What is your 2nd die? Do you use a separate roll crimp, Lee factory crimp, profile crimp or??? And a brief why please.  Maybe another way to phrase this is--How do you deal with coated or plated bullets in your revolvers where you have no crimp grove or cannelure?  Getting a good roll crimp seems hard to impossible without bulging the case.  I keep the crimp as tight as possible without creating a bulge but it's not the same as crimping a RCBS/Lyman/Seaco cast bullet with that deep crimp grove.

To be specific I have have some Rainier, Xtreme, and MBC bullets both plated and cast (& then coated) that have either no crimp grove, minimal crimp grove, or a cannelure that is a cannelure in name only in that it's hardly more than some nicks around a bullet.

I'm looking at trying a different die and figured I would take and informal poll of those who chose to reply.

Thanks!

I have found most plated bullets quite soft (compared to jacketed)and easy to distort if you roll crimp.

You must watch the length and trim or sort to get consistent crimps if you are looking for heavy crimps.

I tend to use plated bullets only for mid to light loads and with light crimps.
Hotter loads I fall back to cast bullets with a crimp grove

I use the Redding Profile crimp die as it simply gives the best crimp.
When developing a load in 41 Magnum I accidentally left out the powder in 5 cartridges - I was single stage loading them and missed a row of my loading block. When I fired this "load" in my Redhawk it tied up the cylinder. The primer had backed out of the case and was putting enough force against the back plate that the cylinder couldn't turn by pulling back the hammer. I had to use both hands to open the cylinder to remove the cartridge. It was obvious that the primer had backed out, but the bullet never moved. Often in this situation the bullet is launched into the barrel, to stop there and leave the gun in a very dangerous state, thanks to the profile crimp die putting such a strong hold on the bullet it never moved at all - I measured the OAL of this cartridge after it had been fired and it was exactly the length that I was loading to. I don't want to ever use anything but a Redding Profile crimp die for my reloading, the problem with that is they won't make me a die for 500 Linebaugh.

On advice from here I started using the Lee Factory Roll Crimp Die for .38 Special and .357 mag and have been very happy with the results.

For the purpose of this discussion, I'm interested in 357 magnum and 44 magnum (I also use a taper crimp die for my semi-auto calibers) Specifically Missouri Bullet Co 180gn coated bullets in the 357 magnum.  The bullets stay in place under recoil with a near max load of H110, so no issues there.  It's just that the crimp grove isn't that pronounced and it doesn't seem like you get much crimp.  Taking some material off of the powder-through expander die is also an option.

Dryflash--I don't think you missed anything.  I was just making sure I am doing the best possible, staying with current methodology to make the best reloads possible.  The MBC 180 gn bullet does have a crimp grove just not the deepest one I've come across and I wanted to see what others were doing to mitigate this issue.  I'm also willing to admit it may Not be an issue, and I'm looking to cure a situation that isn't a really problem.  However, the Xtreme bullets and Rainier bullets I have, have no real grove or cannelure, but similar to what NHSPORT stated, I have (so far) only loaded those bullets in mid-range loads.

army03:

A really heavy crimp is actually "needed" only in a few very specific situations.  Example:  Firing hot 158 grain +P 38 Special loads in a VERY light scandium J frame.  Excess recoil can cause bullets to "pull" and lock up the little revolver.  In 98% of cases a modest crimp will do just fine....

When setting the crimping die feature I'll usually run an empty belled case up on the ram, and then dial the seater die down until it make slight contact with the case mouth.  This seems to help keep everything aligned well on seating.  I'll charge all my cases, and seat bullets to the disked depth.

After seating I will adjust crimping.  Again, you do not need a metric ton of crimp.  I'll adjust so that the case mouth belling is gone (we're back to straight wall) then take it in maybe another 1/16 to 1/8th turn of the seating die.  That's it.

On plated bullets there typically isn't a cannelure.  Therefore, there isn't a 'space' to really accommodate a lot of crimp.  And it isn't needed.  You'll have full contact with the case and case mouth and the bullet.   A modest, mild 1/8 turn of the die is plenty....

In my experience I am FAR more interested is a really good fit between the bullet "body" and the case.  I make sure I have good contact and a slight 'roll over' or "cam over" of the ram/die when setting resizing.  If the cases are fully sized, the entire case will 'hold" the bullet quite firmly, and give me very good bullet/case alignment.    I've MUCH rather have a very good case and bullet fit and mild crimp, than have a sloppy/loose bullet in the case and trying to fix it with excessive crimp.

If you size cases well, you'll need decent belling to seat a bullet, and a very modest crimp, just a tad beyond removing all case belling.   It will hold everything nicely...  In a great many of my reloads, if the cases are well polished, you can actually see a slight distortion of the light on the case, meaning you can actually see the bullet heel in the case, and can tell how deeply seated these bullets are in the case.  I've got a nice firm full bullet length case "grip" on the bullet, and a modest crimp that just sort of provides the slightest of chamfering or rounding of the case mouth........

In this order

decap size.

Powder drop.

Seat.

Lee FCR... simply put i purchased a 4 die set, read instructions and the FCR works. Also its not dependent on case length. I use mixed brass.

Revolver loads are .38 and .357. And I use the FCR regardless of crimp groove.

I don't shoot lead. I ised fmj and plated.