Ten gauge hulls, at least to me, have always seemed to have a thinner wall than smaller gauges. What I'm trying to say is that the bigger diameter shell should have a thicker wall. I load all the 10ga hulls I have, Fed, Win, and Rem, all the same with the same data because they're all a straight walled hull that's being loaded at moderate pressures. The Fed to me seem to be the weakest for side wall support when crimping. Your crimps look pretty good to me and I wouldn't worry about a opening that small in the end. I've never used a special crimp starter for new or cut down shells. The one on a Mec, metal or plastic, works just fine. As suggested, lower the start crimp die just a touch with a washer on the older Mecs with metal dies or adjust it down with the newer start crimp plastic die to close the hole. When you do that you're getting more of the shell presented to the final crimp, so more is folded in the center. Really, I would be happy with what you got.
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Paul Harm
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