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On my last two cowboy matches I experienced problems with my ammo. The bullet occationally teleskoped into the shell, which really throws your time on a lever rifle. I found out, that my crimping is so light, that it doesn't hold the bullet when the case is 0,05 mm (!) shorter than the rest. So all my ammo needed to be recrimped.
I packed my 800 rounds on the TV table, and recrimped everything on my hand press while watching "R.E.D". I went through the pile much faster than I thought, I was done after as less as 40 minutes. But today my arm is a bit sore
Glad I got that little press.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
- Evelyn Beatrice Hall, often misattributed to Voltaire
I think I'm thinking, therefore I may possibly be.
Fyodor wrote:On my last two cowboy matches I experienced problems with my ammo. The bullet occationally teleskoped into the shell, which really throws your time on a lever rifle. I found out, that my crimping is so light, that it doesn't hold the bullet when the case is 0,05 mm (!) shorter than the rest. So all my ammo needed to be recrimped.
Just my 2 cents worth here. If I were trying to squeeze all the case life out of cowboy action loads that I could get. I would use a tight neck size on the case. My 45 Colt loads are 6 gr of titegroup and a 250 gr bullet.
We also want the cases to last so they are full length sized but only enough crimp to close the flair. Even with the near max load and no crimp the .454 diameter bullet does not move.
Yes, my crimp was like that, just pushing back the flare. It was virtually invisible. And it works on all of my cases except for one brand, which is a very high quality material, just a hair shorter ( 0,05 mm equals less than 0.002''). And then the crimp doesn't even catch the case mouth. I turned in the criming die by one hex (1/6th of a turn), so not very much. It's still not a heavy crimp, but now you can see that the case has seen the inside of a crimping die at all.
A friend of mine puts such a heavy crimp, so the bullet wouldn't move at all when the case contains no powder. But he got ruptured cases quite often, that's not what I want.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
- Evelyn Beatrice Hall, often misattributed to Voltaire
I think I'm thinking, therefore I may possibly be.
I'm just repeating what I was told but it does make sense. A guy told me if you really want your .45 Colt brass (or I guess any brass) to last then stop using carbide sizing dies because they have to over size the brass. Something about the carbide makes the brass spring back more so you have to size it that much more. He said if you lube the brass and use steel sizers it may take longer but the brass lasts that much longer. I guess if you spray and shake your brass then it could be done pretty fast but I've not bought any steel dies to test this theory. I do know Redding has some pretty expensive sizing dies with dual carbide sizers just because of this issue though. The main carbide ring only sizes to fit the chamber and a second ring sizes only the top where the bullet needs neck tension. But again they are so expensive that I've not bothered to try one.
Here is what you need to end the madness: 45 Colt Collet Style FCD. These are similar to the rifle collet dies and are now available for the the other short, straight wall cartridges used with leverguns. See: Lee Collet Style Dies. If you are lucky enough to have one of the Marlin 41 Mag rifles, here is the die for you: Lee 41 Mag Custom Collet Style Dies
This is a real thumbs up of Lee. When I had my mold business, I talked them into making them for me via special order. Since that time they have run them as large lot special orders but it looks like they have finally a home on their website. I use them with my revolvers as well. Even have a custom one for the 38 Spl.
I'm quite happy with my bullets, and won't be castying my own soon. I doing have the place to do that, and my career is so cheapo, the lead alone would be more expensive. Recently I paid 4 euro cent per bullet in 38, and they work for my revolvers and the 1866 lever rifle.
@Bob:
From the case's point of view, carbide is just another die, as a steel door would be. The shorter case life might be because you don't lube them when sized in carbide, and the resulting higher wear. But I actually don't believe in that at all... my cases last quite some time before they need to be replaced, but especially .38 cases are usually free range brass, so why bother?
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
- Evelyn Beatrice Hall, often misattributed to Voltaire
I think I'm thinking, therefore I may possibly be.
Ranch Dog wrote:Here is what you need to end the madness: 45 Colt Collet Style FCD. These are similar to the rifle collet dies and are now available for the the other short, straight wall cartridges used with leverguns. See: Lee Collet Style Dies. If you are lucky enough to have one of the Marlin 41 Mag rifles, here is the die for you: Lee 41 Mag Custom Collet Style Dies
This is a real thumbs up of Lee. When I had my mold business, I talked them into making them for me via special order. Since that time they have run them as large lot special orders but it looks like they have finally a home on their website. I use them with my revolvers as well. Even have a custom one for the 38 Spl.
Thanks RD. Getting one for the 45 Colt with my next order.
