Good morning. A drill press is your best friend when you are roll crimping. Also I've found Vaseline to be better than any kind of oil or spray lube. Apply about every 3 or 4 shells. I have no experience with the BPI single pin roller but I can tell you the quad pin roller from reloaders network works extremely well and smooth even with a hand drill.
I use one of the vintage bench mounted roll crimpers I bought on ebay for 20 bucks several years ago. Many different companies made them. Mine was made by Sears and it works great. Only takes about 30 seconds or less. Adding a light coat of oil on the roller with a q-tip every couple times you use it really helps to get the roll crimp going.
You need at minimum 1/4" of hull to roll, but the hull will keep rolling until it contacts the payload. A wood hull clamp is easy to make from a scrap of 3/4". For 12 ga the closest I had in Forstner bits was a 23mm to recess the rim so it sits flat and using the pilot to center, I used a 20mm for the hole. It's a bit snug, but 21mm is way too loose). Then I cut a slot to the hole so it will clamp. Center the hole ~3/4" from the end so it flexes easier when clamping. *EDIT* I forgot to mention that the 20mm is too small for the brass base, so you have to burnish before slotting. Make a burnisher by decapping a hull and use a 1/4" bolt with a few stacked nuts...chuck the NUTS in your drill press or it will just loosen up. Turn it on and run it until a hull slides in snuggly, but easily. Then slot to the hole to finish the clamp. There's data down to 2" hulls, so they can be used even if you booger them up. MEC makes two different short shell adapters (different lengths) if you want to fold crimp them.
Nice series! I reloaded 12 ga trap loads in the past, all used folded crimps. Jeff at Taufledermaus uses roll crimps for his wacky 12 ga loads all the time; consider reaching out to him to see if he might share any tips and tricks with you.
Btw im excited to see you're doing shotsell now. I have learned alot about reloading 300blk from your videos. Helped me choose a round to reload for my wifes deer rifle.
Johnny, I too went down this road, there is something to say about getting the right tools, the hull vice is a wonderful thing to have, it is an accessory to your drill press for making professional roll crimps. it also holds the hulls for other tools like your spin doctor and skever tools. there are lots of resources on RUclips about roll crimping and such, Jeff for one over on his channel (Taufieldermaus) and Steve (Fouturncookie45LC. anyway, thus,, we move forward - Peace out, Dave.
Johnny is butchering roll crimps, just like we all did at first! The 4 pin and the GAEP BN2 are the best for 12 ga. I'm sure that someone mentioned this in comments in one of the videos in the series. I'm going to finish those series out tonight. As always, your time and effort has always been cherished by many.
I get better results when I preheat my roll crimper. I take a couple of folds of paper tower and run my drill while gripping the crimper by hand. It might take a minute or so to get the heat I need (warm to the touch). Then, a few seconds on the shell and I feel it go soft telling me it's time to sink the crimp in one smooth press. So far, I've been able to roll crimp my 12 GA by putting a rubber sheet down on my drill press table. It provides enough grip to keep the shell from spinning without having to fiddle with clamps/holders. I like your approach of showing what isn't working as well as what finally does work.
FC45LC puts a bit of vaseline on the hull to crimp and uses the drill press and some kind of shellholder made by another creator. You have a lot of good ideas from the other commenters as well. Keep going, you'll be going great in no time!!
As many of these comments stated a drill press on low RPM is going to be your best bet once you get the roll crimp to the desired length you can just set the stopper on the drill press and you'll be good to go
To heat up your roll crimper, try using a coffee cup warmer. They do not get too hot and you can set the unit on the warmer in between shells. Just a thought.
Speed. Lot more speed. Light med light steady pressure . Hull clamp, even homade with block of wood cut lengthwise (after drilling) with a hinge at one end and a hull size hole close to that end, with a rim sized counter bored area big nuff for hull rim. Good start tho. Also, the more even they're trimmed/reconditioned the better the crimp, and a touch of some type light lube/grease like uve likely found out. I love ur series vids. Learned alot from you
Agree with Johnathan M. and Psyko K. While you CAN do it with a hand held, a drill press and a hull clamp makes a world of difference. Lubrication with a touch of lube also makes life easier, although I've found refreshing the lube every 10 to 15 rounds quite sufficient (just a whisker amount). I would suggest from watching that you are being too "gentle" for lack of a better term. Instead of melting the plastic, you merely warm it a bit and then press. The cross pin starts the curl and pressure keeps it going. With a drill press and a hull vice, you should be able to get a good crimp in 10 seconds or so. And yes, a quarter inch of space is the minimum. Also, writing what the load is on the overshot card avoids confusion if you end up storing some. Haven't used the spin doctor. I just use a tapered dowel. Go a bit farther than desired to allow for spring back.
