have any of you 375 ruger reloaders used a lee factory crimper? i e-mailed lee asking if they made one and they wanted me to send in a dummy cartridge so they can custom build one for me. i am wondering if i could use a 375 h&h crimper instead? the rounds i am loading don't align with any crimp grooves. for load work up i am just going to single load so i won't have to worry about recoil shoving the bullet back. i also tried to use the roll crimp in the seating die and didn't have any luck there either. thanks
375 Ruger Factory Crimp
- Thread starter kobuk
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tvfinak
Well-known member
Lee factory crimper
Lee factory crimper
The Lee factoy crimpers work off the length of the case so you you would be SOL with a .375 H&H crimper. It would appear that you could use a .375 Ruger for a .375 H&H IF you made a cylindrical spacer to make the difference in length between the two cartridges.
Check ou the diagrams in the Lee catalog and you can see how the factory crimpers work. I did had a friend have a custom one made up for a .500 NE and he says it works very well.
Lee factory crimper
The Lee factoy crimpers work off the length of the case so you you would be SOL with a .375 H&H crimper. It would appear that you could use a .375 Ruger for a .375 H&H IF you made a cylindrical spacer to make the difference in length between the two cartridges.
Check ou the diagrams in the Lee catalog and you can see how the factory crimpers work. I did had a friend have a custom one made up for a .500 NE and he says it works very well.
bushmaster223
New member
I have been using a Hornady die set for reloading the .375 Ruger and they do a great job of crimping the case. I have been reloading with Barnes X bullets that have rings for crimping the case into but i think it would work even without the rings. I use RCBS dies for my 300 win mag and the hornady dies seem to work much better for crimping and adjustability.
i am also using the hornady dies and where the bullet is seated it doesn't align with any of the grooves, i tried to crimp it but it didn't look like it did anything until it bulged the case. i wasn't sure if the outer case mouth needed to be chamfered more for it to work or if it just isn't made to crimp without a cannelure groove. i did send off a dummy round yesterday but it looks like i have 6 weeks or so to wait for my custom factory crimp die from lee.
I think that the 'rings' on Barnes bullets are not for crimping into. They perform a relief function where copper can flow into as the bullet travels through the barrel that is supposed to reduce drag and pressure, so you don't have to seat or crimp to a groove.
i agree with what you are saying, but it does give you a place to roll crimp if it did align up with one of the grooves. my bullets don't align up with any grooves and the roll crimp didn't work for me so i had to order the crimper from lee.
on a different note, after i bulged my case, are you able to put it back through the fl sizer and salvage the case? i wasn't sure and didn't want to see how fun it would be to remove a stuck case from a sizer die?!
Smitty of the North
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I can see why you'd wanna crimp a 375 Ruger.
I wouldn't try crimping a Barnes Bulllet at a place where there is no groove, because I'm bettin, there wouldn't be enough give to the solid copper bullet.
I think that if the roll crimp didn't work, the Lee FC, wouldn't either.
Maybe, you could seat the bullet a little deeper to align the neck to a groove.
Let us know if the Lee FC die works like you hope it does.
Thanks
Smitty of the North
I wouldn't try crimping a Barnes Bulllet at a place where there is no groove, because I'm bettin, there wouldn't be enough give to the solid copper bullet.
I think that if the roll crimp didn't work, the Lee FC, wouldn't either.
Maybe, you could seat the bullet a little deeper to align the neck to a groove.
Let us know if the Lee FC die works like you hope it does.
Thanks
Smitty of the North
i tried the search but didn't find the article you are talking about, where exactly did you locate it?
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Well, that was something of an odyssey. I searched their site just now and couldn't find it, so I googled "crimping Barnes bullets" and one of the results was on the Barnes site, barnes newsletters September 2007 and scroll down to an article titles Ty's tips.
e45colt
New member
I use the LEE FCD in the 375 Ruger and love it. You can crimp without a cannelure. I like them so much that I have one for everything I reload as I prefer to crimp as a seperate process. For the 375 Ruger just send LEE a dummy cartridge and in about a week they send it back with your FCD.
