I have recently gotten into reloading and am starting simple with 45 Automatic for my 1911. I have searched for an answer to my question on here but have not come up with exactly what I am looking for so I am going to go ahead and just post this and hope that I am not asking a duplicate question. Anyway, my question is about flaring and crimping. I have a Hornady Single Press and am using Lee Reloading Dies. I have a Carbide Sizing Die, an Expanding die and a Bullet seat and Feed Die.
As for flaring, how do I know how much to do? The instructions say to only flare enough to "easily accept a bullet" but I do not have a good concept of home much that is. Should I flare as far down in the neck as the actuall bullet will sit once seated for Max Overall Length? Or should I just flare enough on the top of the neck to let the bullet sit on top and let the bullet seating step force the bullet the rest of the way in?
Now for crimping. My dies do not say whether they put a roll or taper crimp, does anyone know what type of crimp Lee dies apply? Or can someone please post a good picture showing the difference between a roll and a taper crimp. If it is applying a taper crimp, which is what I want, how much crimp do I want. Or can someone look at the picture I posted below and tell me what type of crimp was applied. The instructions say to screw the die in until it touches the shell holder then back it out three turns then screw it back in slightly and test each tiny turn until "proper" crimp is formed, what is the "proper" crimp? I have run a few test rounds through just to experiment (they have no powder or primers in them) and I have attached a picture of one below. I think that this is an example of over crimpping and just wanted to confirm with you all.
Thanks in advance for the help.
-Martin
As for flaring, how do I know how much to do? The instructions say to only flare enough to "easily accept a bullet" but I do not have a good concept of home much that is. Should I flare as far down in the neck as the actuall bullet will sit once seated for Max Overall Length? Or should I just flare enough on the top of the neck to let the bullet sit on top and let the bullet seating step force the bullet the rest of the way in?
Now for crimping. My dies do not say whether they put a roll or taper crimp, does anyone know what type of crimp Lee dies apply? Or can someone please post a good picture showing the difference between a roll and a taper crimp. If it is applying a taper crimp, which is what I want, how much crimp do I want. Or can someone look at the picture I posted below and tell me what type of crimp was applied. The instructions say to screw the die in until it touches the shell holder then back it out three turns then screw it back in slightly and test each tiny turn until "proper" crimp is formed, what is the "proper" crimp? I have run a few test rounds through just to experiment (they have no powder or primers in them) and I have attached a picture of one below. I think that this is an example of over crimpping and just wanted to confirm with you all.
Thanks in advance for the help.
-Martin