Good Morning Shannon, For good videos on shot shell loading look at "Bubba Rountree Outdoors" 1. Drill press saves a lot of headaches, for $100 on amazon I got the "MINIQ Bench Drill Stand 710W Mini Electric Bench Drilling Machine Drill Chuck 1-13mm" the lowest speed works great for everything with hulls. 2. Like my ex girlfriend used to say lube is key. Vaseline on the roll crimper every 3 to 5 hulls, and optional to lightly wipe the hull with oil too. 3. More pins in a roll crimper = more friction and usually better and easier crimps, but 1 pin will work, although I prefer 4 pin. 4. Highly recommend a hull vice of some kind, not mandatory but well worth it. 5. The results from hull conditioning (the spin doctor) are more dramatic with crimps that are more jacked up from the firing process, but like annealing it helps even if you can't see a difference in the brass/hull 6. Get mandrels to put the hulls on immediately after conditioning. for 12Ga I use 3/4" diameter wood dowels (they measure about .730" to .740") about 4" to 5" long or about 8" long to use both sides simultaneously. Condition the hull and place on mandrel till cool ( I have 6 and just rotate them while conditioning). This keeps the plastic from shrinking or curling as it cools, providing a nice uniform shape to the hulls, also lets you ID ultra tight or ultra loose hulls by feeling how the dowel fits going in and out. 7. Consider a hull skiver. This basically chamfers the mouth of the hull after you cut it, making it much easier to crimp. Some hulls have this done from the factory, some don't, so it can be used on some uncut hulls too. 8. There are several hull/wad trimmers/slitters available (BP, GAEP, and Gary Kaskey on FB are 3 most common) I'm sure you can make one without much trouble, or you can buy one if you don't want to mess with it. Like in all reloading the key is consistency. 9. Just be careful with your MEC not to oversize and crush the rims, if you do, then they won't feed in a magazine tube, and you can bend the decapper/resizer rod a lot easier than you think. (ask me how I know, 200 hulls and 1 MEC decapping/resizing assembly replacement later...) 10. Do your powder testing first. Like in all reloading, just because it's published, doesn't mean that it's good, just means it's most likely safe. Pick whatever hull you have the most of to start. Then pick a wad to do initial testing with(I like cheap and abundant for this part). Then pick a shot pellet weight you intend to use(. Then decide on extras (over powder card, buffer, over shot card, crimp style, card in the bottom of the wad, ect...). Then see what powders you can find data on for that weight class, and get the ones you can get, and want to test. Then do a gross velocity/function test (1 to 2 gr intervals). The biggest thing I look for here is significant amounts of unburned powder (in the barrel/gun/hull/all over the chrono). If only 1 or 2 powders functioned well, then those are my test powders. The other thing I look for is what is likely to get me close to my velocity goal and fit in my shot column. Again these criteria can narrow the field quickly. Lastly, you can look at the shot pattern (I do a lot of buckshot, so I evaluate the patterns in MOA and Mean Radius). This is generally not super important at this stage as the other criteria usually narrow the powders pretty well. Then do pattern testing in about 0.5 gr intervals (I use 0.8 or 0.4 for all my charges or seating depths because there is always a center point to go to next for fine tuning). Then evaluate velocities and patterns, fine tune or confirm if needed, and pick a load. Then, if you want, you can test the same set up in different hulls (assuming the load is safe for that hull volume), and/or test different wads, ect... but only change 1 variable at a time. 11. Roll crimps = lower pressures than star crimps 12. take a look at Precision Reloading's shot shell stuff, their "TUPRW" wads are a little more heavy duty than the TPS wads from BP, but both are good. Sorry for the novel, but I hope some of it helps. Keep up the good work, we sincerely appreciate everything you do, and we always look forward to you next videos! Thanks, Respectfully, Joe
You could use the handle of a casting mould and attach to pieces of wood( Mould shaped), close them and drill a shell size hole( several holes?) down the middle, grab the shell as with pliers
I like this everyone else makes this seem so simple and easy but it’s when you see people fail with stuff like this you learn because you are probably going to fail the same way
I'm still early in the video, but I have to say, you gotta go with the drill press bud. A little sizing wax around the hull helps it roll over smoothly. Also on the drill press its much easier to hold the shell. I don't used any kind of vise.
