fine. When I tighten the crimp any further it buckles the brass towards the base and leaves a ripple in the brass. I don't think I can add any more crimp. Should I be using a seperate crimping die? Any ideas here? Thanks guys.

[Crazy4nitro]

Are you resizing the case? After the resizing stage the brass should be tight enough to hold the bullet.

Side Note...I had a set of .41Mag Dies from the '70s that had a wore out Crimping Die. the crimp wouldnt go tight enough. I sent them back for new ones and Problem solved.

'Nitro

[DssG19]

These are brand new dies, After resizing the case it tight on the bullet. I'm using very little bell.

[DssG19]

any other ideas?

[918v]

You are overcrimping.

Crimp just enough to roll the case mouth into the cannelure. If you overcrimp, the edge of the case mouth bottoms out against the cannelure and tries to dig in further, but it cannot. So it begins to buckle away from the bullet. Crimp hard enough and you will lose all case tension on the bullet and it will spin freely.

Bell the case slightly, just enough to accept the bullet. Crimp slightly, just enough to roll the case mouth and no more.

[DssG19]

You are overcrimping.

Crimp just enough to roll the case mouth into the cannelure. If you overcrimp, the edge of the case mouth bottoms out against the cannelure and tries to dig in further, but it cannot. So it begins to buckle away from the bullet. Crimp hard enough and you will lose all case tension on the bullet and it will spin freely.

Bell the case slightly, just enough to accept the bullet. Crimp slightly, just enough to roll the case mouth and no more.

I think you're right. I backed the die all the way back to no crimp, and slowly worked up until I got the brass to bite the bullet. I still had one bullet that I could push in with my fingers out of 50, but thats not bad I guess.

What do you think about the other rounds that are over crimped? I have about 200 or so rounds that I did with the overcrimp. They look fine, but you think they're fine to shoot? Thanks for the help.

[Anvil]

I think the problem is you're trying to seat and crimp in one die and it sounds like you may be crimping while the bullet is still trying to seat. That would create the kind of problem you are describing.

You need to use a seperate crimping die. It's just the way ammo is properly made. You just can't combine those two processes.

You can make ammo with seat/crimp in one die but it's a comprimise and it's never worth the frustration and how much really does a crimp die cost? 15 dollars?

[bhawkeye]

+1 to Anvil's reply. Also you need to be careful not to over-crimp. This can also cause rounds that are "loose" & cause setback or forward movement in the cylinder.

The rounds that you already completed - I'd test & any that you can find a tension problem with ( pressing w/25-35 lbs pressure & detect a col differece) I'd pull, resize & reload w/seperate seating & crimping. :seeya:

[DssG19]

+1 to Anvil's reply. Also you need to be careful not to over-crimp. This can also cause rounds that are "loose" & cause setback or forward movement in the cylinder.

The rounds that you already completed - I'd test & any that you can find a tension problem with ( pressing w/25-35 lbs pressure & detect a col differece) I'd pull, resize & reload w/seperate seating & crimping. :seeya:

Thanks guys, I think i'm gonna go ahead with the crimp die.

So, bhawkeye you don't see any problems with the complete rounds as long as they are holding the crimp they have? I was worried that too much crimp might cause some pressure issues. Again, these rounds look real good, so they should be fine.

[bhawkeye]

So, bhawkeye you don't see any problems with the complete rounds as long as they are holding the crimp they have? Nope,

I don't think you can cause any overpressure problems with crimp, unless you're at the bleeding edge (& even then I wouldn't worry about the crimp - but I'd worry about several other things). :seeya:

[918v]

What do you think about the other rounds that are over crimped? I have about 200 or so rounds that I did with the overcrimp. They look fine, but you think they're fine to shoot? Thanks for the help.

If you try to shoot them, the bullets will back out of the case and bind-up your revolver. Pull and do over. On a side note, to make sure you have sufficient case tension on the bullet, measure the expander and the bullet. You should have at least .002" difference.