Economics of reloading ammo(e)

[pilot]

Hate to tell you this, but you made a mistake. 45acp headspaces on the case mouth. You don't crimp them.

Edit: damn, 205ed.

[HardCase]

Originally Posted by pilot

Hate to tell you this, but you made a mistake. 45acp headspaces on the case mouth. You don't crimp them.

Edit: damn, 205ed.

I figured there'd be other handloaders who'd notice that and say something. The crimp he used was very slight, so it's possible they'll fire okay, some guns are more finicky than others that way. And, of course, they'd work great in a revolver chambered for 45ACP.

I've actually had several 45ACP revolvers over the years. I currently have just one, a S&W Performance Center Model 625, and it's a great shooter. In the past I've loaded 45 Auto Rim brass for revolvers, but don't do so anymore, just use standard ACP brass and also use the loads I do for my 1911s, to avoid essentially having to handload what would otherwise amount to a different cartridge. It's the only revolver that I use with jacketed bullets anymore. I use lead/cast in all revolvers except for this one, and jacketed in all semi-autos.

[pilot]

You made me think. Seems the only pistol cartridge I load jacketed bullets in is 40. I load both jacketed and cast it that.

[fyrfytr]

Why is there a crimp die, then? Is it solely for use in a revolver?

What could happen if there's too much crimp?

[pilot]

Originally Posted by fyrfytr

Why is there a crimp die, then? Is it solely for use in a revolver?

What could happen if there's too much crimp?

Don't know for sure why they supply a crimp die, but if you have too much crimp, the cartridge will go too deep into the chamber and possibly not fire.

[fyrfytr]

Originally Posted by pilot

Don't know for sure why they supply a crimp die, but if you have too much crimp, the cartridge will go too deep into the chamber and possibly not fire.

That makes sense, it will be too far for the firing pin to reach the primer.

[HardCase]

Originally Posted by fyrfytr

Why is there a crimp die, then? Is it solely for use in a revolver?

What could happen if there's too much crimp?

I don't know what make of dies you have, but with my RCBS (these are old, from the 1970s) dies, and most handgun calibers, the crimp function is included in the bullet-seating die. You just screw it down until you get the amount of crimp you desire, or back it out to eliminate crimp. With 45ACP and lead bullets you need to find that sweet spot, enough to get rid of the case-mouth flare that was necessary to start the bullet seating process, but not enough to cause an actual crimp.

Theoretically, since the case headspaces against a little 'shelf' in the chamber in a semi-auto, if there's too much crimp the round could slide forward too far and the primer simply would not detonate the primer. I suspect if a guy applied a heavier crimp to a bunch of 45ACP he'd get some failure-to-fire malfunctions, and some would work okay. With the small amount of crimp I'm observing in these rounds, I have a feeling they'll probably work okay. Guess you'll have to go to the range and find out!!

For future reference, I'd just back that die out a little bit more. A taper crimp die is a special die where you have to crimp the round separate from the bullet-seating operation. It's an added step (in a single-stage press) and it basically just squeezes the case mouth in without rolling the lip over.

[Motor31]

A good way to check the crimp is to use the barrel itself as a gauge. Remove the barrel from the 1911 or other semi auto similar in dis assembly. Then when you are setting the crimp start out with no crimp and screw the seat die in increments enough to remove the case mouth flare. As soon as the case flare is gone and the round drops in just the same as a factory round lock the die down and reset the bullet seating stem for the same over all length. The less you "work" the brass, the longer it will last.

On my setup I just use a dedicated crimp die. I was doing a lot of loading on a progressive (Dillon 450) so adding a 4th die was not any big deal. It means another step on a single stage press though.

[fyrfytr]

Just got back from the range, with mostly positive results. All rounds that I reloaded went bang. Most chambered and fired without issue. Several rounds did not allow the slide to return fully to battery, so I had to bump the back of the slide forward. Forward assist on a 1911, maybe? The crimp didn't seem to be an issue, fortunately. I will back the die out a bit more on the next batch.

[pilot]

We all learn from our mistakes. Some of us use more mistakes for the same lesson, though.

[VegasKLRider]

Originally Posted by fyrfytr

Just got back from the range, with mostly positive results. All rounds that I reloaded went bang. Most chambered and fired without issue. Several rounds did not allow the slide to return fully to battery, so I had to bump the back of the slide forward. Forward assist on a 1911, maybe? The crimp didn't seem to be an issue, fortunately. I will back the die out a bit more on the next batch.

The cartridge headspaces on the case mouth, but the extractor (usually)keeps it from chambering too deeply- so that is why you were fine. I used to practice with my .38 Supercomp (9x23mm) gun using 9x19mm ammo by relying on the same principal. As long as the rim is okay and the extractor is tuned correctly it will work fine. The crimp die that you have is a roll crimp, but pistol cartridges (as opposed to revolver cartridges) need taper crimps. Back it off to where you barely notice the crimp and you will be fine with a roll crimp die. I know a lot of people don't believe in crimping .45ACP- but I do. I have reloaded over 100,000 of them and I find them to be more durable and have more consistent velocity. .45ACP is a low pressure round with a lot of room for bullet creep, and a bullet working too far into the case can cause serious problems with pressure spikes.

Keep up the good work!

[vspeed]

Loaded up some .45 acp Speer Gold Dot Hollow Point bullets today.



I seated the bullets then, in a separate step, I crimped the bullets using a Lee "Factory Crimp" die.

In .45 acp it's a taper crimp.



I have a factory crimp die for every caliber I load so I always seat and crimp in a separate step. Seems to work pretty well, and I think it's especially good to do it this way with lead bullets so you don't shave lead off of the bullet during the seating/crimping operation.

At about 40 cents per loaded round these GDHP's are probably too expensive for day-to-day hole punching, but they're good for other things.

[EvilGenius]

Got myself 350lbs of free lead today.

[pilot]

Nice score! I need to get to scrounging. I"m down to a couple hundred pounds. That stuff goes pretty fast at times.

[newcastleadam]

Originally Posted by EvilGenius

Got myself 350lbs of free lead today.

My back hurts just looking at that. Good score though.