Shannon, put the drill motor on high speed and let it rip. The temperature will build quicker softening the plastic then start to roll. At that point you can push down gently until you feel a little bit of torque on your drill motor or in your grip hand. Speed, not pressure will give you the best roll crimp.
Yeah, I think I used a scrap piece of 3/4" EMT to make hull trimming guides and it worked fine. Nothing fancy, but OK for small quantities. I agree with all comments below about the need for holding fixture and drill press. Even then, I had uneven roll crimps until I made a fixture with a good, stout bottom plate to keep the hull straight up and not allow it to lean over when I applied the pressure to start the roll.
Hull vise, any cheap drill press and get a roll crimper from precision reloading the BPI one and two pin ones are junk. Little shot of hornady one shot case lube on the roll crimper helps alot too
i use a toaster oven to dry my brass after i pull them from my sonic cleaner. i'm sure it would work fine to heat up the roll crimp and keep it warm in between rounds if need be. they are cheap and mine has a 175 degree setting, i know that sounds hot but you could obviously pull it before it reaches that temp.
A tip if you're a bit impatient like me get a lighter and heat up the roll crimper while spinning it in the drill. Don't go crazy with the heat, you could probably overheat it to the point where it just melts the shells. My roll crimper has 3 ledges milled into it and definitely is more stable than your single pin crimper.
the ballistic products roll crimp works but I was not a fan of it the more pins you have the better a roll crimp it will do. precision reloading has one that has 4 in it and makes very nice, rounded edges and I can attest to a shell vice and a drill press will make a huge difference the best roll crimp is the gaep Palla roll crimps they make several different models.
Your bullet puller to hold the shel would probably work if you use a piece of rubber inner tube wrapped around the shell, when I use the world's cheapest trimmer for 277 wlv the inner tuber helps me hold the brass
Hull vise, drill press, use Vaseline to lube the roll crimper pin. Reloaders network has a 4 pin roll crimper. Check out bubba rountree outdoors as all they do is slug and buck reloading pretty much all roll crimped. Magnum 3 and 3.5 inch folded crimp hulls can be cut back and roll crimped.
Merry Christmas Johnny. A while back in your mk 262 series you did a combo of varmint and 77gr otm that went up real close to 3000 fps. Do you remember if you showed pressure signs? I remember you were concerned about the velocity.
GAEP is the only crimper for .410 and precision reloader for 20 and 12. Have crimped hundreds of thousands of all three loads for an undisclosed company.
so that is how the roll crimp looks . it is a lot different than the pictures i seen in sales adds . is this the same as the crimp for slugs ? i just do 410 at the bench with homemade tools . i don't shoot enough shotshells to pay for a shell press . been yrs since i shot my 12 gage and use 410 to get rid of black birds nesting on the eaves of the barn and house . only started reloading 410 to beat the cost of them ! keep up the good work shannon ! oh been meaning to ask , what ever happened to the powder you added the humidity packs to ?
Wonder if it makes sense to 3d print a hull vise, 2 parts like a bullet mold design then clamp them together? Might be to much screwing around especially your cranking out a bunch, might even be faster if you designed it to screw to the vice jaws screw into that might speed that up.
Johny, I've been loading shotshell for 40 years and have never blown my face off. It is really not that complicated, I have swapped wads, primers and hauls without any advers effects. The critical information is powder charge and shot charge. Just like in metallic reloading, if the powder charge is safe for the bullet weight it will go BANG. All of the plastic base wads work fine. The paper shells and the paper base wads must be inspected for swelling. If they draw mostiure or get wet the bass wad looks to high in the case. Throw them away!!! I prefer the solid one piece huls with or without metal heads. I have had no problems interchanging information between any hauls that are built the same no matter the name on the case. For instance the one piece Winchester, Remington and Fiocchi are all one piece and I load them the same. Just like in pistol and rifle I load Remington, Winchester or whatever starting near the minimum load and work up.
