Do you crimp 45 LC rounds?

wheelyfun66

wheelyfun66

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Hey All,
I'm a newbie in reloading, but have reloaded about 300 rounds of 44 Special with a simple RCBS press and dies.

I triple-check my work, and take things slow and easy....
being an ex-machinist and helicopter pilot taught me to have an eye for detail.....so this newbie is careful.

My question is this......I don't have a crimp die for my new 45 Colt setup...

The guy at the LGS told me "you don't need to crimp 45 LC"

Looking for experienced fellas to chime in and let me know what YOU do with your 45 Colt loads.

Thanks! (p.s.- I will be loading very mild loads)
 
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Ive always roll crimped mine,but they are full power loads.If you try it,fire one and check the other five for bullet movement and so on through the rest of the cylinder
edit: You have a die that seats but doesn't crimp?
 
They need to be crimped. It keeps them from jumping and tying up the cylinder. It also helps the powder burn, etc.
 
Crimping

Does the bullet seating die not crimp?
Reread the directions for die adjustment.
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but you should get OAL right, then adjust crimp. 2 adjustments on one die.
Or get a Lee Factory Crimp Die and do it as a seperate operation.

Assures bullet stays in place under recoil and you get complete, consistant combustion of powder.

Lee Jones
 
As previously mentioned, a seating die when properly adjusted, should be able to apply a roll crimp to the cartridge. A tight case mouth to bullet fit will minimize the need for crimping on light recoiling loads. On heavier recoiling loadings, a good crimp is absolutely necessiary. Otherwise the bullets will back out of the cases, from the inertia of the recoil.

The way I adjust seater dies, is first get the correct bullet seating depth without any crimp. Then back off the seater plug, and adjust the die itself down to get the desired crimp, and lock into place. Then screw down the seater plug until it hits the bullet and lock that into place. Then you are set.
 
A matter of physics, there is very little difference between a standard 44 magnum and a hot loaded 45 colt to yank the case off the bullet. What the guy in the gun shop pribably had in mind was 45c loaded to std pressure which generates much less energy and would be unlikely to pull the cases off the bullets due to recoil. 45c and 44spl. Get loaded hot by many people.
 
Like said above, you should crimp 45 Colt loads and for that fact all ammo meant for a revolver. I always add crimp to any ammo meant for use in a revolver including the 45 Colt.

I looked at the RCBS dies and both the Carbine and Steel dies include a seating die which also does a roll crimp. Look in the instructions on how to apply the crimp using your RCBS dies. (very good dies too)

Maybe the gun store guy meant you didn't need a separate crimping die.
 
GBertolet said:
As previously mentioned, a seating die when properly adjusted, should be able to apply a roll crimp to the cartridge. A tight case mouth to bullet fit will minimize the need for crimping on light recoiling loads. On heavier recoiling loadings, a good crimp is absolutely necessiary. Otherwise the bullets will back out of the cases, from the inertia of the recoil.

The way I adjust seater dies, is first get the correct bullet seating depth without any crimp. Then back off the seater plug, and adjust the die itself down to get the desired crimp, and lock into place. Then screw down the seater plug until it hits the bullet and lock that into place. Then you are set.
Click to expand...

Thank you Sir!
Lots of good info here, and I'll have to admit that I haven't yet attempted to reload with my new dies, so was ignorant of the fact that one die did two operations! :o

As I said, I did a few hundred 44 Specials with a friend, and for some reason, he did the crimp as a totally separate operation?

Thanks for setting me straight, and I'll be sure to post pics and report back on my first 45 rounds!
 
I try to keep things simple and crimp my 45's while bullet seating. Read your dies instructions carefully, and getting it done in one operation will work fine.
 
I do Cowboy Action Shooting. Over a number of matches you end up with a lot of brass that wasn't yours at the start of the season. Most often this brass is of mixed brand and may have varied case lengths. While trimming to the same length would be possible, 2-3000 a year would be a pain to say the least. For the mild loads we use is pistols and rifle, I bell the case mouth, seat the bullet to length then crimp with a 45 ACP taper crimp die. This way the case mouth won't get shoved down and bulge the case body. For the more powerful loads I have 250 dedicated brass that were of the same Lot number, these are crimped the same way, and if needed I roll crimp after that (This is a massively firm crimp and those loads were developed with that crimp!) The Lee Factory Crimp die allows you to crimp shells of varying length as firm as you wish in one step,and I do that on cases like 44-40 and 38-40. Many people say that the old bottle neck cases are hard to load because of their thin neck walls, all the problems stem from crimping. The tapper crimp or "Factory" seem to have cured this set of problems. If you have problems feal free to PM me. Ivan
 
You will bell the case a little in order to seat the bullet, you need to remove the bell at the very least, which will require a crimp, maybe only enough to remove the bell. If you're loading mild target loads you probably wont need much but they do need to be consistant. I would recommend crimping as a seperate step and you can do that with the same die, no need for a seperate die. Adjust the seating die so the crimp ring doesn't touch the case and then adjust the bullet seat for your OAL. Do a batch and then back the seater all the way out and adjust the die for the crimp you want and crimp that batch. Most guys don't trim handgun brass but if you want a consistant crimp the cases need to be the same length. If you're building target ammo you want all the loaded rounds to be as close to identical as possible.
 
wheelyfun66 said:
Thank you Sir!
Lots of good info here, and I'll have to admit that I haven't yet attempted to reload with my new dies, so was ignorant of the fact that one die did two operations! :o

As I said, I did a few hundred 44 Specials with a friend, and for some reason, he did the crimp as a totally separate operation?

