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AR15.COM
12/15/2014 3:19:30 PM EDT
I've been handloading more and more for my SPR. Unlike my other calibers that I load for, I only have a basic redding die set with a crimp in the seater die. I'm wondering if anyone here uses neck bushing die and micrometer seating die with no crimp for their SPR? If so, do you crimp afterwards?
12/15/2014 5:25:17 PM EDT
[#1]
I don't crimp for precision loads.

For plinking or training ammo, I crimp using a Lee crimp die in the last station of my Dillon 550.
12/16/2014 11:18:15 PM EDT
[#2]
I don't crimp anything for a rifle
12/27/2014 7:38:28 AM EDT
[#3]
I crimp ALL of my my ammo including MATCH stuff. FGGM is the factory ammo that all are judged by and it has a crimp as all factory ammo. I used a Lee FCD and I tested my ammo with and without the crimp. My numbers are great using the FCD, ES almost into single digits. I say it's do to the unifrom neck tension from the crimp.
12/27/2014 5:45:42 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote History
Quoted:
I crimp ALL of my my ammo including MATCH stuff. FGGM is the factory ammo that all are judged by and it has a crimp as all factory ammo. I used a Lee FCD and I tested my ammo with and without the crimp. My numbers are great using the FCD, ES almost into single digits. I say it's do to the unifrom neck tension from the crimp.
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x2. This mirrors my experience.
12/27/2014 8:09:53 PM EDT
[#5]
really?  i've never crimped any match ammo.   of course i crimp blasting ammo for carbine classes and such, but for accuracy? never.  shot across the course for years and went to perry about 5 years, got my distinguished badge.  none of the guys i was around crimped their match ammo.

never seen a competitive benchrester crimping ammo

12/28/2014 2:07:59 AM EDT
[#6]
Quote History
Quoted:
really?  i've never crimped any match ammo.   of course i crimp blasting ammo for carbine classes and such, but for accuracy? never.  shot across the course for years and went to perry about 5 years, got my distinguished badge.  none of the guys i was around crimped their match ammo.

never seen a competitive benchrester crimping ammo

View Quote


It's an old wives tale or misconception that a crimp will degrade accuracy.  The FCD applies a slight taper crimp and not a roll crimp. Like I said all factory match ammo has a crimp including FGGM and it's accurate as hell. There are many paths to the road of accuracy. ..
12/28/2014 2:10:09 AM EDT
[#7]
I crimp anything I load for a semi auto. I did a batch of non-crimped .223 and I hand cycled them through a mag to check oal, etc. I had one round where the bullet was pushed back deeper into the case as the bullet nose hit the feedramp.
12/28/2014 2:07:06 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote History
Quoted:


It's an old wives tale or misconception that a crimp will degrade accuracy.  The FCD applies a slight taper crimp and not a roll crimp. Like I said all factory match ammo has a crimp including FGGM and it's accurate as hell. There are many paths to the road of accuracy. ..
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View All Quotes
Quote History
Quoted:
Quoted:
really?  i've never crimped any match ammo.   of course i crimp blasting ammo for carbine classes and such, but for accuracy? never.  shot across the course for years and went to perry about 5 years, got my distinguished badge.  none of the guys i was around crimped their match ammo.

never seen a competitive benchrester crimping ammo



It's an old wives tale or misconception that a crimp will degrade accuracy.  The FCD applies a slight taper crimp and not a roll crimp. Like I said all factory match ammo has a crimp including FGGM and it's accurate as hell. There are many paths to the road of accuracy. ..


I doubt it's a question of many paths so much as different requirements for accuracy. If your standard for accurate as hell is factory ammo that's fine. Will be insufficient for others needs though.

I'm not saying you couldn't make reasonably accurate ammo with a crimp. I'm saying a crimp won't improve accuracy unless something is pretty shabby to begin with like neck tension. A crimp is a solution to a specific problem and isn't generally needed or used in precision shooting circles.
12/29/2014 2:48:02 AM EDT
[#9]
Okay I think that you have misread my post. I said that federal gold medal match is amunition that all is judged by. Most beginning hand loaders shoot for this as a standard at least in the beginning stages. My hand loads are definitely sub half moa period, have shot quite a few 5 shot groups in the .1s and 2s at 100 yards. I have been able to shoot submoa with out 1k. I dont think that would happen with shoddy reloading methods. All a crimp does is apply uniformed neck tension much like a neck bushings do. AND before you say they don't, I don't mean in the literal sense but in the way they both hold the bullet with uniformed tension. The slight ring that is put on the bullet is no where near the deformation that is put on it by the rifling and we all know that doesn't do squat to a bullet. There are indeed many roads to accuracy. I have seen many shooters hold their own and sometimes win a matches with a stock rifles and factory ammunition. It's the Indian and not the arrow.

If only one way worked then we would all the same thing. All of using the same rifles, calibers, powders etc.... Something tells me that you have never tried it yourself and are either repeating the wives tale or are confusing a roll crimp that is put on pi king fodder.
1/5/2015 12:11:47 PM EDT
[#10]
Using the Lee FCD I've maintained excellent results while gaining piece of mind reference bullet set back.  I use a magnifying glass and adjust the FCD to where I just can discern a crimp... for me... it works.
1/5/2015 12:44:38 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote History
Quoted:
I don't crimp anything for a rifle
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Me either, but I use bushing sizers and can control neck constriction.

I guess if I had a lever action .357, or .44 tube loader, things would be different, but I don't.

Chris
1/15/2015 2:05:29 PM EDT
[#12]
Single digit ES? Hell I'm sometimes at triple digit ES with my match load and I was able to hold MOA at 500 yards this weekend with my SPR. I have a feeling this may be due less to the load and more to the chrono though. I don't quite trust mine.
1/17/2015 4:48:15 PM EDT
[#13]
Lee FCD for both 556 and 308 precisoin.  With my loads and my rifles it certainly doesn't hurt accuracy.   In general I've found that i get better ES with a light crimp than without. As an example, my ES from the last 8 rounds I shot was sub 15FPS*

Is it necessary?  Meh.  I do it because it doesn't hurt IMPE, seems to help ES which does help and I have a progressive press so it doesn't add any extra work for me.  .




*Disclaimer:  I sort bullets by 10th grain groups, I hand throw all charges on a digital scale accurate to 1/2 a 10th grain and all brass is sorted by lot number.  I don't mess with primer holes or water capacity or brass weight sorting.   YMMV.
2/3/2015 11:38:41 AM EDT
[#14]
I don't crimp any rifle ammo and I have never had any problems from it. I did test it by cambering the same round over and over in an AR until the COAL changed. It took 4 or 5 times to change the length of the un-crimped round and the bullet actually moved forward a few thousandths rather than deeper in the case.
6/16/2015 11:43:50 AM EDT
[#15]
I crimp all my ammo for my auto loaders. Not so much for my bolt guns but the Lee Factory crimp die allows you to put just the right amount of tension on a bullet to tweak it's performance. I test both ways now for accuracy most of my larger caliber rounds like the crimp compared to my smaller caliber rounds. In the old Hornady manual it had an article on powder burn rate being increased slightly by a crimp. With pressure rises increasing with crimp tension. Food for thought.