For what it's worth, I've had better luck being pretty aggressive with the roll crimper. (I have the same one you've got) A shell vice and drill press make short work of it.
So you can make good roll crimping hulls from 3" fired sells. I'd have to measure but if your chamber is 2-3/4 then you have 1/4" to hack off the fold crimps. And then you just have a tube. Spin doc, roll crimper. Done. I do it for my friends 2.5" gun and it works fine. But you might need 3.5 for 2.75"
Be careful many ballistic products loads are overpressure. If shooting modern shotguns it's no big deal but some old guns won't handle the spicy loads for very long. Great company tho. Also i don't remember the name but my roll crimpers have 4 pins, way faster check fortunecookie 45lc i think he's the reason i bought them. Also a drill press eliminates the need for hull vice
RPM's are your friend when roll crimping. your batterie drill turns way to slow for efficient crimping. You want to bring up the temperature with rpm's rather than pressure. At the end of the day it friction heat you are trying to create. You can do that in two ways. Speed or pressure
I can roll crimp a bit better with the quad pin roll crimper and with lubrication (hornady case lube grease). I can even roll crimp previously fold crimped hulls.
Don’t buy the hull trimmer you can make one out of a 3/4 dowel and a razor blade. The BPI trimmer is terrible. Also the roll crimper is not ideal. Get a drill press and writhed the GAEp roll or a Reloading Network 4 pin roller there way better. If you have any questions or need help with anything please let me know I will hook u up
Everyone saying to mount a red dot forward either run night vision or go off that video based on video game mechanics. In real life, we have two eyes. If you think the walls of the optic can block your view, place a hand over your shooting eye and tell me if you can still see or not. 🤦♂️ It's shocking how many people fell for that. Probably the same people would think the earth is flat if they heard the explanation. If you target focus like you should with a red dot, mount it as close to your eye as comfortable to maximize the speed you can acquire the dot.
A drill press and a shell clamp are a must have for reloading TSS.
Coffee and reloading in the morning good way to start the day
The best way to start the morning!
Good morning. A drill press is your best friend when you are roll crimping. Also I've found Vaseline to be better than any kind of oil or spray lube. Apply about every 3 or 4 shells. I have no experience with the BPI single pin roller but I can tell you the quad pin roller from reloaders network works extremely well and smooth even with a hand drill.
Drill press is the key for the roll crimp, also they sell a small vise just to hold the hulls.
Enjoying yet another learning journey with you, Shannon. Many thanks for being such a great resource!
Early morning upload, just in time for the morning dook. You are the man, Johnny.
I use one of the vintage bench mounted roll crimpers I bought on ebay for 20 bucks several years ago. Many different companies made them. Mine was made by Sears and it works great. Only takes about 30 seconds or less. Adding a light coat of oil on the roller with a q-tip every couple times you use it really helps to get the roll crimp going.
I use a cheap Harbor Freight drill press I had in the garage and use vice grips as my "vice." Good luck. Great video.
You need at minimum 1/4" of hull to roll, but the hull will keep rolling until it contacts the payload.
A wood hull clamp is easy to make from a scrap of 3/4". For 12 ga the closest I had in Forstner bits was a 23mm to recess the rim so it sits flat and using the pilot to center, I used a 20mm for the hole. It's a bit snug, but 21mm is way too loose). Then I cut a slot to the hole so it will clamp. Center the hole ~3/4" from the end so it flexes easier when clamping.
*EDIT* I forgot to mention that the 20mm is too small for the brass base, so you have to burnish before slotting. Make a burnisher by decapping a hull and use a 1/4" bolt with a few stacked nuts...chuck the NUTS in your drill press or it will just loosen up. Turn it on and run it until a hull slides in snuggly, but easily. Then slot to the hole to finish the clamp.
There's data down to 2" hulls, so they can be used even if you booger them up.
MEC makes two different short shell adapters (different lengths) if you want to fold crimp them.
Nice series! I reloaded 12 ga trap loads in the past, all used folded crimps. Jeff at Taufledermaus uses roll crimps for his wacky 12 ga loads all the time; consider reaching out to him to see if he might share any tips and tricks with you.
Add my vote for the 4 pin crimper. I use new paper hulls from bp for black powder and fiber wad loads. Beautiful crimps.
