Roll Crimping

[Keith Doty]

Skived indeed. I actually have one of those tools, just figured these were too far gone to fool with, didn't even try. Won't use skived hulls again, I thought that might make them EASIER to roll and result in less bulk at the roll. Most all of my hulls are unskived as I also load only 2 1/2". Appreciate the tip.

[Cory Rams]

Here is my second try with the 4 pin roller...



I made a hull trimmer with a dowel and a utility knife blade so I had a nice even hull to start with.
The first one i forced the shell in when the roller was still cold and I wasn't spinning it fast enough. Just pushed the shell into the roller with my hand. I then tried a few of the uneven cut cases that were hot glued in. They crimped OK and I had a mess of melted hot glue to clean out of the roller.
I will have to trim my cases somewhere between the two lengths i tried next time.

The first case i tried is the one on the left. I bent it over pushing to hard when I didn't heat it up enough. I tried it again after I did a few and got it to crimp down an little more.




So will my groups change after crimping VS just gluing in a shot card with the exact same load? I also compressed my FG black powder pretty hard with the 2 brown federal hulls. How much increase of pressure, if any, will I have with a hard pack? My crimp also looks more quare like the 1 pin BPI roller. Is it my crimper or did I just push to hard when crimping?

[edgarspencer]

Cory, are you using a hand drill or drill press? It's essential that the hull be perfectly square with the crimping tool so that all four rollers contact at the same time. The old time hand rollers held the hull perfectly square to the hull also.
The only way I find consistency is using a hull vise, Drill press, with the quill stop set so that all hulls are rolled to the same depth.

[Cory Rams]

I don’t own a drill press. I used a cordless craftsman drill and held the shell with my other hand. I varied the speed since the only way to regulate the RPMs is with my finger on the trigger. I kept checking the crimp till it looked even to my eyes. I’ll have to start looking for a drill press.

[Jim McKee]

My 3 roll crimpers (10b; 12b & 16b) arrived from The Reloaders Network after an 8 day adventure with the postal service.

[Stan Hillis]

I use a MEC Supersizer as my hull vice, on my drill press. I get double duty out of it that way. Works perfectly.

[William Davis]

Nice looking loads hard to improve on them

My take on the job, It has to be square & drill press only way I know to get it right. Actually I use the mill & made a 4 hull fixture. Clamp it in the mills vise and move the table to each hull. All 4 one set up. Mills not necessary just faster production. Sometimes I think about using the quill depth stop, feel on the handle is sufficient.

Small used inexpensive drill press will do the job. Cheap Chinese vise works fine. For a fixture drill hull sized holes in hardwood then split it into a clamshell fixture 3 or 4 hulls. Gap let’s it tighten. vise does not need to be clamped to the presses table. Slide it hull to hull. That’s what I did before going to the mill.

Having said that I fold crimp my short 10s on the PW press until the case mouths fail then cut shorter & roll . Shorter loaded hulls go to 1 oz # 8 loads

William

[Cory Rams]

Originally Posted by William Davis

Nice looking loads hard to improve on them

My take on the job, It has to be square & drill press only way I know to get it right. Actually I use the mill & made a 4 hull fixture. Clamp it in the mills vise and move the table to each hull. All 4 one set up. Mills not necessary just faster production. Sometimes I think about using the quill depth stop, feel on the handle is sufficient.

Small used inexpensive drill press will do the job. Cheap Chinese vise works fine. For a fixture drill hull sized holes in hardwood then split it into a clamshell fixture 3 or 4 hulls. Gap let’s it tighten. vise does not need to be clamped to the presses table. Slide it hull to hull. That’s what I did before going to the mill.

Having said that I fold crimp my short 10s on the PW press until the case mouths fail then cut shorter & roll . Shorter loaded hulls go to 1 oz # 8 loads

William

Thanks, might get a drill vise. Don’t plan on reloading a lot of them. I only have approximately 25 hulls right now and I don’t plan on shooting up factory ammo just to obtain more. My plan is to load a dozen or so at a time to use for turkey and predator hunting. Don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on reloading equipment and supplies for something I don’t plan on shooting a lot. My guess is my gun will be shot one to three times a year for turkey hunting now that my load has been dialed in. I will eventually roll a bunch out for my browning gold 10 gauge but no hurry as I have a lot of factory loaded ammo for it. Kinda hard to obtain hulls when I only shoot once or twice at a turkey each year and no one has hulls available unless your willing to get gouged on gunbroker.

[William Davis]

Light volume you don’t need to multiple load like I do. Drill press is an advantage though. Drill press vise is useful for other things . Dedicated hull vise cost about the same and only useful on hulls

William

[Keith Doty]

I took Edger's advise, bought the 4 pin 12 ga. model from Reloader's Network. Works like a champ, considerably better than single or 2 pin type. Left a perfect rolled crimp, nicely rounded on top. These were new 2 3/4" federal hulls cut down to 2 1/2". Went for the clear plastic overshot cards, no stamp required as shot size is visible. All the larger shot I load is bismuth.