Shooting brass 12 ga BP ?

[Blackwater 53393]

A lot of good information here.

 

Some things have changed a little since the 2017 posts. One particular change, (which I find much to the positive) is the CH4D dies are now available.

 

I got my 12ga set in a buyout from the wife of a cowboy friend who passed away. I got ‘em really inexpensively and didn’t even use them for a couple of years.  

They ARE expensive up front, but they can really streamline your reloading process. I liked the 12ga set so much that I bought the 10ga set new from the manufacturer!

 

They fit in the RCBS Rock Chucker II press and are great for fixing that brass shell that some club footed brass picker stepped on and bent. The sizing and depriming die does a full length resize, which you don’t usually need, but is great for reclaiming that bent or dented shell.

 

The roll crimp die puts the perfect crimp on the brass shells and eliminates the need for glues or adhesives in the process.

 

 I have three types of shells. They use three different sizes of primer.  The ordinary Magtec shells use the large pistol primer. I have hand tools as well as the CH4D die for removing them and I use an RCBS primer tool to seat new primers in them.  I used to do it with a flat piece of steel, a hand held wooden dowel and a hammer. Later a friend machined a steel tool for me to replace the dowel and another tool that made punching out the old primers simple and that made the process much smoother, but the occasional firing of a primer would make Schoolmarm jump and squeal, so I bought a 12ga shell holder for my RCBS and it’s much easier and faster to reprime a batch of shells and they are much more consistent and fire reliably. It also removes the issue of handling individual primers because I can put a hundred in the feed tube and go to work.  I bought a shell holder for the 10ga brass shells, but I had to modify it to clear the feed arm that holds the primer tube.

 

For the Alcan/Fiocchi shells that use the old 57 or 157 primers, I use a Lee Load All II to deprime and install new primers. It’s simple and reliably sets the new primers correctly.  I use the same machine for the shells that take 209 primers as well.

 

I often use the Load All II to install wads and dispense shot, which lets me do those tasks without handling shot dippers and loose shot and it lets me set my wad stack or plastic wad with the pull of a lever. Easy/peasy!!

 

My favorite tool for reloading brass shells is the CH4D roll crimp die! It puts the perfect crimp on the shells, holding the over shot card in place and giving just enough taper to the edge of the shell mouth to let it slide into the chamber of any of my shotguns without any extra effort.

 

The crimp disappears when the shell is fired and after a couple of firings, I anneal the mouth of the shells to prevent them cracking.

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2025 by Blackwater 53393

[Blackwater 53393]

I copied this from a previous post I made recently about loading brass shells and what I use and what I have learned!

 

HOPE IT HELPS OTHERS!
 

OKAY!!

 

Bear with me for a little bit. This will require some editing to make it happen and have it make some sense.

 

I do load both 10 and 12ga brass shotgun shells. I have somewhere around 300 of the 12ga shells. Some I bought new when I got the urge to try them, some that were given to me in trades or because a shooter lost interest, a significant number acquired when I bought all the components and the CH4D 12ga dies from the estate of a cowboy friend who passed, and I suspect that the dern things breed and multiply when left unattended.

 

Some of these are the usual Magtech shells that take large pistol primers, others are made to take standard 209 primers including a few of those super RMC shells, and I recently found and bought fifty Alcan/Fiocchi shells that take the old 57/157 (Remington/CCI) shotgun primers that are no longer produced.  Fortunately, I have a good supply of these primers, having traded an equal number of 209s for several packs and another cowboy gave me a sizable quantity with the proviso that I use them myself, give some to someone who desperately needs them, or kept them as a collector’s item.  I had to promise NOT to sell ‘em for any ridiculous profit, (thanks, Long Gulch!).

 

I also received a gift of 101 Alcan zinc metallic 12ga shells!!  Brand new, never primed, still in the original Alcan corrugated cardboard box!  They’re waaaay cool and take 209s as well!

 

Then there’s the 10ga brass shells.  I got the first few from a cowboy on the SASS Clasdifieds. He’d found them in a hardware store in Alaska and bought all they had. I bought a partial box from him and made up the rest of a box of 25 with some I bought from Track Of The Wolf.  They all take large pistol primers.  I ran them in my big Remington ‘93 a couple of times and in a Winchester 1901 that I recently sold.

