Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers Crimping

Hi Gang,

I have my eye on an 1895 45-70 Guide Gun. I looked at one last week and I really like the look, feel, and overall handling. I have never owned a big bore lever before and I am thinking I am going to squirrel some money away and buy one in the next few months.

Is it really necessary to crimp the handloads for these types of rifles? I would appreciate your input.

Thanks a lot. All the best.

Colin

Yes, crimping should be considered an integral part of the loading process, for two reasons in that caliber.

First would be the bullets being pushed back in the case due to the nature of a tube magazine.

Second would be recoil. That round loaded to it's potential produces a huge amount of recoil. I don't redline mine, actually running to the mid-lower end of Marlin-class loads, and recoil is there.

It's only about 12 dollars, but the Lee Factory Crimp die is, in my opinion, essential to loading a round you will crimp. It adds an extra step, but I did crimping as a separate step anyway, and it simply crimps better than any die I have used. Plus it will allow you more lattitude with OAL in regards to cannelure. (We don't need no stinking cannelure)

I have a GG, and absolutely enjoy it.

Yep, just as Vic in VA has said. Tubular mags will seat bullets deeper under recoil, and a 45-70 DOES recoil.

Thanks guys!

yes

Yes. Probably best to crimp. Especially if one runs 400+ grain slugs and steps them up a bit when compared to factory fodder. Factory 405 grain rounds run at about 22 LR speeds (like 1,200 fps), and are fun to shoot. Crank those same slugs up to 1,700 or 1,800 fps, and the recoil will definitely get ones attention.

If one loaded the chamber and put a second in the tube, he could probably get by without a crimp. I do that simply because I don't like running a bunch of rounds through the action to get them unloaded, but I still crimp.

You definitely need to crimp 45-70 rounds in a lever action.

I like the Redding Profile Crimp die. I specifically prefer to crimp in a separate step. I do not like to seat and crimp in the same step. And with a separate die the cases still need to be trimmed to the same length. But a slight difference does not cause as much trouble. Tom.

The Lee factory crimp dies are great. I have one for every rifle caliber I load, and had one specially made for my .350 Rem Mag. I'm crimping them below the cannelure. Just send Lee a dummy round for your specific bullet, and they make one up for it.

is it true that the classic lee loader will crimp them if you flip it over after seating it? Thinking of doing some reloading for just the 45/70 for now and thinking of going with the lee loader.

I would agree that the .45-70 should be crimped. While I have bulged a case or 12 upon simultaneous crimping/seating over the years, I've found that if I keep cases uniformly trimmed and have the seating dies set just right, I can avoid it this mistake about 99% of the time. The other 1% is the price I'm willing to pay to shoot over adding another loading step. YMMV.

Yes, I also use the Lee factory crimp dies, they work great for me.

Phoneman: i used to load .45-70 in my H&R shikari singel shot. i believe the classic lee(bang em together with a mallet) loader can crimp bullets. but i did not have to being a single shot. the classic loader is fun to use and a good way to get into reloading but kind of slow if you shoot a lot!

The Lee collet crimp dies are a good solution. The other benefit from a good crimp, in my experience, is more uniform and slightly higher velocities through the chrono. I can't swear that translates to better accuracy.

Yes crimp
I don�t have a 45/70� but I do have (and load for) a 450 Marlin� I suspect the same holds true for both