8 gauge reloading questions
 

I purchased 125 new unfired Remington 8ga industrial hulls about two years ago. I didn't have a 8ga gun at the time but figured that would be a good incentive to get one. Anyway, I ran them through a set of CH base swaging dies (3) that came with my gun that I got about 2 months ago. That went fairly smooth but I had three that the brass step peeled down during the sizing. I was able to peel the overlay off of these three and save the hulls. The swaging process is way easier than peeling the overlay off but I noticed it caused the plastic in the primer pocket to shrink by about 30 thousandths in diameter. Should I drill out the plastic to the correct size or just force the primer in?
Also the hulls are 3 1/4" as are the chambers on my gun. I don't have a loading press for 8ga so I plan to load them by hand initially and roll crimp them.
Does an over shot card used with a roll crimp disrupt the shot pattern to a degree that makes using a six or eight point crimp better?

i remember the advertisements and hook and bullet press used to say the over shot card left a hole in the pattern - of course they also said damascus would blow up in your face :rolleyes:

I load my 10s both star crimp and roll crimp. I use a light weight over shot card with the roll crimps, i find it hard to believe it has enough mass to push a lot of lead pellets aside.

I have patterned roll crimped loads with cards and they were evenly distributed, and I have not noticed any difference in my pitiful clays scores with one verses the other

I always shot my 16 gauge W&C Scott with factory Winchester shells with an overshot wad. Retail price of those shells was $2.50. That gun regularly patterned at 90% with those one ounce loads at 40 yards.

i have always just forced my primers in the few that were hard....i use a 1 step die that a fellow member gave me the demitions off....it works great on all hulls with very few primer pockets damaged sometimes it may be the shell s problem not the die...i roll crimp my shells also and use a over shot card i...i do not beieve it hurts the pattern...i have took several turkeys with my old 8 ga s...you will like shooting these old guns....charlie

With Remington 28ga hulls the pocket should be drilled out because only a Rem primer will work - guess if you are having trouble drill it out one number sized drill till they'll seat without too much trouble. When I roll crimp only the .028 overshot card is used. In my experience, too thick a card will give a donut pattern. Good luck - Paul