New to reloading. First attempt with assistance.

[Micahweeks]

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One of my local gun stores was kind enough to show me how reloading works in person with their equipment. I got to make 50 rounds of the cartridge I wanted, a 158 grain semi-jacketed hollow point. I took them out to shoot this morning and fired 24 of them. They worked! I think my reloading manuals should be here in the next day or two. After I give a read, I'll be ordering my first set of equipment.

I have one question, though. Does anything about these rounds look odd to you? I have some factory rounds of the same type, and the crimp doesn't look the same. It looks tighter and like the bullet doesn't sit quite as deep. The rounds worked and shot straight, so I'm assuming there's nothing wrong with them, but I just want to be sure. Here's a pic of a few I made...

 

[Gadawg88]

I would say they look good in general. Only possible issue i see is a variance from round to round in the seating depth and maybe the amount of crimp. Round #2 and 3 from left look just right to me. Some might say you need even a bit more crimp on those particularly if you have a stout load. The others look like the bullet is seated a bit higher and have less crimp. This is probably due to a variance in the case length. Next time i would suggest trimming all the cases to the same length if that is the cause. That way you don't have to adjust your crimp from case to case. A good roll crimp is important with magnum revolvers to hold that bullet in place during recoil. Good luck with it.

 

[willr]

Most look fine to me, also. Are they all the same mfg? That could explain some of the differences. Did the gun store instructor inspect your work? Those look like .357 mag to me, and so I second the comment about a good roll crimp. Lee Factory Crimp die could solve the problem of slight differences in case length.

Good luck with your reloading.

willr

 

[chiefr]

Often in the manufacturing process of batches of bullets, cannelures are not placed in the exact same locations relative to the base or the top of the bullets. If all your cases are the exact same length, one will notice minor variations.
Reloads look good.

 

[loademwell]

I would shoot em.... As long as you got the #'s from a book and they fit into the revolver (guessing its a .357 revolver, Don't know of too many semi auto .357).
And for the crimp; I wouldn't worry about that quite yet. To be Frank, I load 44 mag for my Blackhawk all the time and have never crimped one round.. Shoots good....
Come to think of it, I don't crimp any of my guns.... I really don't know the diff in why to crimp.... I better look into that....
Nice job and welcome to the addiction....

 

[The mad scientist]

I am not new to reloading, just posting and forums... May I offer some valuable advice, IMO, micrometers / calipers are a very very useful tool when loading. I have experience with reloading and LOADING.. I work with some equipment that people only dream of seeing. Point being, seating the bullet too deep can be costly. Aside from a double charge, it may be one of the easiest ways to cause over pressure.

Mititoyo makes awesome calipers to measure overall lengths. Pricy but worth it. After using them at work for hours on end I broke down and bought a set for my personal loading set up.

Secondly, crimp! Failure to crimp can cause set back, or unintentional deep seat of the bullet. Recoil or violent action of a semi or you name it... It can cause the bullet to slide back into the case...

Check the SAAMI/ANSI website for information regarding OAL For different cartridges. Stick with published data including OAL, and stay in the OAL ranges recommended by SAAMI... Then, your worries are reduced greatly and you can shoot what you load with confidence (and all your fingers).

Yes- welcome to the addiction

 

[Micahweeks]

Thanks, everyone. The rest of the rounds shot fine this afternoon, and I did get out a caliper and measure them all. They are all pretty uniform. I don't remember what the actual length on the reloading chart was supposed to be since it's back at the gunshop, but all the cartridges I had are the same length.

As far as the crimp, that was the part I was most unsure about. I just repeated what I saw the owner do and took him at his word when he said it looked fine. All the crimps don't look the same, though. Perhaps I am overthinking that one too much.

Are they all the same mfg? That could explain some of the differences. Did the gun store instructor inspect your work?

The bullets themselves were in a bin at the gun store, so I don't really know for sure if they were all the same manufacturer. Most of the brass says Speer on the bottom with a few Federal thrown in. The store owner checked all of my cartridges one by one before I left the store and said they looked fine. Those crimps not looking the same just got me a little paranoid, I guess. The tracking number for my manuals says they are already in town, so I'll be getting them at my door tomorrow afternoon. Reading time!