 

In a conversation with a couple of cowboys in the classifieds, I found a gentleman who had those Alcan/Fiocchi 12ga brass shells and he also had a bunch of those same shells in 10ga!!  I BOUGHT ‘EM!

 

SO!!  I had the Rock Chucker II that I picked up on Craigslist and I started with the RCBS Cowboy Die set, but I found it unsatisfactory and, for a while, I loaded everything I had by hand.  It was mildly enjoyable and I could pay close attention to every shell.

 

When I picked up the 12ga CH4D dies, that all changed.  No more gluing over shot cards in only to have the glue dry out or lose adhesion, causing shot to pour down the barrel when the card slipped out. No more waiting for the glue to dry before boxing up my newly reloaded shells! Now I can resize a shell that was bent when stepped on and it’s good to go again!

 

These first photos are of the RCBS with a 12ga shell in the press. 

 

 

 

This is the 12ga shell holder.  It fits without any problem.

 

The 10ga shells present their own set of minor issues.  The shell holder must be modified in order to fit it into the press. 

 

The first picture is of the shell holder by itself. Notice that I have ground off some material on the left side of the shell holder. This allows it to clear the frame of the press when it is being installed.

 

This pic shows the 10ga shell holder installed.

In order to get the shell holder into the press, it has to be put in with the narrowed side facing the frame and then turned to accept the shell.

 

You COULD just grind the right side of the shell holder, but I use that same one to prime the shells that take large pistol primers on an RCBS primer station, (shown below). By narrowing the left side, it allows me to use the primer station with the primer feed tool and it seats the primers correctly.

 

This shot shows the 10ga shell holder installed on the RCBS primer station with the primer drop in position to set a primer.

 

I’ve included a couple of photos of the CH4D die.  This is the 12ga roll crimp die.  From the outside, the 10 and 12ga dies are identical. I didn’t show the sizing and depriming die.

 

This is a top view with the die installed in the press.  The top knob adjusts the depth of the over shot card and seats it on the shot evenly.

The whole assembly! Set up with the 10ga shell holder.

The dies come with a lock ring,(set screw not shown) to set the amount of roll crimp.  I have two different length shells in both 10 and 12ga, so this allows me to adjust depth for each length.

Here’s a sample of the finished product in both 10ga and 12ga along with a shot of the Alcan zinc shell.

 

 

I hope this answers your questions and that it isn’t too long winded.

 

These dies are pretty expensive, but I find them well worth the investment. 
 

I plan to add a “Big Dawg” ergonomic lever from Inline Fabrication when I get paid in a couple of weeks.

[Dapper Dave]

Very nice, thank you, sir! My only press is an RCBS RS from 1981 - do you think that setup will work on that one?
 

 

[Blackwater 53393]

10 minutes ago, Dapper Dave said:

Very nice, thank you, sir! My only press is an RCBS RS from 1981 - do you think that setup will work on that one?
 

 

It depends on whether or not that press will accept the 1 1/4” dies.  The RCII has a screw in bushing that allows the 7/8” standard dies to be used. You must remove that bushing to use the bigger dies.

 

 

Edited February 3, 2025 by Blackwater 53393

[Dapper Dave]

Ah, no, then it won't work, this is setup for only the standard dies, no bushing. Oh well, was worth a look. 

[Blackwater 53393]

22 hours ago, Dapper Dave said:

Ah, no, then it won't work, this is setup for only the standard dies, no bushing. Oh well, was worth a look. 

If you wanted to fool with it, you could take your press to a competent machine shop and have them bore and tap that press for the bushing. It certainly looks like there’s enough metal there to accommodate the bushing.

 

I wouldn’t recommend using it for reloading .50 BMG, but for building up brass and even plastic or paper shells it would probably work just fine!

 

I WILL tell you that for the CH4D sizing die, you’ll want to replace the regular handle/lever with a longer one. Inline Manufacturing makes ‘em for nearly every press out there!  I love mine!!

[Dapper Dave]

Well. I don't own a 50BMG, so that's not a problem...😄