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Looking really good Cyrus. The point of the faffing with a coin or washer is to give the final crimp a bit more depth. It is a fabulous press, especially for the small amount it costs. But sometimes things can be improved on and the coin/washer is just giving that extra depth. To save the hassle of balancing a washer on each shell, or trying to glue one on the final crimp station, if you just file that same amount off the bottom of the final station tube, as the depth of your washer, it will give the same result.

 

Well done for persevering, bit of a bug isn't it :yes::good::good:

Edited by turbo33
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I only looked in this thread as I thought "Hmm - never thought about reloading. Won't make financial sense for me, but it's the kind of thing I enjoy".

 

Wished I'd not looked now - it appears to be addictive...

 

Where should a brand new, knows absolutely nothing about it other than reading this thread, chap begin... point me at some videos, books, articles, advice and/or info.

 

I should re-iterate, I suspect that for the small amount of shooting I do (once a week for 50 DTL, informal pheasant syndicate for 9 Saturdays a year and any pigeon shooting I can scrounge off friends) that it's not going to be cost effective for me to reload, but I'm not really interested in saving money - it's the "I made that" factor which appeals.

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Guest cookoff013

I only looked in this thread as I thought "Hmm - never thought about reloading. Won't make financial sense for me, but it's the kind of thing I enjoy".

 

Wished I'd not looked now - it appears to be addictive...

 

Where should a brand new, knows absolutely nothing about it other than reading this thread, chap begin... point me at some videos, books, articles, advice and/or info.

 

I should re-iterate, I suspect that for the small amount of shooting I do (once a week for 50 DTL, informal pheasant syndicate for 9 Saturdays a year and any pigeon shooting I can scrounge off friends) that it's not going to be cost effective for me to reload, but I'm not really interested in saving money - it's the "I made that" factor which appeals.

 

look around the posts in this "reloading section". put up a post asking this question. then put up a list of the shells you want to copy.

ask for startup costs, to get a good idea...

 

my advice would be to read abit.

 

good luck.

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I only looked in this thread as I thought "Hmm - never thought about reloading. Won't make financial sense for me, but it's the kind of thing I enjoy".

 

Wished I'd not looked now - it appears to be addictive...

 

Where should a brand new, knows absolutely nothing about it other than reading this thread, chap begin... point me at some videos, books, articles, advice and/or info.

 

I should re-iterate, I suspect that for the small amount of shooting I do (once a week for 50 DTL, informal pheasant syndicate for 9 Saturdays a year and any pigeon shooting I can scrounge off friends) that it's not going to be cost effective for me to reload, but I'm not really interested in saving money - it's the "I made that" factor which appeals.

Flynn you should definitely get involved, you're right about saving money, there's no way I will but it's a great feeling knocking down a crow and knowing that you loaded that cartridge. It's a great hobby too and I've personally learnt a lot in the last couple of weeks (as you can see).

 

For starting out I bought Lymans 5th edition shotshell reloading book. It's more focused on the American market but has loads of really useful info in it. I also did loads of research online, watched videos on YouTube and asked questions on here. The amount of help you get off the guys on here is unbelievable. The biggest problem I've found is finding a local powder supplier as shipping them is so expensive.

 

I definitely recommend it!

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You are nearly there you say you are using new case's.am reloading 20 bore if you hold the handle down for a couple of seconds on the crimp start stage you will find it takes some pressure on new plastic.

I'm loading used cases now, I started off with new ones but they weren't crimping nice so on to used ones for the moment.

 

My bench drill arrived today and just spoken to John from F.E.S. about a spinner so hopefully be up and running by the end of the week. I'll start off spinning the used cases but then try out the new ones.

Edited by Cyrus1988
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Looking really good Cyrus. The point of the faffing with a coin or washer is to give the final crimp a bit more depth. It is a fabulous press, especially for the small amount it costs. But sometimes things can be improved on and the coin/washer is just giving that extra depth. To save the hassle of balancing a washer on each shell, or trying to glue one on the final crimp station, if you just file that same amount off the bottom of the final station tube, as the depth of your washer, it will give the same result.

 

Well done for persevering, bit of a bug isn't it :yes::good::good:

Haha, "bit of a bug" my girlfriend thinks I have a problem, keep showing her my crimps.

 

With the drill here and the spinner on it's way I'll hopefully not have to bother with the final crimp stage on the Lee, just pre-crimp and then straight on to the spinner. I'll still do the washer glueing though incase of a power cut, which might be happening more often now after the Didcot B incident.

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Guest cookoff013

i went straight to new cases. i didnt even bother messing with used cases.

i bought a load from siarm and they were cheaper than buying primers.

now this isnt always the case but i like nice looking shells.

 

my last box of hulls was from john at FES.

 

some of the hulls i use take a real beating, when they are fired the plastic really thins. if you hold them up to the light they go slightly more opaque.

essentially they have just been hit with 9000psi / burning powder.

 

as for the "saving" money bit, its hard to justify. but i want to reload....