 

[Sport45]

The crimp on those may or may not be good enough. If that's .357mag and a relatively fast pistol powder (Bullseye, Titegroup, W231, etc) is used then I see no real problem other than visual consistency.

If those are .357mag loaded with a slower powder (H-110/W296, Enforcer, etc) you may have some ignition problems without an adequate crimp.

Be sure to pull the handle all the way down to the mechanical stops each and every pull. One looks like it may not have gone all the way into the sizing die.

 

[Micahweeks]

I apologize for not clarifying. These are .357 mag.

Be sure to pull the handle all the way down to the mechanical stops each and every pull.

I think I did, although in retrospect I couldn't say 100% sure. I wasn't consciously trying to do it. I started out pulling it all the way, so I guess it's possible somewhere along the way I got to moving too fast and didn't make a complete pull. The last 20 or so rounds I got to moving at a good pace, so I could have very well neglected a few. I have no idea if it was a fast or slow powder.

 

[caz223]

Those are beautiful. Shoot 'em up, so you can make more.

 

[WESHOOT2]

I might push them in a bit deeper so the case mouth is juuuuust at the top of the bullet cannelure.
Then I'd crimp 'em harder

 

[cdoc42]

If you seat and then crimp in a second stage you can easily see the depth of crimp. Seat the bullet, then -if your eyes are that good - look at the mouth of the case at the cannelure. If you're not sure, get a small magnifying glass.
Notice how straight the mouth is. Then start the crimp and look again. If you don't see the roll into the cannelure, keep increasing the crimp by lowering the die slightly and repeat the process until you do see the roll, as it will be obvious.

With pistol cases, not revolvers, and you'll get there someday, they headspace on the mouth of the case so you don't roll crimp them, and that's a bit more difficult to ascertain.

But I agree the crimp is critical, not only to prevent the bullets in the cylinder to seat deeper and increasing pressure, due to recoil, but to prevent those bullets from doing the opposite - jumping forward and blocking movement of the cylinder.

 

[Micahweeks]

I might push them in a bit deeper so the case mouth is juuuuust at the top of the bullet cannelure.

Unfortunately, my books didn't arrive today like I hoped, so I'm not really sure what this means. Can you explain what you mean exactly? Cannelure is a groove around the bullet, right?

 

[WESHOOT2]

Yes; the 'cannelure' we're discussing is the 'groove' on the bullet.
Push the bullet in a wee bit deeper until just the weeist amount of cannelure still shows.
When you roll crimp (properly ) the case mouth will fit in the cannelure.

 

[Nick_C_S]

They look great.

The 4th one from the left looks seated a little shallow, and it also looks like the crimp is a little light. The two combined tells me that the case is probably a tad shorter than the others.

But I'm being persnickity there. They're good rounds. Nice job.

 

[Hunter0924]

To me it looks like your COL (case over length) is a bit long. Ideally you want the roll crimp into the cannelure. Very little of the cannelure will show.

Is the round COL the same as what the manufacture of the bullet loading manual calls for?

 

[WESHOOT2]

When using cannelured bullets I crimp into the cannelure; all my guns have (more than) sufficient cylinder length.

 

[LE-28]

Those look fine to me also except it looks like you didn't trim your cases before you loaded them.

Trimming them to the same length will do away with the variances in the cannulure you are seeing. You will set the depth of the bullet to the upper end of the cannulure and crimp into it. You usually only need to trim them once and they will stay with in .005" of each other and you are golden.

I bought some unprimed brass in .357 mag from Remington and they were all with in .003"of each other, I later bought Starline brass and they varied about .008"of each other which is to much. That doesn't mean Remington is better than Starline, actually it's the opposite, but it just shows that all the manufactures aren't exactly the same in the tolerances.

Cases can vary a lot in length and it they are more than about .005"difference in length it can be vary hard to hit the cannulure every time.