Im new to reloading, and was wondering if a crimp is a neccessary thing on a hunting load.How many of you guys crimp your rifle loads?

If it's not going in a tube feed lever it don't get crimped. Not counting cast bullets.

Steelhead is right on. Tube feed lever ammo and handgun ammo are the only ones that need crimping.

I used to crimp heavily compressed loads in my '06 but found that playing w/ neck tension is better for accuracy.

thanks for clearing it up guys.

I believe I posted a similar question a while back and got a handful of answers stating that crimping (even in non-tube fed rifles) provided a more uniform pressure build before the case releases the bullet and in a couple of instances, they quoted an increase in accuracy.

The consensus was to use the Lee Factory Crimp Die as opposed to setting your regular seater die to crimp.

I will see if I can find that thread.

Crimping?

Quick search, here you go. Take a look.

I crimp for my .375 H&H so that the bullets stay in place under recoil and so the magazine cant seat them deeper. That rifle shoots very well, and I would recommend crimping the bullet for any of the heavy rounds.

I crimp shotgun, handgun, and ammo for my M94, nothing alse. That includes a couple compressed loads, that to date haven`t shown any tendacy to move the bullet while static or under recoil. My taper crimped handgun stuff only gets enough crimp to "iron out" the belling, no more. You`d be hard pressed to call it a crimp. 44 mag and 357 get a pretty good roll crimp though.

JMHO..........

I have several Lee FCDs. It's not a need, but it does help slightly with accuracy and velocity spread with certain loads. I've even tinkered with it a bit in some of my target rigs with success.

Good Luck

loder