Crimp or No Crimp???

8ptbuk

8ptbuk

New member
Gentlemen,
Been going through the threads on here reading about the in's and out's of loading hammer bullets and noticed alot of you guys are crimping your loads. Haven't came across why so many are doing it. I'm going to purchase 92 gr. HH for my 25-06 as suggested, Don't know if the caliber being loaded is a factor or not. I've been reloading for 45 years and it became obvious quick that hammers are a different animal all together to load! Going to be a interesting journey!!!
 
Welcome!! This should be a fun journey for you....hammers are great bullets and super easy to load. When I started this journey a couple years ago, I had never crimped a bolt action rifle round in my life. Heck, I didn't even own a stand alone crimp die for any caliber. I loaded and shot hammers with success for a while w/o crimping. After reading all the threads and learning that most crimp hammers, I decided to try it. Now I crimp them all. Crimping hammers gave me tighter groups, lower ES and SD's. Someone on here will give a more scientific reason for crimping. I just do it because everyone else said to and it appears to have really helped. All my hammer loads shoot well under 1 MOA and some in the 1/2 to 1/4 MOA consistently. Most importantly....all my hammers kill with authority!!
 
Welcome, @8ptbuk

Check out this thread on crimping!

Crimping Hammer Bullets

(Originally posted 10/5/2020) shinbone Junior Member 99% of this information came from Butterbean. I added a few personal tweaks here and there. I am just starting to use this technique, but wanted to post my very first results to encourage others to experiment, as well. This post should be...
hammerbullets.com
 
jrebel said:
Welcome!! This should be a fun journey for you....hammers are great bullets and super easy to load. When I started this journey a couple years ago, I had never crimped a bolt action rifle round in my life. Heck, I didn't even own a stand alone crimp die for any caliber. I loaded and shot hammers with success for a while w/o crimping. After reading all the threads and learning that most crimp hammers, I decided to try it. Now I crimp them all. Crimping hammers gave me tighter groups, lower ES and SD's. Someone on here will give a more scientific reason for crimping. I just do it because everyone else said to and it appears to have really helped. All my hammer loads shoot well under 1 MOA and some in the 1/2 to 1/4 MOA consistently. Most importantly....all my hammers kill with authority!!
Click to expand...
I've noticed better precision crimping Hammers. (We are talking very small increase considering HH & HHT Hammers are already the most precise shooting bullet out the gate)
So, I started crimping on my match target loads, Hornady ELDM and Bergers. A very light crimp considering no cannelure. I think I am seeing better groups. It could be I'm shooting in colder weather now and that helps with barrel heat considerably. More to test on this...

With that said, I think one aspect of crimping that could aid the smaller groups is the crimp could be reducing bullet runout by centering the bullet with the case? I thought this after watching a benchrest shooter seat his bullets into the lands .004 and giving the bullet no where to wobble but straight.

and maybe too much coffee and chocolate on Christmas eve morning... :ROFLMAO:
 
It can also be a good tool for tuning shot start pressure, which is why it can help with es, you’re optimizing the ignition, some powder/primer/bullet combo may already be fine and not benefit in this regard but many do.
I like all my loads with a little crimp as they will all go hunting and it just makes sense to my little mind for that type of use.
 
I also had never crimped rifle cartridges. Butterbean talked me into trying it. He gets 1 big gold star!
Now I crimp all I have (or can get) dies for.
Hammers are more "slippery" and have low engraving pressure. Crimping helps them get a better start, better ignition (as stated earlier), and can be used to "tune" your load.
 
Koda said:
The general recommendation is to use the Lee Factory Crimp Die.
Click to expand...

Easiest to setup and tune due to the collet, for sure.

Some may not realize that *most* seating dies are setup to crimp.

Just back the seating stem out, then turn the seating die down on a loaded cartridge (ram raised, naturally).

This results in a 'roll crimp', which is a little different, but it's a crimp nonetheless, and I have had success with this method when a FCD is not immediately available.

Just be aware, 1/4 turn of a seating die will provide a lot more crimp than 1/4 turn on a Lee FCD (I just used 1/4T for example)
 
I tried crimping hammers after reading Butterbean's stuff on the matter and it became the easiest way to fine tune a load. the Lee fcd crimp die is super cheap to buy and it is one of the first things I get for a new caliber. It has improved groups for every gun and load I have used it for. The other thing I do is get a bushing full length sizing die with several bushings and try to get at least .002+ neck tension with the hammers bullets.
 
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