7 replies to this topic

[D-Man]

Getting ready to start reloading my .45 ACP. Can't find it anywhere, so I am guessing the answer is "No!" Do you guys chamfer the neck of your straight wall pistol cartridges or not? I know a newbie question, but rather ask those that know then to do something stupid. I know one of the dies in the set bells the mouth of the brass a bit to accept the bullet, but still wondered if a chamfer would help or not.Darren

[moontiger]

I used to reload .38 spcl and I never had to , and the guy who taught me had been and still reloads , so i say no need

[rr762mmfmj]

Well, you would usually chamfer a case after it has been trimmed to length. I think you will find that strait walled pistol cases shrink after repeated loadings, so you should not need to chamfer. As far as the case mouth being belled by the die, the crimp after bullet seating should eliminate the slight amount belled. I highly recommend buying a taper crimping die for use with the .45ACP.

[D-Man]

I have a taper crimp die on order right now. The die with the Lyman set (will stick with Lee from now on) does a roll crimp which would be horrible for a .45 ACP. I thought the bullet seating die would remove that bell once the bullet was seated in the cartridge. Good to know I don't need to chamfer the neck.Darren

[rr762mmfmj]

I have a set of Lyman carbide dies that I bought wayyyyy back in 70. They came with the roll crimp and it crimped flawlessly, I started using the taper die about five years ago. Lyman makes superb carbide pistol dies. For what its worth, Lyman used to make a Precision alignment bullet seating die for rifles way back when. Now everyone has a similar die, but I think they were one of the first to recognize the need.

[D-Man]

I have a set of Lyman carbide dies that I bought wayyyyy back in 70. They came with the roll crimp and it crimped flawlessly, I started using the taper die about five years ago. Lyman makes superb carbide pistol dies. For what its worth, Lyman used to make a Precision alignment bullet seating die for rifles way back when. Now everyone has a similar die, but I think they were one of the first to recognize the need.

We shall see how it does. I called Lyman, and they wanted another $20 for the taper crimp die. I asked, them (since they also said a roll crimp was horrible) why they didn't just put that into the die set instead? This is another fun adventure in reloading! At least I am learning lots, and am having some fun doing it. Now if I could just beat this tonsillitis so that I could get back to reloading and other fun stuff. Thanks again for all the great information. Love this board!Darren

[microwave]

Getting ready to start reloading my .45 ACP. Can't find it anywhere, so I am guessing the answer is "No!" Do you guys chamfer the neck of your straight wall pistol cartridges or not? I know a newbie question, but rather ask those that know then to do something stupid. I know one of the dies in the set bells the mouth of the brass a bit to accept the bullet, but still wondered if a chamfer would help or not.Darren

I would say it's a matter of how you pistol or carbine head-spaces in the chamber. Being a rimless cartridge means that the head spacing is achieved @ the case mouth &/or the extractor(!). Size a case but don't prime or complete the load. Next slide into the chamber & feel how it resists finger pressure applied to the case base. If it won't budge AND it's even (+ or -1 or 2 1000ths above or below the chamber) then try chamfering. Repeat the quickie test as previously described. Again, it should not press down into the chamber.P

[D-Man]

No need to chamfer based on lots of rounds later on.Darren