450Bushmaster.net

I know Hornady makes them but I thought I read some where there was another company that made them and with a better crimp die. Any help is greatly appreciated. Me and a buddy both recently purchased 450 bushmasters and want to cut costs on ammo and do a little tweaking to fit our needs.

ibhotrod wrote:I know Hornady makes them but I thought I read some where there was another company that made them and with a better crimp die. Any help is greatly appreciated. Me and a buddy both recently purchased 450 bushmasters and want to cut costs on ammo and do a little tweaking to fit our needs.

Welcome aboard!

CH4D sells a 450 Bushmaster die set. I don't know anyone who owns a set through. A lengthy search might show more information.

PS: They're more expensive than my Hornady set, which Midway has on sale as I type this.

Hoot

Thanks for the reply Hoot. What is wrong with the Hornady crimping die that people are modifying a 45-70 crimp die. Am I ok to by a Hornady set. I reload for all my guns and this is a new caliber for me. I love the gun and caliber so far. I took two deer this November with it and love the nock down power. Maybe I'm just reading to much on options for reloading this caliber
Thanks, Todd

ibhotrod wrote: ... What is wrong with the Hornady crimping die that people are modifying a 45-70 crimp die. Am I ok to buy a Hornady set. ...

ibhotrod-
There is nothing wrong with the Hornady crimping die. It performs its intended function well. (Unfortunately, Hornady neglects to mention their crimping die in the instructions included with the die set, leaving the novice user wondering about its use and function. Worse than this, the instruction sheet include some generic comments, not applicable to the 450B, about using the roll-crimp mechanism built into their seating die.)

There are numerous posts in this forum about using the Hornady taper crimp die to crimp bullets into the case. These usually indicate that a finished diameter of about 0.475" outside diameter at the crimp is about right.

There are circumstances where a taper crimp does not adequately retain the bullet in the case, and in these cases a side-crimp (or stab-crimp, etc.) applied to the case below the case mouth may be helpful. For example, the side crimp may be useful when loading lighter weight bullets because the heavier crimp may result in a more complete powder ignition and burn.

So, you're OK to buy the Hornady set of four dies. The FL sizer is essential. The case expander-mouth belling die can be quite useful when loading cast bullets. The seater die when properly adjusted produces cartridges with minimal run-out. The taper-crimp die works well with most bullets.

Hoot will be along soon to fill in any gaps in the above.
--Bob

Thanks for the reply Bob. That clears things up a little more for me.

Just to clarify, you will generally not need the expander die to load jacketed bullets. I never use mine.

Also, set up the seating die without crimp.

Use the crimping die to get a .475" taper crimp.

If you want to add a side crimp (I have started doing this, since once set up it is pretty easy to do), do it before you taper crimp, as the side crimp will tend to bell out the mouth of the case just a bit. The taper crimp corrects this. Also, I put the crimp about 1/8" below the mouth, or a little closer.

There are instructions about how to make and set up the side crimp die elsewhere in the forum, but if you are just starting out, just go with the taper crimp.