 

i`ve actually slowed down with reloading. for me its having the enjoyment of making shells. but i can say, buying shells is so much easyer !

i still buy shells, there is no secret, i`ve even been known to make empties for someone else ! i like shooting too.

 

the guys here certainly make reloading work for them, i seriously envy them, because they reload for very little. they make lead shot and make reloading worth it.

i`m not talking about the savings of £9/k either.

 

i like trying out lots of different shells. i buy random ones and just have a good old go.

at the start of the summer, i tried out some 36g 3" steel #2, to see what they were like. they were as anticipated.

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So the spinner arrived today at work and couldn't wait to get home to try it out. I loaded one using a new case and went through all the stages up until the pre-crimp. Before actually carrying out the pre-crimp, I dripped a bit of oil on some tissue and wiped it round the opening of the case. I then pre-crimped, held for 10 and then straight under the spinner.

 

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Think I need to experiment with the chuck stop to adjust the crimp depth but really pleased with the final result, big thanks to everyone on here that's helped me out and to John from F.E.S.

 

Cheers.

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Looks great Cyrus :good: The last pic.......the shell still has that dimple in. Is it one of the originals reloaded before you found the pieceof shot in the crimper..............or have you got another alien :lol: I would also say, just a little more depth on the spinner. You will know when its right by the "feel".

Once again, well done......look at your first post in this thread and where you are now :good::good:

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Use spray silicone or Vaseline, not oil...

Well done matey, you done good

 

What are the reasons for using silicone or Vaseline instead of oil? I was advised to use some 3 in 1 but open to using something else.

 

Looks great Cyrus :good: The last pic.......the shell still has that dimple in. Is it one of the originals reloaded before you found the pieceof shot in the crimper..............or have you got another alien :lol: I would also say, just a little more depth on the spinner. You will know when its right by the "feel".

Once again, well done......look at your first post in this thread and where you are now :good::good:

 

I think it may have been, the first 3 pics were one cart and the last 1 was an old one.

 

Can't thank everyone enough for helping out, if they hadn't I still be making those crimps on the 1st page.

 

This thread is done. That crimp is better than mine.

 

Haha, I severely doubt, would be interested to see some of the cartridges you put together Cook.

 

That's brilliant Cyrus. It's the dog's doo dahs. It's been a bumpy ride but you are there now, well done.

 

Highly satisfying when it works well ain't it.

 

Dave

 

Cheers mate, yeah definitely, pretty happy with them now though.

 

Next thing on the list to do is get a batch off to the proof house to see what pressures/speeds I'm getting out them.

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That's brilliant mate. Congrats, really well done!!

 

Only thing is why there are marks on the edges.... not that makes any difference, just curiosity.

 

Also, what recipe did you load and what is the final height of the shell (remember 1mm can increase/decrease pressure up to 100 bar)?

 

Thanks,

 

I think that cartridge was one I had previously loaded when there was a piece of shot stuck in the final crimp station so was putting dents on the edge.

 

The recipe is Cheddite CX2000 primer,1.50grams of Sipe powder, Aqulia T2 H24 wad and 32 grams of #5.5 shot. The range I was told for the final height was 57.15mm to 57.18mm so when I spin them down I aim for within those values using a caliper.

 

Cheers.

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I use PTFE spray from Scewfix, just because it's what I had available in my workshop for lubricating electric planer tables to help the wood feed thru. I have 25 shells standing upright in a tray and just give the ends a tiny mist. I also have a silicon mat on the drill press table that helps to grip the cartridge to stop it spinning in your fingers because shell holders are too slow and awkward to bother with, IMO.

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I think that cartridge was one I had previously loaded when there was a piece of shot stuck in the final crimp station so was putting dents on the edge.

 

The recipe is Cheddite CX2000 primer,1.50grams of Sipe powder, Aqulia T2 H24 wad and 32 grams of #5.5 shot. The range I was told for the final height was 57.15mm to 57.18mm so when I spin them down I aim for within those values using a caliper.

 

Cheers.

 

My Last attempt on 12 bore about 5 years ago suggested the following data:

 

1) V0 405,84 m/s, Pmax 647 Bar

2) V0 404,37 m/s, Pmax 605 Bar

3) V0 400,48 m/s, Pmax 587 Bar

4) V0 408,83 m/s, Pmax 628 Bar

 

on the above i used gualandi 25, which is harder so, you might notice a little less pressure and probably speed but an increase in pellets at the centre of the pattern!

 

Well done!! :good:

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A little update;

 

Spoke to the guys at the Birmingham Proof House about getting some loads tested. So will be making up 4 sets of the same load with 1 variation on each set to be done.

 

But I have a problem.

 

From the information I've read on here and online, it's recommend that your crimp depth should be around the 1.5mm mark. When I spin my cartridges down to the specified height I was given the crimp depth is around 2.0mm.

 

Thinking about it, I can't see how I can adjust anything to solve this issue. When I have the powder, wad and shot in the case there's about 11mm from the top of the shot to the top of case which is correct.

 

Am I right in saying the final crimped case height is directly linked to the final crimp depth?

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