300BlkTalk

Hello all,
Ive been starting to use the Lee Factory Crimp die when loading 125 sst for hunting, and another member pointed out that my crimp location is a little too far down the case; essentially what looks to be outside of the cannelure channel. I tend to agree with him that its too far down the case outside of the cannelure area. Is there any way to adjust the crimp die so that the crimp is higher up the case neck and more in line with the cannelure channel? Here is a pic for reference:

Sure.

You would need to seat the bullet further into the case, but it looks pretty crunched on already. 

cdl wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 10:41 pm Sure.

You would need to seat the bullet further into the case, but it looks pretty crunched on already. 

Already a little under 2.1 COAL that the Hornady manual recommends. Could the Lee Crimp Die be out of spec?

That little bit of depth won't mean that much.

Your cartridge cases might be running a little short. I trim to 1.358" on the case and 2.100" centers the 125gr SST up pretty good. I'd make it look good before I worried about a few thousandths... because we all know looking good is important.

Ya know, the seating die has a crimp in it too. if that die is set too low, then basically your trying to seat in an already crimped case. Make sure the crimp in the seating die isn't contacting the case and adjust the bullet depth with the stem. Then use the Factory crimp. That ring might go away.

Something is not right with your seater die. The seating stem should not be deforming the bullet like it is.

As I mentioned in your other thread... There's nothing wrong with the COAL / Bullet / Seater (outside obvious) / Brass..

Just that particular bullet doesn't work well with a 300blk case... It might line up perfectly fine with a 308 case lets say..

Since most bullets aren't cartridge specific but caliber... They make the cannalure somewhere in the middle or for a particular case (specifically) yet it CAN be used with other cartridges... Like here in 300 blk

I'd say leave off the crimp or just do a light crimp if your getting good accuracy at the current seating depth.

The books a guideline but not necessarily whats BEST for your rifle. Without measuring the rifle your using I couldn't say definitively if moving it out any (bullet for longer coal) would hurt but I'm confident if you were to seat a bit deeper you could..

If your using H110 you could try seating the bullet 0.01-2-3 deeper to get the cannalure at the top / middle of the case top.

What's your trim length 1.358? If you left them long at saami max - 1.368 you would probably be crimping the case in the correct spot - Again this could help but might not.. Just depends on your accuracy and or what you want for accuracy... Dellet says "Minute of deer or minute of deer heart"


LFC die will place the crimp at a reference point off the top of your case. No matter what COAL or bullet.. The Crimp's going to be 0.0x below the top of the case itself every time.

125gr SST with 17.8gr H-110 and Wolf 223 primers at 2.100" with a 3/4 turn factory crimp into the cannelure shoots one hole out of my 8.3" BA Hanson barrel at 50 yards. I'd need a scope for 100 yards. Awesome load, one of my "go-to" loads. 1922fps from my conservative chrono. Cold soaked and tested to minus 30 below zero.

I've been as high as a hot 19.7gr @ 2106fps with ejector shine on the case head but at 17.8gr @ 1922fps, 1025 ft/lbs, they just keep falling in the same hole on the target. Nice feeling when it comes together like that. Great bullet.

If you are use the Lee FCD, then as cdl said, be sure you are setting up your Hornady seating die to NOT crimp while seating.

the lee factory crimp die is designed to work on bullets with or without a crimp grove. if done lightly it gives a consistant bullet release to give
you better accuracy. some reloaders crimp too much and deform jackets.

I've been shooting the 125 sst now since 2013. Killed a lot of critters with it. I load to 2.11.My hunting load is 18 gr.
Accuracy best at 17.8.
Tried crimping for a while and then figured out that proper neck tension would suffice. Half MOA at 100 yards. Play with brass
types, polish your expander or get bushing dies to control this.
There is absolutely no reason to have that seater deform the bullet if your loading a normal neck ( sized correctly ) or not compressing the crap out of powder, which I don't believe you are.
I also don"t think anything is wrong with the seater. I disagree with SIMJOSH1 that the bullet doesn't work well with the case.It has been proven to be the best hunting bullet in it's weight class by many, many folks.
Edit - BTW, I completely ignore cannelures in center fire rifle.

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