Dantankerous Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I recently acquired a Lee Load All II and have been having a great time learning about shotshell reloading. I am loading 777 shells for a a BP sub right now. A couple questions... Is it necessary to take any special care in cleaning the once fired with 777 hulls before reloading them like we do with brass cartridges that have had BP or a BP sub fired in it? How many times can a STS or AA hull expect to be reused? Or does this largely depend on the load and the condition of the hull? Thanks! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curley Cole, SASS #56849 Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I too load with a Lee and I have found that the newer AA shells don't last as long...load them til they start to crack at the crimps but I get at least 3 reloads out of them for the most part. enjoy curley ps as for cleaning I just wipe em down so they aren't dirty before I put them in the loader.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 The biggest thing about the Lee press is the crimp starter isn't self-indexing. Since you're not complaining about bad crimps, you've likely already figured this out, but you have to look up into the die and see how the star is oriented, then manually index the hulls at that station to fit the crimp starter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubious Don #56333 Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I recently acquired a Lee Load All II and have been having a great time learning about shotshell reloading. I am loading 777 shells for a a BP sub right now. A couple questions... Is it necessary to take any special care in cleaning the once fired with 777 hulls before reloading them like we do with brass cartridges that have had BP or a BP sub fired in it? Nope; wipe'em down and load. You'll note, depending on the powder of course that the inside if the shell gets burned inside rather quickly. How many times can a STS or AA hull expect to be reused? Or does this largely depend on the load and the condition of the hull? I get two to three loads out of'em usually; sometimes if they sit for a while the brass bases will get a bit grungy but I just brush'em off and load. Thanks! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fingers McGee Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 IME, just wipe em off & go. I get 3 or 4 reloads with STS hulls using real BP or APP. Haven't tried T7 in em. I'm only loading 50 gr of BP and 7/8 oz of shot so I'm not putting a lot of stress on the hulls. Fingers (Show Me MO smoke) McGee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooting Bull Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 As far as cleanliness is concerned, I throw all my spent hulls in a mesh laundry bag and then into the washing machine. After the wash I let 'em air dry and they're good to go. I don't know if it makes any difference as far as reloading them goes but, the cleaner they are the faster they shuck out of my SxS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dantankerous Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 The biggest thing about the Lee press is the crimp starter isn't self-indexing. Since you're not complaining about bad crimps, you've likely already figured this out, but you have to look up into the die and see how the star is oriented, then manually index the hulls at that station to fit the crimp starter. Well, actually I have had several bad, no wait, terrible crimps along the way. I have loaded up 100 or so shells and have had probably 10 crimps that just were awful. I just figgered this is part of the learning process. Maybe not. I pry the crimp apart, dump the shot back in the hopper, cut the wad out and reuse the powder. Only the primer and hull wasted. Still a major PITA. (I am guessing pushing the primer out with the decapper and trying to reuse it ain't a good idea. Have not tried doing that though.) I'll take a closer look at the crimp die and try to figger that out. It IS the crimp die, not the crimp starter die? Thanks! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Wilkins SASS #57887 Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I have an older Pacific 266 shotshell reloader. It came with two different star crimp starters amd one cone shaped for paper shells. When using the star shape crimp starter I would get some sorry looking shells. I found out quickly the crimp was already in the AA hulls. The cone shaped starter allows the orginal crimp to go back in place. The folds are already in the plastic from the first loading. In using the cone shaped starter I get perfect factory crimps every time. Not sure what your loader comes with. If it has a cone shaped started try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curley Cole, SASS #56849 Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 My SS Loading Station Dan I had the same problem with the messy crimps, and actually if I had read the entire instruction I would not have missed this step......lots of folks have done the same, and when they read what I am about to tell you, they go back and try it and have no mo problems. So, here ya go: Your problem is with the starter crimp, and it will continue to the finish if you don't do the following: When you set the round into the FIRST crimping station, be sure that one of the LOW points of the fold is facing directly to the front (toward you) Start the crimp easy at first and if it isn't a perfect starter crimp (if the crimp looks short of folded down, turn it a fraction one way or the other, it should then give you the perfect starter crimp. Then move it to the final crimp station and don't allow it to turn any....(in other words have that low point of the fold be facing you....then give it your crimp...raise up and inspect it and if it needs a bit more pressure go down again...(and Lee says to hold down in it for several seconds to help set the crimp... Try it out.. I thought I would use the LeeLoadAll for a couple of months til I saw weather I waz gonna even enjoy loadin shotshells and/or til the Lee broke down. Well 5 years down the road...I still enjoy it and it ain't broke..so why fix it... The pix above is my loading bench (folding sawhorse and goes anywhere in the house..you can see some of my crimps in the pix...almost like new) curley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I have several Lee presses and the crimp starter on some is hill to front, while it is valley to front on others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curley Cole, SASS #56849 Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 JBB good to know, I didn't say that cuz it appeared that most that tried my answer had the "valley to front". I will include your "description" too...much better than mine... curley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dantankerous Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 Yup, there it is. Right in the manual where it should be - one fairly benign sentence devoted to the placement of the hull during the crimp starter. If the instructions gave a better picture of why this little step is important, it may not be so easily glossed over. Ran downstairs and loaded up a few more. Guess what? Perfect crimping now. Thanks for bringing it to my attention! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curley Cole, SASS #56849 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Good on ya, actually if you read the instructions in the book by Dr Richard Lee (Modern Reloading...it is a more informative step and even has a nice pix of what the starter crimp should look like. The book is a pot of gold and then serves as your "First" loading manual... curley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noz Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I use mostly STS green hulls and shoot them until the outside burns. (Gets scabby looking) Usually 3 or more reloads per hull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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