Recrimping factory rounds

[38SPL HV]

There always seems to be some slight bullet creep in last unfired round or two of Winchester 38 Spl +P 158 gr LSWCHP in my J frame 642 Airweight but not enough to bind the action. I end up shooting the unfired rounds to make sure that they are not loaded in subsequent cycles.

I’m thinking of running the remainder of the Winchester loads through my Lee FCD for a stronger crimp.

You ever recrimp factory ammo to safeguard against bullet creep in your lightweight S&W Airweight revolvers?

 

[rockquarry]

No. I seldom shoot factory ammo, but have never noticed bullet creep with such ammo. Granted, I don't look too closely, but have never had a cylinder bind with my ammo or the factory stuff because a bullet jumped the crimp, or for any other reason.

I suppose your solution would work fine, but so would a properly adjusted taper crimp or roll crimp die.

 

[Univibe]

If you are having bullet creep with factory ammo, try a new kind of ammo. Don't mess with it.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I have found the Federal FBI Load factory ammo could be slightly loose. If you have some and want to shoot it you can safely crimp the bullet and in the future buy either Remington or Winchester instead. (IMO of course)

 

[stansdds]

There is no reason you cannot increase the crimp on those factory rounds, but I think it would be better to find factory ammo that does not suffer from bullet pull in an Airweight revolver.

 

[ddixie884]

There was a large run of Federal 158gr SWCHP a few years ago that had almost no crimp. Folks on this and other forums reported on this. It was offered for sale at a big discount from some of the on-line bulk sellers at what I thought was a good price, at the time. I obtained a couple of cases of this and set my seating die to apply a good xtra firm crimp. I then ran all of this ammo through the die and was very pleased with the result. I don't think you can go wrong tightening up the crimp on loose factory ammo. Especially soft lead ammo. JMHO-YMMV...........

 

[NevadaBob]

How much creep? With my plated 38 specials I get about 10 to 12 thousandths creep on round #5 after I've fired off the first 4 rounds in my snubby. These are on my reloads. Since I switched to coated 38 specials and seat/crimp on the bullet crimp groove there's no creep.

And to answer your original question, as others have said, it is OK to do such.

 

[ddixie884]

I may be wrong but I think those Federals may have been rejected by some big department over the crimp.

 

[andy52]

There shouldn't be a problem with re-crimping the ammo as long as you back off the seater if your using that type of die, if yours is a crimp only die your good to go.

 

[SixGunSancho]

If you are having bullet creep with factory ammo, try a new kind of ammo. Don't mess with it.

^^^Excellent advice^^^

 

[AzShooter]

I've used the Lee FC die on a few different brands of ammo with great luck.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I have shot the factory Rem 158 w/o any bullet creep as well
as handloads with the Speer 158 Lhp bullet up to 950fps.

My M49 weighs in at 21 oz. empty, so it is different than your lighter weight weapon.

Re-crimping might help but you might also shot a box of the speer 135 +P ammo to see if it solves the problem.

Good luck on getting things to work out.

 

[Rule3]

Recrimping may actually make the situation worse, too much crimp and neck tension is lost.

How exactly are you determining "creep" how much is it, if any it could not be significant for 4 rounds of ammo.??


No, I have never done it nor would I.

 

[38SPL HV]

Thank you all for the advice and Seasons Greetings!

 

[smoothshooter]

If you are having bullet creep with factory ammo, try a new kind of ammo. Don't mess with it.

Why not?
What is the difference

 

[Univibe]

See post #14.

 

[badge 851]

There always seems to be some slight bullet creep in last unfired round or two of Winchester 38 Spl +P 158 gr LSWCHP in my J frame 642 Airweight but not enough to bind the action. I end up shooting the unfired rounds to make sure that they are not loaded in subsequent cycles.

I’m thinking of running the remainder of the Winchester loads through my Lee FCD for a stronger crimp.

You ever recrimp factory ammo to safeguard against bullet creep in your lightweight S&W Airweight revolvers?

While I have not done this yet with 38 Special ammunition I religiously do this with my Lever gun rifle ammo; 7-30 Waters, 30/30, and 444 Marlin®.