A quick cutting guide can be made by putting a ratchet type hose clamp on the hull.
A drill press is a must and the upgraded versions with more than a single pin help too!
Btw im excited to see you're doing shotsell now. I have learned alot about reloading 300blk from your videos. Helped me choose a round to reload for my wifes deer rifle.
fiftheen full minutes for reloading 5 (five) shells! A pretty relaxing hobby for sure... 😀
I'd add a drill press and a drill vice, harbor freight special.
Johnny, I too went down this road, there is something to say about getting the right tools, the hull vice is a wonderful thing to have, it is an accessory to your drill press for making professional roll crimps. it also holds the hulls for other tools like your spin doctor and skever tools. there are lots of resources on RUclips about roll crimping and such, Jeff for one over on his channel (Taufieldermaus) and Steve (Fouturncookie45LC. anyway, thus,, we move forward - Peace out, Dave.
Lube those attachments!! Vaseline, man.
Johnny is butchering roll crimps, just like we all did at first! The 4 pin and the GAEP BN2 are the best for 12 ga. I'm sure that someone mentioned this in comments in one of the videos in the series. I'm going to finish those series out tonight. As always, your time and effort has always been cherished by many.
I use a hair curling iron in place of the spin doctor. It works absolutely great! I need a lot of poor guy tricks as I cant buy all the best stuff
I get better results when I preheat my roll crimper. I take a couple of folds of paper tower and run my drill while gripping the crimper by hand. It might take a minute or so to get the heat I need (warm to the touch). Then, a few seconds on the shell and I feel it go soft telling me it's time to sink the crimp in one smooth press.
So far, I've been able to roll crimp my 12 GA by putting a rubber sheet down on my drill press table. It provides enough grip to keep the shell from spinning without having to fiddle with clamps/holders. I like your approach of showing what isn't working as well as what finally does work.
FC45LC puts a bit of vaseline on the hull to crimp and uses the drill press and some kind of shellholder made by another creator. You have a lot of good ideas from the other commenters as well. Keep going, you'll be going great in no time!!
As many of these comments stated a drill press on low RPM is going to be your best bet once you get the roll crimp to the desired length you can just set the stopper on the drill press and you'll be good to go
Thank you. After the first 4 minutes I realized I will never reload shells. Painful watch my man.
To heat up your roll crimper, try using a coffee cup warmer. They do not get too hot and you can set the unit on the warmer in between shells. Just a thought.
Get the gaep bn2 roll crimper on a drill press with gun oil applied every 3 to 4 and you'll be good to go.
Super helpful, thanks!
Thanks Johnny I don't know the advantages of roll crimping but I'm going to stay with the fold crimp you saved me from going this
A drill press looks like the way to go for the crimp.
Honestly, I’ll never participate unless the apocalypse happens. Great, now I’ve gotta buy more components. Merry Christmas!
Nice! Early bird gets the worm!😂
Speed. Lot more speed. Light med light steady pressure . Hull clamp, even homade with block of wood cut lengthwise (after drilling) with a hinge at one end and a hull size hole close to that end, with a rim sized counter bored area big nuff for hull rim. Good start tho. Also, the more even they're trimmed/reconditioned the better the crimp, and a touch of some type light lube/grease like uve likely found out. I love ur series vids. Learned alot from you
What I learned from this video I will be buying ammo but great video
I think you should compare notes with Taufledermaus :)
A tapered curling iron set on low works great to restore the fired roll crimps back straight.
Pretty sure they recommend using a shell clamp when roll crimping. That will help control the movement.
Agree with Johnathan M. and Psyko K. While you CAN do it with a hand held, a drill press and a hull clamp makes a world of difference. Lubrication with a touch of lube also makes life easier, although I've found refreshing the lube every 10 to 15 rounds quite sufficient (just a whisker amount).
I would suggest from watching that you are being too "gentle" for lack of a better term. Instead of melting the plastic, you merely warm it a bit and then press. The cross pin starts the curl and pressure keeps it going. With a drill press and a hull vice, you should be able to get a good crimp in 10 seconds or so. And yes, a quarter inch of space is the minimum. Also, writing what the load is on the overshot card avoids confusion if you end up storing some. Haven't used the spin doctor. I just use a tapered dowel. Go a bit farther than desired to allow for spring back.
