45 Colt reloading question

[hunter966]

I've got a question about bullet seating. I have reloaded for rifles for years but and starting on pistols. I am loading for a Ruger Vaquero.

When seating your bullets, I am wanting to use some Hornady XTP's, do you seat the bullet just down to the cannelure and then put your roll crimp on?

Do you ever seat the bullet out further or deeper like a rifle bullet looking for the sweet spot that the pistol likes?

Thanks hunter966

 

[WIL TERRY]

YES.
The case mouth should be about .005" below the top---TOP!!!--- edge of the cannalure. Then roll the case mouth into the cannalure.
NO.
And so it goes...

 

[hunter966]

I appreciate it.

 

[BucolicBuffalo]

Your Vaquero may be different than my New Vaquero. Take your first round and try it in every chamber in the cylinder. I am not familiar with that bullet. What happened to me was, I used a heavy Keith style bullet crimped in the provided place. But the round was so long that it hit in the front of the reamed portion in the chamber and drug the cartridge rim with the gate closed. But only did it in some chambers in the cylinder. I had to send the cylinder off to have it reamed uniformly.

 

[Biggfoot44]

In rifles the seating depth is tweaked to adjust the position of the bullet to engaging the lands. In a revolver this is a non-issue. For revolvers the presumptive aproach is to crimp in the interned cannalure or crimp groove.

The rare exceptions would be true Keith bullets or other long nosed designs in short. Or to tweak feeding in pistol cal carbines.