Dakota Widowmaker Bullet Question

[Fox Creek Kid]

I have some of these bullets and firstly let me say that I love 'em, but they chamber hard (I am crimping on the groove) and the spent cases extract extremely hard as well. Someome once said (I think  ) that you had to seat this bullet a hair deeper than the crimp groove for positive feeding re OAL. Is this so? I just can't figure out why the empty cases extract so hard as well. I don't have this problem with the Rapine bullet.

[Hell-Er High Water]

Fox Creek Kid,

When I first modified the Lee mould a couple of years ago I seated the bullet to where I could crimp in the top groove.  This did not work out to be the best.  I think that you have found the same problem,

I now seat the bullet so that the overall cartridge length is 1.575" (+/-) and crimp on the nose just in front of the first band.  This provides a smooth transition from the bullet nose to the case and leaves no step to hang up when chambering.

I also cast the bullets from straight wheel weights which gives a little harder bullet than with an alloy of say 20:1.  This harder bullet also helps the feeding.

My original mould has cast hundreds and hundreds of bullets now for the past two years and the design has proved to be a good one for this caliber.  Get youself a mould from from Dakota Widowmaker, he makes them commercially, I don't, and go to it.  The mould is an easy one to use and will cast bullets at a good rate of speed.

Good shooting.

HHW

[Black River Smith]

I cut down one of those Lee 500 gr moulds also.  My moulded bullet measures 0.762".  I crimp above the first band also.  The reason why I do that is because an original Win 44-40 mould and loader crimps at that same spot.  It holds the bullet in the case and keeps it from moving forward.  The powder keeps it from moving deeper. So I kept the same idea.  My bullets load to and OAL of 1.569 +/- a little.

They cycle without a problem.