.45 Colt reloading alternative

[c_brutsche]

My grandfather left me a bunch of reloading stuff for .45 colt when he passed away and along with his note manual. I was reading today through his notes and he used the same components I do. 255 gr. lead bullets with 6.4-7 grains of unique. BUT the difference is he used no crimp at all. I remember shooting with him before he passed with his .45 colt revolver and his bullets were always accurate and efficient. Along with no crimp at all he actually wrote down that seating the bullet to the correct depth but loose enough that you could rotate the bullet was a must for him for accuracy. is this practical data if I were to ever follow his notes or in actuality if your lead bullet spins in the brass could that be potentially harmful?

[Flash]

My grandfather left me a bunch of reloading stuff for .45 colt when he passed away and along with his note manual. I was reading today through his notes and he used the same components I do. 255 gr. lead bullets with 6.4-7 grains of unique. BUT the difference is he used no crimp at all. I remember shooting with him before he passed with his .45 colt revolver and his bullets were always accurate and efficient. Along with no crimp at all he actually wrote down that seating the bullet to the correct depth but loose enough that you could rotate the bullet was a must for him for accuracy. is this practical data if I were to ever follow his notes or in actuality if your lead bullet spins in the brass could that be potentially harmful?

The bullet could "spin" in the case and that would not matter. But being loose in the case is a sure invitation for the bullet in a revolver cylinder to creep forward out of the case, under the effects of recoil, and protrude beyond the edge of the cylinder, thus effectively stopping the cylinder from rotating. That's the normal result.

However, bullets being loose in the case could also wind up being seated even deeper, thus running the risk of effectively decreasing the case volume, which leads to pressure spikes, perhaps even a "KaBOOM!" incident. Not a good idea, generally, for revolver ammo. Now if you are loading singly and shooting that way, loose probably wouldn't make too much difference.

However, modern powders and reloading methods usually require a bit of "pull" allowing the pressure to develop properly in the case and chamber before the bullet starts to move, for more uniform results. Some powders require a firm crimp for that to occur properly. (If memory serves, Win 296 in 44 mag is one of those).

Flash

[Rundownfid]

Flash is right on the money here. For both safety and accuracy one ;needs a consistent firm crimp. One of the advantages of a revolver is that they can have a roll crimp which can be somewhat more consistent than a Auto's taper crimp. I would not carry ammo that was loose to turn in the case, not as safe and not as accurate.