I can also see why you would want to crimp a 375......However, regardless of the die used to crimp any bottle necked rifle case, you should have a place in the bullet, a cannelure, or crimping will be a problem causing operation. You can slightly crimp case mouth without a crimp groove/cannelure, but any serious crimp such as roll crimp will require a bullet with a cannelure under the case mouth. The Lee factory crimp die is designed to crimp without a crimp groove without leaving a bulge in the neck. I have not found it to be much better than no crimp with heavy recoilers. The 375 Ruger is not a heavy recoiler. Also, in my experience with the 375 Ruger cartridge, I have not yet found it necessary to crimp any round to prevent the bullets from being pushed into the case under recoil. Dies and dimensions do vary but with the correct size expander in the sizing die, the bullet will have a snug fit.
I didn't think the short neck of the 375 Ruger would hold a bullet under recoil...I loaded three in the magazine with no crimp and kept them there for about forty shots one day when working up some loads. The top round was pushed in about .010" during this shoot. Not a significant amount. This load was in new brass (always holds better) and un-crimped. I would still load the ammo with a moderate crimp into a crimp groove for hunting dangerous game, especially with the 300 grain bullets. The homogenous solids are notorious for being pushed into the case. Another way to prevent that is use a propellant that allows a full case charge and slightly compress the powder. This seating the bullet "on the powder" will stop case stuffing.
I did use the 375 Ruger "African" rifle in Africa this past year and took a good Sable and a 42" dugga boy with 17" bosses. The old buff took two 300 grain Swift A-frame slugs, one through the near side shoulder and heart, a second through both lungs. With the third round in the pipe of the Ruger, he stopped and turned to greet us in typical buffalo fashion. He dropped and smacked his chin on the ground at this point at about 70 yards. I didn't need shot number three. These were hand-loads and were crimped into the deep cannelure of the Swift bullets. My PH was entertaining a couple of other bulls from the bachelor group and left me and the Ruger alone to do our work. All went well. Granted I would have rather had my 416 for such close work, but the puny little Ruger cartridge did well and I guess I would endorse it as a buffalo cartridge.
I didn't think the short neck of the 375 Ruger would hold a bullet under recoil...I loaded three in the magazine with no crimp and kept them there for about forty shots one day when working up some loads. The top round was pushed in about .010" during this shoot. Not a significant amount. This load was in new brass (always holds better) and un-crimped. I would still load the ammo with a moderate crimp into a crimp groove for hunting dangerous game, especially with the 300 grain bullets. The homogenous solids are notorious for being pushed into the case. Another way to prevent that is use a propellant that allows a full case charge and slightly compress the powder. This seating the bullet "on the powder" will stop case stuffing.
I did use the 375 Ruger "African" rifle in Africa this past year and took a good Sable and a 42" dugga boy with 17" bosses. The old buff took two 300 grain Swift A-frame slugs, one through the near side shoulder and heart, a second through both lungs. With the third round in the pipe of the Ruger, he stopped and turned to greet us in typical buffalo fashion. He dropped and smacked his chin on the ground at this point at about 70 yards. I didn't need shot number three. These were hand-loads and were crimped into the deep cannelure of the Swift bullets. My PH was entertaining a couple of other bulls from the bachelor group and left me and the Ruger alone to do our work. All went well. Granted I would have rather had my 416 for such close work, but the puny little Ruger cartridge did well and I guess I would endorse it as a buffalo cartridge.
gunaddict
New member
Just a quick question on crimping, I have not worried about the crimp on my 375 Ruger, I load and shoot a couple hundred rounds a year from it, 195 of those at the range, maybe 5 on a bad year in the field, I have shot with the magazine full and checked for movement on several batches but never noticed anything more than .0010" movement. My question is this , Am I setting myself up for a major catastrophe? I do use it for bear and moose normally under 100 yds.
