410 reloads

[charlie cleveland]

today i tried reloading some 410 hulls the winchecter hulls did not work at all the brass was pulled off on the resizeing and primer remover..tried 3 times on the winchester hulls...i then tried remington hulls the green 3 inch ones...they loaded fairly well except i never could get them to crimp right...the crimper is the 8 crimp one..it looks like a pointed bullet instead of a good crimp..yes i tried several differant wad heights all the crimp looked the same..its a mec grabber set up for 3 inch shells..the shells shoot and pattern great but the crimp is as ugly as they come...can anybody offer a little advise on this problem...i seen some shells at walmark the remys were 17.00 aboxin 3 inchno i did not buy any..ha....charlie

[Jerry Harlow]

Charlie,

My WW hulls work fine, but it is a 6 point crimp. I don't know why the brass would pull off. Smear a thin coat of resizing lube on the depriming punch. Make sure the depriming punch is not going in too deep; it only needs to push the primer out.

If there is a little too much shot, I always have a funnel in the shot bottle and tap a few pellets out until I have enough room to crimp all the way down.

[charlie cleveland]

the resizeing lube did the trick on the winchester hulls...have spent 3 hours messing with the cripper still no good crimps made..they shoot fine just ugly crimp...charlie

[Jerry Harlow]

Charlie,

Glad the thin resizing lube stopped messing up the hulls. Are you still using an 8 point crimp starter? I don't thing there is an 8 point for .410. Is it for another gauge?

[charlie cleveland]

no it is for a 410..theres no way that i see it can make a good looking crimp...i have shortened both the starter crimp and the final crimp station all the way to the top stll to long of a crimp to fold properely... i can live with it ...charlie

[Paul Harm]

You need a 6 point crimp. All 28 and 410's I have seen have a 6 point crimp. I don't know why a 8 point crimp would even be on your press. If it's plastic just grind the ribs out with a Dremmel tool - it's what I've done with my 12ga crimp starters. Remember the old hand Lee loaders. They didn't have a crimp starter other than a tapper in the housing to get the crimp started and it was smooth. How much room do you have at the top of the shell with the load in it ? Maybe J.A. could check one of his shells and give you a measurement. Good luck - Paul

[Paul Harm]

Just had a thought - is your press set up for 2 1/2" shells. You said something about adjusting everything to the top and still too much fold in your start crimp and that suggests to me you need to adjust the whole press up by changing the through bolt on the main shaft. There's two holes in the press and two on the shaft. Just remember where you started so you can go back if you want.

[charlie cleveland]

paul and jerry i m gona give the 410 reloader a good looing over before i can truthly answer your qestions...i have the ajustments as short as you can get them i know that much...charlie

[Jerry Harlow]

Charlie,

I always take a factory shell of the type I'm loading and set the last stations up to that to get a reference for final adjustments.

[Jerry Harlow]

Charlie,

I looked for an 8 point .410 crimp starter and can't find any such animal for the MEC. The 8 point you have must be for another gauge. If you get a 6 point for the .410 I think your crimping problem will be solved.

[charlie cleveland]

thanks jerry i will look and call and get me a 6 point crimper...charlie

[Tad Tadlock]

My .410 Grabber is set up for 2 1/2" shells. Mine has a 6 point crimp starter. I load nothing but Winchester AA's because both of my .410's like them. Once I got the adjustments all figured out for the specific hulls that I wanted to load, they came out fine.

I have three Grabbers, .410, 20, and 12. They all have to be tweaked for whatever shell that I am using. I found what worked the best in most of my guns and settled on those for each gauge. If I try a different hull, I have to readjust the press. I'm probably not telling you anything that you don't know.

If you get that 6 point crimp starter and get your Grabber set up for the shells that your guns like, I bet you will really be happy with it. Good luck with it.

[Paul Harm]

I can load 12ga Rem or Win shells without any adjustment, 20ga the Win are a bit longer so an adjustment is necessary, and haven't reloaded the 410 so I don't know anything about them. I only reload the Rem in 28ga. I agree with Tad - once set up you'll be happy.