Measuring crimp.

For those struggling on how to measure the crimp diameter in taper crimped 45, I offer my technique.  I rest the caliper on my finger and pinch the round between the finger and the thumb.  I use the beveled area of the caliper measuring jaws.  With this technique I can raise or lower the area to be measured to get the best npmeasurement.  It isn’t precise on a tapered crimp but it is repeatable and lot-to-lot comparable.

That's how I do it.

t's a bit easier if you set the caliper to the dimension you want and lock it down. When the cartridge goes thru you are where you want to be.

I made this to make it even easier. Someone should make some to sell.

Nice set-up Wes!

Wes Lorenz wrote: Someone should make some to sell.

Sounds like a great idea! How much would you charge for one?

Never measured a crimp. All I want is to remove case mouth flare and have cartridges that chambers freely.

That gauge would sure make life easier.

Wes, not sure if you're joking, but uh... I'd buy one of those. You have any extra lying around?

Very nice but I would need one to go as low as .463".
I find with the lighter powder charges I get a cleaner powder burn with a tighter crimp.
Very nicely done and yeah I would be interested also.

When I was 20 Coach told me to increase crimp until I could not push the bullet in with my thumb with the round standing on the bench.
We were not very technical back then.

Now I have a table swing arm light with a magnifying glass.  With the light and glass I can caliper right on the end of the brass.  In fact I can see to put the thin tip of the caliper half on half off the brass.

Wobbley wrote:For those struggling on how to measure the crimp diameter in taper crimped 45, I offer my technique.  I rest the caliper on my finger and pinch the round between the finger and the thumb.  I use the beveled area of the caliper measuring jaws.  With this technique I can raise or lower the area to be measured to get the best npmeasurement.  It isn’t precise on a tapered crimp but it is repeatable and lot-to-lot comparable.

Thanks for showing how to measure the crimp in .45. Your method, with the caliper and your fingers, makes it easier to keep the measurements the same each time, even if it's not super exact. It's a useful tip!

I was gonna make me one on my last trip to pet my machines. Yeah, pure evil blind theft of intellectual property.

Maybe next month, or whenever I get back.

Spent most of my time working on rifle stuff ...

Oh, the humanity ...

:-)

But made a ton of custom seating stems for 38, and 45. And a .358 105 HB from Bear Creek, which I'm hoping will cure the leading in my 929, and maybe my 70's HP ... if they'll chamber.

Wobbley wrote:For those struggling on how to measure the crimp diameter in taper crimped 45, I offer my technique.  I rest the caliper on my finger and pinch the round between the finger and the thumb.  I use the beveled area of the caliper measuring jaws.  With this technique I can raise or lower the area to be measured to get the best npmeasurement.  It isn’t precise on a tapered crimp but it is repeatable and lot-to-lot comparable.

Thank you. 

This was the first post I read after joining.....and it was very useful.

That is going to speed up checking my crimp. 

Just now getting back into handloading finds me checking everything frequently....don't want to make any mistakes and I HATE pulling bullets on goof ups. 

The gage block Wes shows is basically 5 ring gages in a block.

You can get any size you want at McMaster.com and search for ring gage.  Not cheep but they work.  I push the loaded round in with a small force and consider if they stay in place upside down they are good.