Rossi Rifleman

I have some cast bullets that are a little to long to feed thru the action. GT 455 grain. Is there a problem if I cut the case about .015 thousands so they will feed. I have heard pros and cons on this.. Thanks

I don't see a problem, but do be sure to scrub the chamber before and after.

Make smoke,

Just a little thought, but 455g .44 bullets will probably keyhole pretty badly. I remember reading that around 300-325g was as heavy as would stabilize a .44 with 1:28-1:30 twists (I think Rossi uses 1:30).

why not just seat them deeper and not cut the cases.

I also wonder about tumbling, first from the low velocity, and second from the twist rate.

Appreciate your reply. I am going to check my twist.ive head even 1/20

As has been said that's a pretty heavy for caliber slug and the Rossi isn't noted for having a fast twist barrel. Even if you can get it to shoot consistently you are going to be looking at some major arc or very short range or both.

Sorry for the typo which I just now caught. It is a 255 grain bullet. Not 455. Guess it was a senior moment..lol

15 thou shortening the brass isn't going to make a lot of difference if you have to in order to get the crimp in the right place but it is going to mean if you ever load it with anything other than that bullet it will likely be a tad short. If you aren't pushing pressures it probably won't make much difference.

IF you can seat it just a tad deep and still get a crimp on it then you wouldn't have to alter the brass.
That could mean you wouldn't have to sort out the short stuff later for consistency.
You might consider this crimp die? https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101683339

My dies came with the Lee factory crimp die,but I have never used it..how does it work with cast bullets.. I have often wondered how you know how much crimp you really need. So can any one explain this to me. Cause I know it can effect the accuracy..thanks

There are three common types of crimps:
1) Taper crimps used mostly for semi autos where the round is expected to headspace on the case mouth. In this case the die has a tapered constriction inside that is designed to allow you to keep the case mouth a little proud so that it can still stop at the end of the chamber cut. (In reality many of these cartridges will 'headspace' off the extractor rather than being stopped by the case mouth reaching the end of the chamber.) Taper crimps are mostly used with semi auto handguns but I have seen some rifle dies with taper crimps. The rifle die crimps rarely need to be taper crimps.

2) Roll crimps where the constriction in the die is much sharper and tends to push the case mouth into the bullet much more aggressively. These crimps are often found in revolver die sets and can push the case mouth inward enough that it would not catch at the end of the chamber. Since most of the rounds in question are rimmed and don't headspace off the case mouth this doesn't really matter. Roll crimps used to be the norm for most die sets and taper crimp dies were often special order. In the past 20 or 25 years taper crimp dies have become pretty much standard for all straight walled semi auto pistol rounds.

Both of the above dies can be had in a Lee Factory Carbide Crimp die or any other manufacturers traditional seat/crimp die or a crimp only die which is usually about the same thing as a seat/crimp die body although if it is truly a crimp only die then they don't have to thread it for a seating stem/plug. Some companies use a hybrid form of the taper or roll crimp that combines elements from both. Dillon and Lee have both alluded to something like this but they are still more or less the same sort of crimp, probably the long lead of a taper crimp topped with a more abrupt shoulder from the roll crimp. The Lee Factory Carbide crimp die places a minimum chamber sized sizing ring below the crimping shoulder in the die body. The carbide doesn't really have anything to do with the crimp it is just a post processing size operation on the brass case and works ONLY for straight walled cartridges and is thus included ONLY for those straight walled cartridges. You could make the argument that the carbide crimp die adds some support of the brass near the case head while the crimping action is taking place BUT the carbide ring is a short section and near the case head is the thickest part of the case wall so in the event that the crimp operation would buckle the case from too much crimp it will probably happen regardless of whether you have the carbide ring or not.

3) The die I linked to above is a Lee Factory Collet crimp die. This sort of crimp pushes in on the brass from the side rather than being activated simply by the case entering a static die. The die itself has a tapered body with a collet insert. As the shell enters the die it passes through the collet and the shell holder or shell plat bottoms out on the collet forcing it upward into the taper body which pushes it in on the brass case. This type of crimp is most often found on factory rifle ammo and Lee includes these dies in their 3 or 4 die rifle sets. There is no carbide in these dies. Because these dies are most often used with bottle necked cartridges carbide would be impractical.

The reasons I linked the Lee Collet crimp die is that it might be less sensitive to where you seat the bullet in the case. It wouldn't like brass trimmed too short but if you don't trim the brass and you are trying to crimp in a non standard location then it might help. Lee boasts it can 'form' a crimping groove in a non cannulared bullet. In general I'm against putting that much crimp on a bullet since I think the brass may just spring back once you've exceeded the elastic limit of the underlying bullet leading to a much looser situation than you'd otherwise have in the first place.

As to how much crimp, I set/check my crimp by pressing the bullet nose into the edge of my bench trying to set the bullet back. I try pretty hard to move the bullet. IF the bullet moves then I either have not enough crimp to hold it in place OR I have so much crimp that I'm getting the bullet squished so much that the brass can't hold it. (OR my brass is worn completely out and doesn't have any neck tension whatsoever.) So I start off with a little crimp and work my way up until I get enough. NOTE if the brass is not trimmed uniformly then the crimp will vary. It will vary most with the roll crimp, probably least with the collet die (although that one may be impacted more by mixed brass with varying case mouth thicknesses) with the taper crimp somewhere in the middle. I always trim rifle brass that will be roll crimped. I can't say I EVER trim brass for use in a semi auto. I sometimes trim revolver brass, especially if I'm loading magnum brass to near max levels, not so much for light loads.

Three to four trims tends to be the max for bottlenecked rifle cases and even then I check for case thinning inside down near the case head.

There are some other types/styles of crimping bullets but they aren't too common in the U.S..

(added by edit)