Good Morning Shannon,
For good videos on shot shell loading look at "Bubba Rountree Outdoors"
1. Drill press saves a lot of headaches, for $100 on amazon I got the "MINIQ Bench Drill Stand 710W Mini Electric Bench Drilling Machine Drill Chuck 1-13mm" the lowest speed works great for everything with hulls.
2. Like my ex girlfriend used to say lube is key. Vaseline on the roll crimper every 3 to 5 hulls, and optional to lightly wipe the hull with oil too.
3. More pins in a roll crimper = more friction and usually better and easier crimps, but 1 pin will work, although I prefer 4 pin.
4. Highly recommend a hull vice of some kind, not mandatory but well worth it.
5. The results from hull conditioning (the spin doctor) are more dramatic with crimps that are more jacked up from the firing process, but like annealing it helps even if you can't see a difference in the brass/hull
6. Get mandrels to put the hulls on immediately after conditioning. for 12Ga I use 3/4" diameter wood dowels (they measure about .730" to .740") about 4" to 5" long or about 8" long to use both sides simultaneously. Condition the hull and place on mandrel till cool ( I have 6 and just rotate them while conditioning). This keeps the plastic from shrinking or curling as it cools, providing a nice uniform shape to the hulls, also lets you ID ultra tight or ultra loose hulls by feeling how the dowel fits going in and out.
7. Consider a hull skiver. This basically chamfers the mouth of the hull after you cut it, making it much easier to crimp. Some hulls have this done from the factory, some don't, so it can be used on some uncut hulls too.
8. There are several hull/wad trimmers/slitters available (BP, GAEP, and Gary Kaskey on FB are 3 most common) I'm sure you can make one without much trouble, or you can buy one if you don't want to mess with it. Like in all reloading the key is consistency.
9. Just be careful with your MEC not to oversize and crush the rims, if you do, then they won't feed in a magazine tube, and you can bend the decapper/resizer rod a lot easier than you think. (ask me how I know, 200 hulls and 1 MEC decapping/resizing assembly replacement later...)
10. Do your powder testing first. Like in all reloading, just because it's published, doesn't mean that it's good, just means it's most likely safe. Pick whatever hull you have the most of to start. Then pick a wad to do initial testing with(I like cheap and abundant for this part). Then pick a shot pellet weight you intend to use(. Then decide on extras (over powder card, buffer, over shot card, crimp style, card in the bottom of the wad, ect...). Then see what powders you can find data on for that weight class, and get the ones you can get, and want to test. Then do a gross velocity/function test (1 to 2 gr intervals). The biggest thing I look for here is significant amounts of unburned powder (in the barrel/gun/hull/all over the chrono). If only 1 or 2 powders functioned well, then those are my test powders. The other thing I look for is what is likely to get me close to my velocity goal and fit in my shot column. Again these criteria can narrow the field quickly. Lastly, you can look at the shot pattern (I do a lot of buckshot, so I evaluate the patterns in MOA and Mean Radius). This is generally not super important at this stage as the other criteria usually narrow the powders pretty well. Then do pattern testing in about 0.5 gr intervals (I use 0.8 or 0.4 for all my charges or seating depths because there is always a center point to go to next for fine tuning). Then evaluate velocities and patterns, fine tune or confirm if needed, and pick a load. Then, if you want, you can test the same set up in different hulls (assuming the load is safe for that hull volume), and/or test different wads, ect... but only change 1 variable at a time.
11. Roll crimps = lower pressures than star crimps
12. take a look at Precision Reloading's shot shell stuff, their "TUPRW" wads are a little more heavy duty than the TPS wads from BP, but both are good.
Sorry for the novel, but I hope some of it helps. Keep up the good work, we sincerely appreciate everything you do, and we always look forward to you next videos!
Thanks,
Respectfully,
Joe
You could use the handle of a casting mould and attach to pieces of wood( Mould shaped), close them and drill a shell size hole( several holes?) down the middle, grab the shell as with pliers
You can go to a Michaels craft store and get a 3/4 paper punch, then punch thin cardboard like on a 16 pack of beer
on a drill press it would be more consistent and the feeling of the material flow also. greetings from Switzerland and happy holidays.
