I wanted to start this thread because I get questions from new customers almost daily whether they have to crimp Hammer Bullets or not. My answer to them is that it is a method of loading or developing a load with Hammers but not required. I personally rarely crimp my loads and will do it if the rifle tells me it needs it. Needs it, meaning it gives me difficulty with ES or accuracy. Then I will try a crimp to see if this will settle it down. I am basically a lazy re-loader. If I don't have to add a step to the process, I'm not going to. When I tell prospective customers this I am usually met with a sigh of relief because they are under the impression that they have to crimp in order to shoot Hammers. My conclusion is they have found this information here on the forum, so I want to set the record straight that is not a required process to load Hammers. With that said, I have rarely seen a downside to crimping.
My personal method is to start with a standard 2 thou neck tension and work a load up to find pressure. Back off the pressure to where it is comfortable and usually we have a very nice load there and I am done. Very nice meaning solid sub moa with the velocity that I am looking for. Sometime we will increase the neck tension to 3-4 thou to settle a load down and sometimes add a crimp to do the same thing. Or sometimes tinker seating depth to get what we need. But it is rare that we have to do anything beyond the initial ladder with 2 thou tension.
I know that there is a good number of you that use the crimp to tune your loads and there is no denying the success that you all achieve. So I don't want any of you to think that crimping is not a good option, because it is. I just want it to be known that it is an option that folks should be aware of but not required in order to get great performance from Hammer Bullets. I know there is lots of info on crimping on the forum but I am going to go ahead and make this thread a sticky so that it stays to the front for people to see successful loading with and without crimping.
My personal method is to start with a standard 2 thou neck tension and work a load up to find pressure. Back off the pressure to where it is comfortable and usually we have a very nice load there and I am done. Very nice meaning solid sub moa with the velocity that I am looking for. Sometime we will increase the neck tension to 3-4 thou to settle a load down and sometimes add a crimp to do the same thing. Or sometimes tinker seating depth to get what we need. But it is rare that we have to do anything beyond the initial ladder with 2 thou tension.
I know that there is a good number of you that use the crimp to tune your loads and there is no denying the success that you all achieve. So I don't want any of you to think that crimping is not a good option, because it is. I just want it to be known that it is an option that folks should be aware of but not required in order to get great performance from Hammer Bullets. I know there is lots of info on crimping on the forum but I am going to go ahead and make this thread a sticky so that it stays to the front for people to see successful loading with and without crimping.
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