Finally set up the drill press for roll crimping
 

It has been sitting in the box for 2 months and I finally got around to having it put together. It looks to leave a nice even squared shoulder roll crimp, the drill press gives you a bit more downward force the shells are a little bit shorter than using a hand drill. I hope perhaps this will give a bit better compression and powder burn. The 8 ga Remingtons crimp just as nice as the Winchesters, perhaps its because I coated the roll crimper in mica it leaves a smooth polished looking crimp.

:I tried a Precision Reloading crimp for my 16g on a DeWalt drill. After a dozen tries I threw it against a wall (the drill, not the shell, I can use the shot again :rotf::rotf::rotf: )

those are factory looking crimps ....you have mastered the koll crimping school with a A PLUS.......real nice....charlie

I have a PR roll crimper for the 10 ga in my opinion its a worse design compared to the BPI one even though most people seem to say the 4 pin PR one is a better design. I suppose if you have a 100 ton press that can hold the shell in place otherwise it just spins and spins. The BPI crimper works fine and requires very little force to get a decent roll crimp. I think the problem people run into with the BPI crimper is they are probably using a way too high rpm.

I think the most ideal setup would be to run a custom pulley and slow it down to 120 rpms +/-.

Youll have noticed that is a fiber overshot card instead of the typical cardboard ones. I have found out the thin cards dont work well with large shot sizes like im loading T, F, buckshot etc. The card sits unevenly they bend on top of the large shot it doesnt seal good just a few things I seen. However you can use a fiber wad cut thin and the fiber conforms on the bottom to the shape of the larger shot sizes, but the top part where the crimp is sealing against it will remain flat giving a nice flush crimp.

So I was doing some late night experimenting and figured out how to get my 10 gauge hulls to crimp. I cut a piece from a 8 gauge fired hull to use as a sleeve so I could use my 10 ga hulls in my 8 gauge vice. The 4 pin roller does leave a nice crimp but its alot more sensitive to down pressure than the 1 pin.

Im testing different crimp depths as well, not sure what difference it makes.

Wow! I should have stopped by there and learned something instead of Jimmy's Hotdogs yesterday. Nice job man!

If you're talking about Albany thats about 45 mins from me, used to go up there when we would deliver quail. I definitely think there is a little bit of learning curve with roll crimping. From what I have noticed compared to problems other people have had. You want to have the shell in the vice where it will keep from spinning too much while crimping. However I have seen a issue other loaders have had where they had the shell in there too tight and it buckles the case or nawls up the mouth when the crimper bottoms out. With how I have mine the when the roll crimper bottoms out it will just spin the case and go no further.

If you were using a vice jaw that didn't fit the shell, a 1000 ton press might not work until you crush the shell head. If you do rifle work, the barrel clamp is exactly like the hull clamp jaws and requires tightening with a big wrench and a lot of pressure to get it to hold with an insert which exactlyfits the barrel. I have roll crimped with both a hand drill and a big drill press and they both work easily with any of an assortment of 1, 2 and 4 roller crimpers. None of them are ever tightened more than slightly finder tignt and can be held in place on a table top by hand holding. I think the secret is simply use a jaw that fits, lube the crimper and run 300-500 rpm. I use my stationary dril press set at about this speed because that particular press is used mostly for metal work and has an x-y vise permanently mounted. I have quit using the actual crimping vice. I simply clamp the hull jaws between the drill press vice jaws and center the first hell under the crimper. From there on I can even change gauges and not have to adjust anything.