I like this everyone else makes this seem so simple and easy but it’s when you see people fail with stuff like this you learn because you are probably going to fail the same way
I'm still early in the video, but I have to say, you gotta go with the drill press bud. A little sizing wax around the hull helps it roll over smoothly. Also on the drill press its much easier to hold the shell. I don't used any kind of vise.
Awesome, it's not a failure if your learning.
Shannon, put the drill motor on high speed and let it rip. The temperature will build quicker softening the plastic then start to roll. At that point you can push down gently until you feel a little bit of torque on your drill motor or in your grip hand. Speed, not pressure will give you the best roll crimp.
Yeah, I think I used a scrap piece of 3/4" EMT to make hull trimming guides and it worked fine. Nothing fancy, but OK for small quantities. I agree with all comments below about the need for holding fixture and drill press. Even then, I had uneven roll crimps until I made a fixture with a good, stout bottom plate to keep the hull straight up and not allow it to lean over when I applied the pressure to start the roll.
A tapered curling iron works awesome for fixing 12 g Shells after roll crimp.
Hull vise, any cheap drill press and get a roll crimper from precision reloading the BPI one and two pin ones are junk. Little shot of hornady one shot case lube on the roll crimper helps alot too
i use a toaster oven to dry my brass after i pull them from my sonic cleaner. i'm sure it would work fine to heat up the roll crimp and keep it warm in between rounds if need be. they are cheap and mine has a 175 degree setting, i know that sounds hot but you could obviously pull it before it reaches that temp.
A tip if you're a bit impatient like me get a lighter and heat up the roll crimper while spinning it in the drill. Don't go crazy with the heat, you could probably overheat it to the point where it just melts the shells. My roll crimper has 3 ledges milled into it and definitely is more stable than your single pin crimper.
the ballistic products roll crimp works but I was not a fan of it the more pins you have the better a roll crimp it will do. precision reloading has one that has 4 in it and makes very nice, rounded edges and I can attest to a shell vice and a drill press will make a huge difference the best roll crimp is the gaep Palla roll crimps they make several different models.
Your bullet puller to hold the shel would probably work if you use a piece of rubber inner tube wrapped around the shell, when I use the world's cheapest trimmer for 277 wlv the inner tuber helps me hold the brass
It looks like the High dollar set ups are the only way to go! You'd think a shot shell would be easier to reload but apparently not?
Great
I also keep a sacrificial hull to warm up the crimper also
Hull vise, drill press, use Vaseline to lube the roll crimper pin. Reloaders network has a 4 pin roll crimper. Check out bubba rountree outdoors as all they do is slug and buck reloading pretty much all roll crimped. Magnum 3 and 3.5 inch folded crimp hulls can be cut back and roll crimped.
Merry Christmas Johnny. A while back in your mk 262 series you did a combo of varmint and 77gr otm that went up real close to 3000 fps. Do you remember if you showed pressure signs? I remember you were concerned about the velocity.
GAEP is the only crimper for .410 and precision reloader for 20 and 12. Have crimped hundreds of thousands of all three loads for an undisclosed company.
I think I will just keep buying shotgun shells and stick to reloading for handguns and rifles. Lol
I use empty 12 gram co2 capsule as a dowel inside the hull and a normal pipe cutter to trim the hulls.
Get there hill vise. It will hold it so you can push on it. I’ve used this tool in my drill press to good affect.
for best results, try preheating your roll crimp tool in the microwave for 30-45 seconds lol
so that is how the roll crimp looks . it is a lot different than the pictures i seen in sales adds . is this the same as the crimp for slugs ? i just do 410 at the bench with homemade tools . i don't shoot enough shotshells to pay for a shell press . been yrs since i shot my 12 gage and use 410 to get rid of black birds nesting on the eaves of the barn and house . only started reloading 410 to beat the cost of them ! keep up the good work shannon ! oh been meaning to ask , what ever happened to the powder you added the humidity packs to ?
Wonder if it makes sense to 3d print a hull vise, 2 parts like a bullet mold design then clamp them together? Might be to much screwing around especially your cranking out a bunch, might even be faster if you designed it to screw to the vice jaws screw into that might speed that up.
