.45acp Crimping or no Crimping

I reload 45 acp 200gr. lead swc with N 310 3,5.gr. Better no crimping (.470) or crimping at .467 for better accuracy?

What does your pistol prefer?

Load batches with different crimps and test them at the longest range available to you. Your gun will tell you what it wants.

In any case crimping is usually between .470 to .467. or more?

ser2711 wrote:In any case crimping is usually between .470 to .467. or more?

Start at .470". It is all downhill from there! 

BE Mike wrote:Start at .470". It is all downhill from there! 

ser2711 wrote:In any case crimping is usually between .470 to .467. or more?

Many go .463!

None are truly easy to measure accurately without proper equipment

Normalizing what I've heard from various master reloaders ( ) and master shooters over the past few years, is .470-.471 (strait/no crimp, just remove the flare, even kiss it with a sizing die instead of crimper) for jacketed and .463-.467 taper crimp for swaged lead (e.g. Zero)

Seat a bullet to the COL you want.  Back off seating plug. Turn crimp die down by hand, to apply the crimp. 
Does the round chamber? If no, turn crimp die down a hair more, till rounds chamber.


A taper crimp must be applied, just so the rounds chamber freely.

SingleActionAndrew wrote:Normalizing what I've heard from various master reloaders ( ) and master shooters over the past few years, is .470-.471 (strait/no crimp, just remove the flare, even kiss it with a sizing die instead of crimper) for jacketed and .463-.467 taper crimp for swaged lead (e.g. Zero)

Pretty close to what I've found, after hundreds of repeated experiments with loads on a Ransom (Random) Rest.
Jacketed: .469-.470
Cast: .465-.468
Swaged: .462-.468
Your best crimp will most likely change if you change your brass. Federal is quite thick(but had the most consistent thickness of all brands tested).  Rem & TZZ are thinner, usually about .003 less than the Federal.