Roll Crimping

[Paul Harm]

Maybe it's my old eyes, but the one RC shell appeared to have a real deep RC - maybe a 1/2". I could be wrong. I realize the depth can be controlled, I've roll crimped for years. It's been commented before on this forum that deep RCs raise the pressure. I don't know - was just stating something I had read before. Has anyone sent shells in to be tested with the only difference between them, the depth of a RC ? All mine are around the 1/8" roll over. I also think, for the money, the one from Precision Reloading works very well. Round or flat roll overs - both were used back in the day and one could order the style he wanted. So please don't think only the round roll over is historically correct.

[edgarspencer]

Paul, which picture are you referring to with a crimp that appears 1/2" deep?
Of mine, the shell on the left, of the picture of four, is a factory Eley, and it's a tiny bit deeper than mine, but it's a 9/16oz load. It isn't even 1/8", and none of mine are more than .090".
If you mean the one on the Reloaders Net page, that is a slug, with a card. I have no slug experience, and never paid them any attention, but every roll crimped slug I have seen is, as your "old eyes" suggest, about 1/2" (see picture of European 20ga slug)
My Bridgeport 12ga. crimper is convertible from rounded to square, but I leave it as round, as it seems to produce a cleaner crimp on once fired paper.

You may find this link informative.
https://wethearmed.com/reloading-and...vs-fold-crimp/

It doesn't speak specifically to your question regarding possible pressures of 'excessively deep' crimps, but my belief is the crimp only needs to adequately hold the over-shot card in place, not achieve a finished, loaded shell dimension. Plastic crimps won't hold a card permanently in place unless they do a 180, but once it does that, why go deeper?

[Paul Harm]

Edger, I agree with you on crimp depth. I found that my old RCers if you rotate the pins you can change from a flat top to a round top. I found that out by reading a reproduction Sears catalog for the early 1900s. I never took much stock about round or flat top crimps. If they're rolled over nice, that's all I care about. Nice photos.

[Jay Oliver]

I have placed an order with Reloaders Network for a 10, 12, 16 and 20 crimpers and some other accessories. The BPI one I had for 20 gauge just didn’t work(for me anyway) the 16 gauge from Precision is okay, but not great in my opinion. I have original hand crank crimpers for 10 and 12 which work well. It will be nice to have some quality tools for this.

However, I just bought a nice little English sxs 12 gauge 2” gun and the hand turn crimper will not crimp shells that short. The shortest I could go is 2 1/8” which work well in the gun and I can still put a nice roll crimp on them with my hand turn crimper. I am looking forward to real nice drill roll crimper so I'll be able to make 2" shells.

On that “new” 2-inch 12 gauge, I have been having so much fun with it. I had to make some shells for it and since there is not a lot of room they need to be roll crimped. Here are some I made with an original hand turn roll crimper.

The 50 on the left are new cut hulls and my 9 year old daughter likes to decorate the overshot cards. The upper right are once fired 2 1/8” shells that I have already shot once. And the bottom right are cut once fired 2 ½ RSTs. We had fun making these…

I am using a Gualdini light brush wad, 3/4oz of shot and 14.5 grains of Red Dot. I’ll likely drop down to 14 grains when I reload these at 2”(just so I can have a little more room in the case and make a real 2” shell). The RST 3/4oz 2” is going at 1100fps, so I think I will be around that velocity.

[edgarspencer]

The things we do to put a smile on our face. Rolling your own may not set the record for production, but they are nice to look at, yield lower pressures, and, what I like the most, is that it gives you more case capacity for powder, wad, and shot combinations. Why use up valuable hull length simply to get a folded crimp?
I started rolling many years ago, and stuck pretty much to 12 ga., mostly because the new tools on the market didn't give satisfactory results. The tool from the Reloadlers Network changed that.
2 1/2" 28ga was limited to 5/8 ounce, but roll crimping allowed for 3/4 ounce, and the performances, as tested by a fellow member on his chronograph, yields a nice 1175 fps load, with noticeably less recoil than a factory Fiocchi 2 3/4" load.

[BRDHNTR]

Edgar, if I can find my grandfathers/dad's roll crimper, I'll pack it up and ship it to you free of charge.

[edgarspencer]

I'm not artistically gifted, so I get inexpensive self-inking stamps for the overshot cards.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by allen newell

Edgar, if I can find my grandfathers/dad's roll crimper, I'll pack it up and ship it to you free of charge.

Thank you, Allen, but you should put it to use. Those shells will go well with your Vintagers outfit.

[Jay Oliver]

I like that stamp! That makes it quick and easy.

[Stan Hillis]

Edgar, is the stamp you use made up for one load specifically, or can you dial the numbers to get what you want?

Thanks, Stan