I asked an experienced loader how to tackle this. He told me he doesn't bother crimping non cannelured bullets. Is the Lee factory crimp die capable of a "taper crimp" or is this not necessary, either? I know that cartidges intended for tubular magazine rifles and revolvers HAVE to receive a roll crimp, but what about non cannelured bulleted cartridges intended for box or detatchable magazine rifles? I have both a Remington 7600 and a Savage 99C, (detatchable magazine). Should I not be concerned with inertia in recoil causing the bullets in these cases to "jump"?
Any advice would be apprieciated - thanks in adavance.

Nathaniel
Others will disagree,but i personally do NOT crimp any cartridge,unless I feela need to do so.Because I am searching for something to improve my loadings.
Currently,the only rifle cartridge that needs a crimp is my 30/30 Winnie,with cast bullets.With jacketed bullets,I use a highly polished sizer that really grips the bullet.
I really like the Lee factory crimp.
Frank

Most box magazine rifles do not demand that bullets be crimped. (Very heavy recoilers and/or very heavy bullets are sometimes exceptions.)

Sometimes, accuracy or velocity consistency can be improved if bullets are crimped. If a crimp is desired, but the bullet is not cannelured -or cannelured in the wrong place- then the Lee Factory Crimp Die can and will crimp the round easily. It does not form a "taper" crimp, but a kind of "stab" crimp. Examine a factory or a military cartridge and what you see is a stab crimp; the case is indented into the bullet at several locations around the case mouth.

There are no hard and fast rules for crimping. You have to be caliber and gun specific and even then sometimes the bullet/gun combo didn't read what all the "experts" wrote. There is lots of good information and lots of total bullsh** on the web so be careful of what you extract and use.

Crimping does help, in some cases, to slightly slow down the burning process...relatively speaking...so there is a more complete combustion which increases velocity and sometimes accuracty...BUT...YOU have to do the experimenting on YOUR rifle. I can't stress enough that there are way to many variables that never get mentioned when someone says "crimping my XXXX made it shoot much better", the rest of the story hasn't been told yet.

I crimp my 30-30 rounds for use in a tubular mag and ANY cal tubular mag style rifle...SOMETIMES....I also polished the expander buttons or used a bushing type die to get a tighter grip on the bullet, only loaded 3 in the mag...and so on...but MORE IMPORTANT...I experimented with several ways of seating, and used the one that worked the best FOR THAT PARTICULAR BULLET/GUN...I didn't say "this work for this bullet/gun so it wil work for all bullets/guns"...that is wrongway thinking.

My Marlin 336 in 356 Win shooting 220 gr Speer bullets gets the full treatment, i.e., the smallerst dia bushing AND a firm taper crimp. If the mag is fully loaded, recoil wil destroy the bullet tips on the 3 rounds at the very end and will push the bullet down to the top of the powder column where it stops, if I don't taper crimp well... NOT GOOD...as this will definitely raise pressure levels, so I only load 3 in the tube...even though rounds with the full treatment DON'T get pushed down, they STILL get the tips mashed all to HE** which makes the nice small groups turn into shotgun patters. You need to test things out on the range NOT when you are out hunting. You don't want to get mucked up by doing what Joe Blow said he did and finding out he was a drooling inbred idiot that never shot a gun in his life and only partially read one loading manual...to put it in a worse case scenario.

I crimp my 416 Taylor with 400 gr bullets...ALL brands...because I found I need to...with 350 gr or lighter there is no need and I use a bushing sizer fit to the turned necks. The same for my 45-70 with lead or any weight 400 gr and over because I tested them to see for sure and found I got better accuracy using a LEE factory crimper...NOT the roll crimper on the seating die...if you mess up with that one you could get an expanded neck and actually loosen up the bullet grip. My 45-70 is a single shot.

For the most part I don't crimp ANY caliber below 416 including my 375 H&H even with 300 grain top loads...MY Savage 375 H&H rifle doesn't require it nor do any of the rest of my heavy or light cal rifles. I polished the button to get a tighter grip on the bullets and that was all that was required...it WILL be different for another 375.

Everything having to do with reloading is a learned experience...nothing is cast in stone...what works for one MAY or MAYNOT work for another...you just have to check it out for yourself ACTUALLY and hands on.

This is how I do things...I continually ask myself questions, develope an hypothesis, then test it...It's worked for me for many years...it might work for you...or not.

'Njoy

Only one I crimp is the 35 Rem. And that's with the Lee Factory Crimp Die.

If you have a heavy recoiler with heavy bullets or say you want to use 110gn rn in a tube mag gun. The bullet has no crimp groove. Resize with no expander, seat the bullet and you'll see a wasp waist below the bullet. It is held by that. It works. Some do this by using a special expander to open up the cases neck the proper depth.

I think NFG's examples pretty much matched my guidelines. Thanks for the support, brother.

Oddly enough, some very small rounds (the Hornet, Bee and a few others) also benefit from a firm crimp. In those cases (both senses of the word intended) the brass is so thin that there is little bullet tension. A crimp helps prevent the bullet moving due to primer pressure, and makes powder burn MUCH more consistent.

But most big game rifles? Nah. If a gun is an inconsistent grouper, though, it can never hurt to try a firm crimp. The Lee FCD is the perfect way to do that.