Thread: To Crimp, or not to crimp...

I lightly crimp all rifle ammo,one less thing to wory about and one of my reloding mentors swears it reduces the extream spread of velocity

Originally Posted by res

I lightly crimp all rifle ammo,one less thing to wory about and one of my reloding mentors swears it reduces the extream spread of velocity

I have found that crimping does the opposite - meddles with ES. It just adds another variable by virtue of the slight inconsistency of the crimping process that end up affecting neck tension- which you might have just gone to a lot of bother to control by things like neck turning and the use of bushing dies.
Absolutely no need to crimp , except as already stated in previous postings, tube mags and semis, and usually African type cartridges in bolt guns where there may be extreme shunting.
The only cartridge I was crimping regulalrly was for my bolt gun 32/20 and accuracy improved once I stopped - contrary to what Lee states in their blurb.

I never used to crimp. I started on my 303, it seems to improve consistancy rather than outright accuracy. I only use a light crimp and my brass is neck sized, so itw working for me.