A Different Question About Crimping Pistol Brass

[TexasJackKin]

I know to get consistent crimps (at least with my set-ups) I need consistent case lengths. But nobody I know trims pistol cases.

So, my question is, Do any of you have a method to get uniform crimps on pistol cases?

Loading 9MM, .40S&W, .45ACP, .38Spl, and others, range brass, my brass, and bought brass.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[ElDub1950]

Tagged in just to see responses, because I'm not sure there's enough variation to make any difference.

[arrowshooter]

Crimping pistol brass is only done to remove any "belling" that was left from seating the bullet. When I first setup my Factory Crimp die, I mark the die and run through as many different head stamps that I could find, noting where the adjustment was for each one. I then set the die in the middle of the lowest and highest, mark that spot and call it good. My rounds have always survived the plunk test. I do this for 9 and 45.

[smoothy8500]

Aside from heavy recoiling loads in revolvers, no roll crimp is needed. 38 spl can just be treated like semi-auto, and as arrowshooter mentioned just remove the belling. Minor length variations don't affect this.

[rsrocket1]

With revolver loads, you only need to roll crimp if you are shooting loads heavy enough to cause the bullet to get pulled out while firing the gun. How do you know whether the loads are strong enough? Try it.
I don't crimp my low recoil loads (700 fps or less with 158g bullets) but I have to crimp my stout loads (~900-1000 fps with the 158g bullet and 357 magnum loads). This is also gun dependent. My Ruger Service Six is a heavy beast and doesn't recoil at all with the light loads but a lightweight CCW revolver may recoil quite a bit with the same loads and may require a roll crimp.

Autoloading cartridges (9/40/45) headspace on the case mouth so you never want to crimp the case mouth smaller than the inner diameter of your chamber. A plunk test will show you if you lost your headspace with too much crimp. Generally, you only need to use a taper crimp far enough to bring the case mouth back to vertical. I like to crimp just a little bit beyond vertical to aid in smooth feeding but I make sure I can clearly feel the edge of the case mouth sticking out to catch the chamber edge of the barrel.

I was using a separate Lee taper crimp die in the 5th station of my LnL AP so it's a freebee for me. At first I used the Lee pistol FCD but after finding out that it can swage down lead bullets I stopped. However, now that I powder coat my bullets, I went back to using it because I find that even when I do use it, I get zero leading and even more clearance with the plunk tests after loading.

In reality if you ever run into an autoloading cartridge case that is too short, most guns actually headspace on the extractor so you are still good to go. I've only ever run into one 9mm case out of 10's of thousands of reloads that was actually too long and never a 40 or 45ACP case that was too long.

[TexasJackKin]

Originally Posted by rsrocket1

In reality if you ever run into an autoloading cartridge case that is too short, most guns actually headspace on the extractor so you are still good to go. I've only ever run into one 9mm case out of 10's of thousands of reloads that was actually too long and never a 40 or 45ACP case that was too long.

I ask, because I recently had what was apparently a short .45ACP not get the bell removed completely, and it really tied the gun up bad. Didn't chamber all the way, and I was concerned that I was going to break the extractor clearing the jam.

I went home and plunk tested about 800 rounds and found 4 or 5 other rounds that didn't plunk, I could push them in with my thumb, and knock them out with a squib rod, and I believe would have chambered and ejected normally.

So, I'm thinking I've been running on the ragged edge as far as crimping goes, and was just wondering what every one else does.

I also read an in depth article recently explaining how .45s in particular can actually shorten with repeated reloading.

[wbunning]

As others mentioned.. taper crimp to remove the case mouth expansion. You can do a "push test" against the wooden edge of your bench: measure OAL of a round, push it hard against the bench ( don't push against metal as that may deform the bullet nose ) and re-measure. If the OAL is shorter, then you need more crimp. I shoot a lot of cast bullets, and roll crimp all of my revolver rounds that have a crimping groove. I find that Plated revolver rounds require a bit more care so as to avoid breaking the plating, but still roll crimp lightly. They are amongst my lighter loads and don't need much.

I never trim my pistol/revolver cases. It's not worth the effort, IMHO, but like all of us, I'm still learning.

[bazineta]

If you're reloading a lot of pistol, something you might want to look at is the 100-round case gauges made by Shockbottle. They're designed to be used with the 100-round MTM boxes, and if you're using those anyway, then typically you're going to be pulling finished rounds out of an akro bin and putting 'em one by one into the boxes. You lose no time by plunking them in the gauge instead, then transferring them directly from the gauge into the boxes in one shot, and you know every round is going to chamber.

[stevec223]

I sort by headstamp after I tumble,, and inspect the brass at the same time.. I measure the brass by length and run the longest brand first... Then the next longest and adjust my Lee FCD to the next longest cases... And so on ,,, with my pistol brass... Rifle brass its all trimmed so the crimp is mostly the same unless the necks are thicker,,, but i still run it by brand.... It's not really a pain or a extra step for me,, as i store and shoot the brass by factory brand lots... Range pickups do sneak into my tumbler tho ????.... 😃😃.... Cheers...

[Revoman]

Understanding that I am not in tune with the rest of the crowd. I do trim. I believe that there is a difference in accuracy and after all accuracy is a product of consistency in my book.
Does it take me longer, sure, but I'm willing to go that extra step to assure that I have produced the most accurate, consistent round I can produce. Obviously I do not trim each time, but create a base of a few hundred cases to work with and reload those same cases until they show signs of fatigue, then toss them and start all over again. I also use all one brand of case.
That's just the way I do it.

[Fishslayer]

Taper crimps on semiautos... doesn't matter a lot. For best results sort by headstamp.

Roll crimps on revolver cartridges, sorting by headstamp & trimming length.

[9mmepiphany]

Originally Posted by TexasJackKin

I know to get consistent crimps (at least with my set-ups) I need consistent case lengths. But nobody I know trims pistol cases.

Loading 9MM, .40S&W, .45ACP, .38Spl, and others, range brass, my brass, and bought brass.

Well, depending on the caliber...and often the bullet...I will sometimes trim. Mostly .38Spl as there is a huge variation in case length even after being sorted my headstamp.

It started with switching from plated Xtreme to coated cast bullets. I just wasn't getting a uniform bell of the case mouth and was shaving the coating when seating the bullets.

I don't trim all my .38Spl brass, just a couple of thousand that I'm rotating through for matches. I do tend to roll crimp a bit more to help smooth the entry into the chambers when using speedloaders. I'm using a Redding Profile Crimp die.

For cases that headspace on their case mouth, I don't trim, but I do sort by headstamp. I just set the crimp I want for the shortest case in the batch and just taper crimp to take out the flare