To crimp or Not to crimp....45 ACP

[PI2070]

Originally Posted by Hunter Wold

Thanks for all the information. I do expand the case mouth and seat the bullet, then as a seperate step
crimp the case.
Works very well and good accuracy.

Thanks,

HW

You probably already know this, so does everyone else, but I'll say it again for anyone who doesn't.

When you measure your crimp on a case, get right on the very edge with the knife edges of your calipers. It will give the most accurate reading/measurement.


Remember, 0.003" - 0.005" LESS then what a fully sized case mouth reads before crimping. You can get that info in any reloading manual. A .45 ACP just so happens to be 0.473".


Good luck buddy.

[shooting4life]

The only thing I don't crimp is bolt action rifle. Auto pistol cartridges get a tapper crimp, revolver cartridges get a lee factory crimp, same with auto loading rifle.

You usually only need a really heavy crimp on revolvers.

[NVplumber]

My Dillon 550 uses a seperate taper crimp die as tbe last step. I firmly believe in a taper crimp on tbe 45. Your loading manuals have cartrige dimensions specified in them for a reason.

[M3 Mitch]

Yeah, particularly for loading handgun ammo, a Dillon is hard to beat. I would say that a separate taper crimp die is the only way to go with any ACP type round that headspaces on the case mouth. With a Dillon, you don't have an extra step in the loading process.

I have loaded a lot of cast-bullet .45ACP and shot it without crimping, never had any problems with it.