Lee Factory crimp Question

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6MD	Lee Factory crimp Question	Lead	[-]
Posts: 11 (12/07/09 04:35 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Gidday, I am having a few issues when using non cannelured 124 grain hollowpoint .312 projectiles in my #4 enfield. Namely the sharp lip occaisionally catches on the feed ramp and theprojectile can be forced back into the case if you are too harsh on it. (I have caught it twice before I have fired). Question is: I am looking at getting a Lee factory crimp die in .303 British, has anyone noticed less thsan normal case life after using one? I am getting around fifteen reloads out of most cases at the moment and would like this to continue. I only full length size everey fifth load. Kind regards, 6MD
eb in oregon		#1	[-]
Posts: 1098 (12/07/09 06:16 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've loaded many rounds in different calibers with the Lee factory crimp, and I've not noticed much of a difference. However I don't keep track of how many times I load a cartridge as usually I load them by the ammo can. The cartridges that I load by the box I've not fired more than a few times at present. "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin, July 4 1776
doug henry		#2	[-]
Posts: 1870 (12/07/09 10:43 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have used Lee Crimp Dies on various caliber jacketed bullets and believe it does not affect case life. 15 reloads is very good service life from brass cases especially in an Enfield. I use crimp dies for auto-loading firearms only. The crimp is intended to press the case lip into the bullet cannelure, but my experience the cannelure never lines up on my C&R reloads. The crimping die does not deform the bullet to create a cannelure so the result is a tight fitting case mouth and some have said it will loosen the neck tension. For a bolt action to reposition the bullet on chambering would be the result of not enough neck tension or a burr on the feed ramp(s). Tension can be checked by measuring the bullet diameter and inside diameter of a fully sized case, should be a few thousands difference. Feed ramps can be inspected and smoothed with stone if necessary.
6MD		#3	[-]
Posts: 12 (12/08/09 06:20 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	doug henry wrote: I have used Lee Crimp Dies on various caliber jacketed bullets and believe it does not affect case life. 15 reloads is very good service life from brass cases especially in an Enfield. I use crimp dies for auto-loading firearms only. The crimp is intended to press the case lip into the bullet cannelure, but my experience the cannelure never lines up on my C&R reloads. The crimping die does not deform the bullet to create a cannelure so the result is a tight fitting case mouth and some have said it will loosen the neck tension. For a bolt action to reposition the bullet on chambering would be the result of not enough neck tension or a burr on the feed ramp(s). Tension can be checked by measuring the bullet diameter and inside diameter of a fully sized case, should be a few thousands difference. Feed ramps can be inspected and smoothed with stone if necessary. Thanks Doug (and Eb), In the "Mad Minute" match my best rapid fire is seventeen rounds in sixty seconds, the neck tension is very good (I have turned down my Lee collet die mandrel by 0.0015" even)but when using the shorter 124 grain rounds they often don't get guided as well into the chamber and do occaisonally catch in the chamber groove where the cartridge rim is seated(I should have been clearer), this is no issue in normal target shooting etc and only happens on the first, fifth and seventh rounds- yes I have tried nine different magazines, even an early Lee five shot one. The feed ramp is very smooth, when I do get a jammed round I want the action to lock up- not push the round far enough in to be able to create a problem when fired. I put a small nick on the rim of each cartridge when I seat a primer and have many close to twenty reloads, mild loads and don't full length size unless you have to. I have approx 500 cases in circulation at the moment( I am a bit of an addict(not neccesarily a good shot though) when it comes to the .303, I have to admit). I have ordered a crimp die and will run a special batch of ten over the next few months as a trial. Appreciated,
doug henry		#4	[-]
Posts: 1871 (12/08/09 10:38 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A 125gr bullet will produce a cartridge much shorter than the 175gr bullet the Enfields are designed for. That shorter cartridge will hang on feeding and with a small area of bullet grip it can be knocked out of position move more easily.
eb in oregon		#5	[-]
Posts: 1101 (12/09/09 08:50 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	What Doug said. "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin, July 4 1776
6MD		#6	[-]
Posts: 14 (12/13/09 05:45 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Gidday all, made up sixty and used the factory crimp on them, two jammed so I partially withdrew then rammed them home real hard- then extracted before firing so I could inspect- all was good. So even though I get an occaisonal imperfect feed I can now use them with confidence. I will let you know in a few months about case longevity. Thanks,
doug henry		#7	[-]
Posts: 1873 (12/13/09 08:58 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	More experience with 125gr Jacketed bullets came to mind. I have reloaded 7.62x54R with 125gr jacketed, crimped in place which fed without problems in my SVT-40 and M-Ns and were quite accurate. So I guess I was lucky with those rifles. One though that came to mind was that surplus ammo incorporates a sealer on the bullet which also increases the bullet grip. This will raise pressure but also hold the bullet during feeding.
NC Cruffler		#8	[-]
Posts: 603 (12/13/09 11:19 AM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I use Lee factory crimp dies. I've not noticed and case life shortening. I do trim the cases each time I reload and anneal the shoulder/neck/mouth every 3-5 reloadings. Dave Dave Green, NRA Benefactor Member
6MD		#9	[-]
Posts: 15 (12/21/09 04:10 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Update- I have had a lot of initial success with the Lee crimper and for the weekend made up 120 with the projectile seated far less than a full calibre. Feeding is much better and no noticeable loss of accuracy. I did find trimming the cases back to 2.210 left very little crimp so as long as they are under the max length I have not been trimming them.
NC Cruffler		#10	[-]
Posts: 604 (12/25/09 07:41 AM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I did find trimming the cases back to 2.210 left very little crimp so as long as they are under the max length I have not been trimming them. I trim for consistancy of case length regardless of a few thousandths in relation to the maximum/minimum case length. It keeps the crimp consistant on every round. Works well for me. Dave Green, NRA Benefactor Member
jimLEO1		#11	[-]
Posts: 608 (01/10/10 05:34 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I only use factory crimp dies for straight cased handgun dies. I have never found it necessary for reloading rifle cases. For rifle cases I just full length resize the first time and trim case neck length as necessary thereafter. If you plan on using the cases in a semiauto rifle, then a factory crimp die would make sense. Jim JIM
gschwertley		#12	[-]
Posts: 384 (01/22/10 10:33 PM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Without getting into the merits of the factory crimp concept, the process itself impresses the case wall into the shank of the bullet. This causes a slight flattening of the brass on those areas where the collet makes contact. This in turn causes a slight elongation of the case at the neck opening, so one may assume that a greater amount of trimming will be needed over the life of the case. With more trimming required, it may be assumed that some thinning of the neck may result, but if this occurs before "normal" failure of the case I cannot say. I'm just thinking of it from a mechanical standpoint as I don't often use the Lee Factory Crimp die. My preference for crimping (when done) on a non-cannelured bullet is a taper crimp.