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i've been thinking about what would be better to do take a 223 case i have a rcbs bushing neck sizing die with various bushings after i measure the loaded round to get a starting point. if i went with a size under the normal bushing(or 2) wouldnt that be better than crimping the the end of the case the bullet would have a more uniform holding pressure than just the at the end. just something i've been pondering.
A crimp doesn't make up for inadequate neck tension. Also too much neck tension isn't a good thing. You basically want 0.002" of neck tension. More than that is too much and working the brass more than needed. Less than that can lead to bullet creep.
yeah i understand what your getting at i was trying to get away from crimping my AR rounds i dont crimp my target rounds since they are single shot from a bolt gun. i know some guys who dont crimp their AR bullets and have seen some of thier rounds with bullet set back as a result. just thinking if any accuracy could be gained from more neck tension instead of a crimp. thanks for the input
I use the Lee Factory Crimp die on my .30-06 and 7-mag loads, and it works great. I have seen accuracy improve slightly on both since I began using this die. Cheap and easy to set up too. So cheap, it can't hurt to try it. As stated above, though, it's no substitute for good neck tension.
Several years ago I bought several lee crimping dies in various calibers as I thought they would perform as advertised. At best I had mixed results with a couple of loads grouping better but most either stayed the same or were worst so I discontinued using the lee crimping dies. I've even recieved some in my deluxe lee die sets and I never use them.
i use them for my auto pistol loads and use one for my AR loads i pulled some heads and found a slight ring around some of them which got me to think about buying a f/l bushing sizer die and use a smaller neck bushing for instance i mic'd a winchester case .011 so if i took .011+.011+.224=.246 subtract .001 leaves me with a bushing size of .245 now what i'm thing of is subtracting another .001 for a final bushing size of .244 since the whole neck will be sized the bullet should have better holding force.
0.001" of sizing isn't enough. If the brass is newly annealed, it might hold the bullet but not very tightly. If the brass has been fired a few times, the case is work hardened enough that 0.001" of sizing may as well be no sizing at all. At that point 0.003" or 0.004" is required.
i was going to use this as a starting point and look for pressure signs as well as grouping performance..0001 is what works in my f-open gun which is a single shot it seems to like them and pressure signs since it is just as bad to have them to loose
bushing dies require all your brass to have the same neck thickness to work.. the crimp die dont... you can adjust the crimp to adjust the tension as you need..
I like the collet neck sizer from Lee for setting consistent neck tension without the hassle of neck turning/reaming or worrying about an expander ball pulling the neck off center.