Painted Mohawk SASS 77785 Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 Howdy Thought I'd play around with crimping 12g shells in a vintage crimper that I have. Without buying a trimmer what's the best homemade device you've come up with ? I've tried a few different ways but want something that will give me more reliable length & evenness. Thanks....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 I've modified a few steps but essentially come out the same. I trim the hulls with the same dowel and knife method but recently bought a pair of $1.88 "gripper" gloves that reallly make turning the hulls much easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prairie Dawg, SASS #50329 Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 Good Morning Painted Mohawk: There is excellent information and a great tip for trimming your shells in Tom Bullock's helpful page. --Dawg http://www.tbullock.com/bpsg.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noz Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 Find a piece of PVC pipe that the shell will slip into. Cut it to your desired length. Insert shell and cut with sharp blade to length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boulder Canyon Bob# 32052L Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 I've made black powder blanks and trim them using a dremel cut tool mounted in my drill press, just set the table height for your desired height and it's quick and consistent.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 I built a little sled for my bandsaw that does an excellent job of trimming the hulls. I trim 400-500 every now and then and it takes an hour or so. I then use a homemade skiving tool in the drill press to thin the end of the hulls that I’ve trimmed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 4 hours ago, Painted Mohawk SASS 77785 said: Howdy Thought I'd play around with crimping 12g shells in a vintage crimper that I have. Without buying a trimmer what's the best homemade device you've come up with ? I've tried a few different ways but want something that will give me more reliable length & evenness. Thanks....... Are you successful with roll crimping plastic hulls with an antique roll crimper? I use a BPI tool in drill press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-BAR #18287 Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 29 minutes ago, Warden Callaway said: Are you successful with roll crimping plastic hulls with an antique roll crimper? I use a BPI tool in drill press. No comments on trimming or crimping, just glad to see you on the Wire after last night’s storms. Back to the topic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 8 minutes ago, J-BAR #18287 said: No comments on trimming or crimping, just glad to see you on the Wire after last night’s storms. Back to the topic... Jefferson City is about 25 miles south of us. Waiting for reports to come in. Probably lots of other damage in path. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollifer A. Dollar Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 I was given a trimmer similar to the one in this video & it works like a champ. The one I have uses an Xacto knife blade instead of the trimmer blade screwed to the dowel. Looking for a picture of it now. The blade in my trimmer works like the one in this video, you mark the length you want, then stick the Xacto blade in the dowel at that point. Angling it about 30 degrees works best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Hangtree Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 This is the next reloading skill on my list, Hollifer. I'll talk with you about it this weekend. MH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cusz M. Dutch SASS Life 55326 Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 I duck taped a paint stir stick on the right side of the blade on my band saw. This is almost the right height for the rim. Then I just trim off where the fold starts and call it good. I have an old crimp roller but the one from BPI works much better especially if you add a little bit of wax or lube to every 5 shell. Need to get it hot and do all your shells in one batch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 This looks to be almost as much FUN as annealing a batch of 45 Colt rifle cases Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 I used the same method as Hollifer and it worked really well. One change I made is I epoxied a broken 1/4 drive drill bit to the dowel and use my power screw driver to spin it. The screw driver is a cheap B&D and turns pretty slow. Use a grip enhancing glove and be careful. That sharp blade will easily trim a finger. I have an old antique roll crimper and it works really well. Secret is to make sure it is securely mounted so that it cannot move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 Ah yes ... But ... iffy you loads All Brass 12Ga hulls ... case trimming, resizing and CRIMPING is of no importance. Unless of course some Ham Hock steps on one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollifer A. Dollar Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 I was able to get a couple of pictures of my trimmer, along with a short video of it in use. Like Dave said above, my trimmer has a rod inserted so you can run it in a power drill. I used it to trim 200 new hulls for the ammo we will use at EoT, it took about 20 minutes. If you are only doing a few, holding it by hand works fine, but for volume work, you can't beat the power option. IMG_3623.mov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painted Mohawk SASS 77785 Posted May 23, 2019 Author Share Posted May 23, 2019 10 hours ago, Warden Callaway said: Are you successful with roll crimping plastic hulls with an antique roll crimper? I use a BPI tool in drill press. Warden..Yes it works well, I will take a pic & post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painted Mohawk SASS 77785 Posted May 23, 2019 Author Share Posted May 23, 2019 Not sure of the age of the crimper, got it for $50. I used a piece of poly water pipe for trimming but not real happy with that, going to a gun show & swap meet this w'end & will look for a vintage cutter,still using a plastic wad ...I found that by running the finished shell thru the final crimp stage on the Mec Jnr they are even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 3/4" pipe, an end cap, and a sharp knife. I glued a short piece of dowel in the cap so it screws onto the pipe tight and the shell isn't loose. The shorty is for 1 3/4"ers. These were old, used pipe nipples, hence the pipe wrench marks - I don't use a pipe wrench to tighten 'em in the cap. Tough to get enough friction/heat with a vintage hand-cranked roll crimper to get a nice roll - buy one you can chuck in a drill, as suggested above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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