Thanks for setting me straight, and I'll be sure to post pics and report back on my first 45 rounds!
Click to expand...
He was probably using Lee dies, so of their die sets come with a Factory Crimp Die. I use both Lee dies and RCBS dies and both will make very good ammo.

As for one die doing more than one operation, your resizing die also decaps, right? ;)
 
Bart45 said:
I try to keep things simple and crimp my 45's while bullet seating. Read your dies instructions carefully, and getting it done in one operation will work fine.
Click to expand...
And if for some reason you have problems with seating and crimping in one step (as with loading cast lead bullets) give the seating then crimping in two seperate steps a try. I have found I get better reloads by doing the two step method . Most dies have the crimp built into the seating die, check your die instructions.

Gary
 
RE

You can get a quick check of your loads by measuring your overall cartridge length of a round with a dial caliper, mark that round with a sharpie, and then load up and shoot 5 of 6 shots in a cylinder keeping the marked round unfired. Remeasure the OAL and see if it increased. If so you need to take steps to prevent.

Keep in mind on 45 Colt that dimensions changed over the years with .454 bullets/chamber throats being standard back in the day and .452 being more standard these days. Using .454 (most 45 Colt) sizer dies with .452 or .451 diameter bullets will result in very low neck tension. Since my 45 Colt guns are all .452 throat and I use .452 bullets I size my brass with a 45 ACP sizer and get better and more consistent neck tension. With decent neck tension you only need a slight crimp unless you are shooting boomers. If you plan to load heavy loads invest in a Lee Factory Crimp die which allows a much better crimp than most seater dies can.
 
Ah, once again the LGS idiot strikes. A tip, never ask guns store employees anything you really need an answer for. I have found over the last 35yrs, most don't know anything about reloading & little about guns & ammo.
Yes, always crimp, rev or semiauto. It insures a proper feeding round & better pwoder combustion. Every seating die has a built in crimp ring for a reason, because you are supposed to crimp. You can get a separate crimp die & do it in a separate step, many using progressive presses do this. Dillon sells their die sets with separate crimp dies.
 
Last edited:
fredj338 said:
Ah, once again the LGS idiot strikes. A tip, never ask guns store employees anything you really need an answer for. I have found over the last 35yrs, most don't know anything about reloading & little about guns & ammo.
Yes, always crimp, rev or semiauto. It insures a proper feeding round & better pwoder combustion. Every seating die has a built in crimp ring for a reason, because you are supposed to crimp. You can get a separate crimp die & do it in a separate step, many using progressive presses do this. Dillon sells their die sets with separate crimp dies.
Click to expand...

+1
You may not be able to chamber a round w/o crimping first.
 
LGS guys are often idiots. In my recent searching for W231 powder, I had LGSguys suggest "you can use XXX, we have that in stock". All three times, the recommended substitute was either a very slow pistol powder or a rifle powder.
When I first started loading 38 spl with mewly purchsed Lee carbide dies, I had trouble with deformed cartridges when I crimped at the same time as bullet seating. I started seating & crimping in two separate steps & get much better results. FWIW I like a firm roll crimp on a revolver cartridge.
 
I don't load 45 Colt but was reading about it yesterday in my Speers #14 manual. You don't state what slug you are using - they show CAS slugs as well as jacketed. The CAS rounds appear to have crimping grooves in them and from what I'm reading, it looks like a crimp is suggested. These guys will know more about it than I - but just wanted to mention that they also talk about using one slug that is intended for the 45 ACP - due to the size of that bullet (length) they suggest using a 45 ACP die and taper crimping it.

I'm new to reloading as well - primarily 38 spl. But I have to believe that it would be necessary or else you could end up with slugs moving in unfired cases, cusing the cylinder to jam up. Sor to the same thing that can happen in a 44 Cap and Ball revolver (I'm using the 44 as an example) - if you don't use a large enough ball that gives a good sheared lead ring on loading, they can mover forward in the chamber due to recoil.

On several occasions, while shooting some 38 spl. target loads that were "store bought", I've noticed slug movement. Upon examination, I realized I had a batch that weren't crimped - whether intentionally by the mfg. or they slipped through somehow. They were light rounds.

At some point in the future, I hope to add a .45 SAA to my herd as I'd like to have the option of loading and shooting that round. I'm casting my projectiles and it just makes sense to me to put a roll crimp on any straight sided revolver cartridge.

Let us know how it works out for you and how they shoot!
 
After the bullet is seated I crimp. Two steps. Compare your crimp to factory ammo. I have a Blackhawk convertible. Wish S&W had made a snubby revolver to handle what the modern brass is capable of. Ruger has the Alaskan and as much as I like Rugers there's just something about Smiths and Colts.
 
I load .45 Colt using 250 grain LRNFP bullets with a crimp groove and yes they get crimped. I also crimp ALL my revolver bullets and .38-55 & .45-70 Gov't. rifle rounds as well. I use lead bullets with them as well.

The only bullets that do not get crimped are bottle neck cases with jacketed bullets and I have not loaded them in a gazillion years. I bought them from the CMP years back when buying surplus Military ammo was less expensive than loading my own. That's not the case anymore but I bought enough for a long long time.
 
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