Short Shells on PW 375 machines.

[William Davis]

Prodded by the excellent post on PW machines & short shells and a spell of cold weather converted 16 & 10 to 2 1/2 inch & 2 7/8. 12 & 20 using AA hulls load full length.

16 with taper crimp dies it’s slam simple. Enough hull stands proud of the die it’s a simple adjustment to load RST fired 2 1/2 inch hulls. I did switch to a 2 1/2 inch 410 wad insert fixture spring and sleeve let’s it insert properly.

10 bit more involved. PW sells a 10 G die that’s 2 1/2 inches & leaves enough to work. Final crimp needs to run lower, I made a longer mount. Wad insert fixture needs a shorter sleeve over the shaft too. 12 G sleeve does fine. The 3 1/2 inch 10 G pre crimp needs a 12 G shaft to work. Had one in my junk box. It’s the ball bearing spinner type, easier to use a 12 than make a new one.

Factory Eject rod for 10 G is a 12 G rod. Left a little flare end of the case. PW makes a taper crimp 10 G sizing die that’s different than the other gauges . Finished shell sits on the presses plate and top mounted die is mounted on the station to the right of the knock out. Too long for 2 7/8, was going to made up a custom mount, ended up running it in my ratchet arbor press. The press can mount a 3/4 inch drill chuck bottom of the ram and has a stop ring for precision work. Quick job to taper crimp all as a separate process. On the PW press ought to work well too.

PW sells everything as a kit, I had lot of the tooling on hand piece ordered just what I needed.

William