Marlin Buckhorn,SASS 51727 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I have been shooting 97's or 87's since starting SASS, but now I am moving to a SXS. I am having the following problem with the shotgun shells I am reloading on my MEC Sizemaster. About 1/4" above the metal base I am getting a bulge in the shell casing. I am using Winchester AA hulls, a Winchester gray wad for 7/8 oz load and appropriate amount of 700X. I have adjusted the crimp & the cam on the lever and just about everything else I can think of. There is no bulge in the casing until I do the final crimp on the shell. Any thoughts, suggestions or anything else that might be helpful would be appreciated. I will call MEC tomorrow if no solution that works is offered here. Thanks in advance, Marlin . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yusta B. Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 You may need a wad with a tapered base so it doesn't catch where the two hull pieces join. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace_of_Hearts Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 You are putting excess pressure on the hull when you are crimping. You can reduce the problem by increasing the wad pressure when you insert the plastic wad. The wad should be firmly seated against the powder. (Especially important with AA hulls) This will allow you to use less pressure when crimping as you are not trying to push down the shot column when crimping. The wad will spring back after the crimp is set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramble Mountain Buzzard Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I would go to a Claybuster Lightning wad... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cholla Bob Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 This is a continuous problem with the "new" AA hulls, just do a search on google. I fought it for a while and finally surrendered and threw all my AAs away. There are remedies online but I never found any that worked reliably. Worst part is once you fiddle with your cam adjustment for a while it takes even longer to get it back to where it needs to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene Slim SASS 81783 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 You are putting excess pressure on the hull when you are crimping. You can reduce the problem by increasing the wad pressure when you insert the plastic wad. The wad should be firmly seated against the powder. (Especially important with AA hulls) This will allow you to use less pressure when crimping as you are not trying to push down the shot column when crimping. The wad will spring back after the crimp is set. Bingo. I learned about this several year ago thanks to the Wire. I use nothing but AA hulls now (the most commonly thrown away at our range) without problem on a Mec 650. Lots of once-fired AA hulls sitting right there in the trash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Gringo, SASS # 74217 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I was having the same problem also. I tried different wads and wad pressures and tried messing with the crimp adjustments. I could reduce the collapsing hulls but couldn't quite eliminate the problem. I would collapse about 10 out of 25. I just totally gave up on AA HS hulls and now just load Remington STS and Gun Club hulls. I do have an old supply of old AA hulls. The ones that are marked TRAP and SKEET on the side. I never had that problem with the old school hulls until they went with that internal base wad. Good luck... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Slim SASS #24733 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Too much crimp pressure. I use AA's all the time, BP for me and smokeless for my wife and they work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Gringo, SASS # 74217 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 You are putting excess pressure on the hull when you are crimping. You can reduce the problem by increasing the wad pressure when you insert the plastic wad. The wad should be firmly seated against the powder. (Especially important with AA hulls) This will allow you to use less pressure when crimping as you are not trying to push down the shot column when crimping. The wad will spring back after the crimp is set. This is correct. I was doing that. collapsing the wad with 65lbs of pressure. After the crimp though, I had some hulls that would leak shot from the center of the crimp. Just my luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 If you have the auto primer feed make sure the actuating lever has not gotten bent and getting trapped between the Crimp die and the locking nut. Happened to mine when I got it out of storage. Caused the exact same problem you are having. If you are using old AA wads in the new hulls they have a tendency to catch on the lip inside the hull. Adjust your wad pressure to almost max. Doesn't hurt the wad but it does ensure that it hasn't gotten caught on the lip on the inside of the hull. Hold the lever all the way down and watch the wad pressure indicator. You should see it rise on the down stroke and then fall shortly after you reach full downward travel. I switched to the Clay Buster CB-0175 and CB-0178 wads and have fewer issues with the wad not fully seating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Marlin - Start with the Mec SIZEMASTER Manual ... https://www.mecshootingsports.com/Images/document/sizemaster.pdf Your bulging issue can be related to 2 areas of the reloading process summarized on page 4: 1st ... C.Wad Pressure Indicator 2nd ... I. Crimping Station Read further in the manual for these areas and make any necessary adjustments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Gringo, SASS # 74217 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Marlin - Start with the Mec SIZEMASTER Manual ... https://www.mecshootingsports.com/Images/document/sizemaster.pdf Your bulging issue can be related to 2 areas of the reloading process summarized on page 4: 1st ... C.Wad Pressure Indicator 2nd ... I. Crimping Station Read further in the manual for these areas and make any necessary adjustments Good info here on page 10. I personally am going to take another try at reloading AA HS hulls with this info. Thanks JB. Hope it helps out Marlin Buckhorn on his problem.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rio Brazos Kid Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Marlin, PM sent. RBK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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