Paper Patch bullet tension

[Eric Johanen]

I use Winchester brass in my 45-70 and Starline in the 45-90. I do find a slight variation in neck thickness and that can cause a few bullets to be a bit looser in the case neck. Occasionally a bullet slips the case and I have to fool around with them to get them back together. I have tightened up on the length of my neck sizer and things look pretty good for bullet tension. A very few do seat a bit tighter than the rest and I was wondering if there would be any noticeable results on the target when fired in a standard chamber cut for grooved lubed bullets? There is plenty of room for the brass to expand upon firing and I can not think of any real difference as opposed to a tight paper patch chamber only. Has anyone thoughts or done testing with this in mind? Powder charge and a .060 poly wad are compressed to seat the bullet .120 in the case so I am seating pretty shallow for the best possible bore alignment. They shoot quite well and I would like to cure the occasional bullet slips.

[rdnck]

Don't neck size. After you put the bullet in the case, use a taper crimp die to tighten the case just enough that you can rotate the bullet with your fingers, but it doesn't fall out of the case. You can feel when the case tension on the bullet is just right. It is a lot easier to bring the case to the bullet than it is to stuff the bullet in the case. Shoot straight, rdnck.

[Eric Johanen]

Thank's rdnck. What taper crimp die are you using? My Lyman is not tight enough with the Winchester and Starline brass. I use a .450 - .4505 bullet for the best fit in my Shiloh and C. Sharps rifles.

[rdnck]

I use a Lyman taper crimp die. I haven't had a problem with any of my loads not crimping. I use Starline cases for my 45-70, 45-90, and 45-110 loads and used to use Remington in the 45-70. Something is different with your die. My bullets are smaller than yours, and your larger bullets should take the crimp.

In the 40-65, I use Remington and Starline brass , and Hornady in the 40-70 straight. The Lyman 40 caliber taper crimp die handles all of them just fine. Shoot straight, rdnck.

[Eric Johanen]

I'll try adjusting my Lyman die a bit more and see if I can get the neck tension. My die may not be as tight as the one you have.

[Kurt]

Using a taper crimp die will work fine.
If I feel that I need to size a case I use a taper crimp or a short neck size die before I would use a full length unless I need to reduce the base.
I personally don't like to reduce a neck with the bullet in the case because it also swages the bullet down and the brass will spring back a little, but either way it's better then using a bushing die that can make the case mouth eccentric if the case is not aligned with the die when lowering the ram.

[rdnck]

FWIW, I always full length size my cases before I load them. If I don't , wads are too small, and things are just sloppy otherwise. The case mouth ID is WAY too large for the bullet. Sized cases are still big enough for the bullet to go into the case easily, and the taper crimp works like a champ. Shoot straight, rdnck.

[rdnck]

O.K. I just went out to the reloading room and measured the neck diameter O.D. of a couple of loaded paper patched rounds. The 45-70, loaded in Starline brass, has a case mouth O.D. of .472, and the 40-65 round loaded in Remington brass has an O.D. of .421 at the case mouth. This is good, accurate ammo, and while the bullets will turn in the cases, they will not come out without some manipulating. They certainly won't fall out by accident. Hope this helps. Shoot straight, rdnck.

[Dave Roelle]

I don't have a taper crimp die so this is conjecture------would not case length uniformity be a factor in controlling the taper crimp ?