Johnny you need to get a 4 pin Roll crimper
Johny, I've been loading shotshell for 40 years and have never blown my face off. It is really not that complicated, I have swapped wads, primers and hauls without any advers effects. The critical information is powder charge and shot charge. Just like in metallic reloading, if the powder charge is safe for the bullet weight it will go BANG. All of the plastic base wads work fine. The paper shells and the paper base wads must be inspected for swelling. If they draw mostiure or get wet the bass wad looks to high in the case. Throw them away!!! I prefer the solid one piece huls with or without metal heads. I have had no problems interchanging information between any hauls that are built the same no matter the name on the case. For instance the one piece Winchester, Remington and Fiocchi are all one piece and I load them the same. Just like in pistol and rifle I load Remington, Winchester or whatever starting near the minimum load and work up.
Also you need more rpm to heat the plastic a little to help it roll
Abunch of snow in my area like 7 inches hope I can get to work
Maybe try preheating the tool heads before use? Heat gun or small convection oven?
You need to add a little bit of oil before roll crimping. It makes all of the difference.
For what it's worth, I've had better luck being pretty aggressive with the roll crimper. (I have the same one you've got) A shell vice and drill press make short work of it.
I used a 1/2 curling iron instead of a spin doctor. Works amazing on the 12ga hulls.
So you can make good roll crimping hulls from 3" fired sells. I'd have to measure but if your chamber is 2-3/4 then you have 1/4" to hack off the fold crimps. And then you just have a tube. Spin doc, roll crimper. Done. I do it for my friends 2.5" gun and it works fine. But you might need 3.5 for 2.75"
Just got my 4 pin roll crimper with hull vise from reloader's network. An amazing difference from my 1 pin from BPI
Is a roll crimp mandatory with tungsten shot? Seems like a lot of work if a normal 6/8 pt fold crimp would suffice.
Crimping; what would happen if you use a drill-press? Would that eleminate the wobble?
Preheat them tools in the Style of Shannon. Perhaps an infrared thermometer as well.
The tools are probably gonna saturate themselves with plastic from the hulls and start generating more friction then :)
Hardwood v block to drop in ur drill vice
Be careful many ballistic products loads are overpressure. If shooting modern shotguns it's no big deal but some old guns won't handle the spicy loads for very long. Great company tho. Also i don't remember the name but my roll crimpers have 4 pins, way faster check fortunecookie 45lc i think he's the reason i bought them. Also a drill press eliminates the need for hull vice
Quad pin and drill press
A low Vortex Venom works well on shotguns
Harbor freight has a mini cut off saw
I think he has one of those.
RPM's are your friend when roll crimping. your batterie drill turns way to slow for efficient crimping. You want to bring up the temperature with rpm's rather than pressure. At the end of the day it friction heat you are trying to create. You can do that in two ways. Speed or pressure
Thanks, Shannon 😁
I can roll crimp a bit better with the quad pin roll crimper and with lubrication (hornady case lube grease). I can even roll crimp previously fold crimped hulls.
Check out Nick Ross and his tools on The Reloaders Channel
Drill press and a dab of oil
😦😁👍‼️
Learning as we go
How much 16ga info is in the advantages manual? I need more info than is in the Lyman
BPI did have one for 16ga at one time, haven't looked lately but I would check there.
I’m fully stocked for fireworks this Saturday at Midnight.
Thank you Gov. Ron DeSantis. Hope it doesn’t rain, but if it does, I do not care.
Remind me why we are doing roll crimps?
Solstice Shell Game - Day 5
Did anyone mention a quad pin, shell holder and drill press? lol
I do 16 ga in drill press alot more control in pressure and eveness
Don’t buy the hull trimmer you can make one out of a 3/4 dowel and a razor blade. The BPI trimmer is terrible. Also the roll crimper is not ideal. Get a drill press and writhed the GAEp roll or a Reloading Network 4 pin roller there way better. If you have any questions or need help with anything please let me know I will hook u up
Everyone saying to mount a red dot forward either run night vision or go off that video based on video game mechanics.
In real life, we have two eyes. If you think the walls of the optic can block your view, place a hand over your shooting eye and tell me if you can still see or not. 🤦♂️ It's shocking how many people fell for that. Probably the same people would think the earth is flat if they heard the explanation.
If you target focus like you should with a red dot, mount it as close to your eye as comfortable to maximize the speed you can acquire the dot.
FortuneCookie45LC can probably help you a lot. Most of his stuff is on Patreon now: The 3 Circles Hot Lead Zone Express!
Buy a different roll crimper ! It shouldn't be that hard !!