Roll crimping brass shotshells

[jamesb]

I have been reloading brass shotshells for CAS by hand. When doing this I glue in my overshot card. I have seen some old brass shotshells that are roll crimped. I would like to put a small amount of roll crimp on the shells to make them load easier, I would still glue in my overshot card. Can I use the same roll crimper I would use for paper or plastic hulls to do the brass?

 

[Curator]

In a word, NO, Roll crimping a plastic or paper cartridge is different then a brass one. If you have the RCBS 'cowboy" shotshell reloading dies they have a crimp setting. Otherwise you have to find a die-set that will crimp your shells without ruining your brass cases.

 

[cpileri]

scallop edge

there are dies that will make a scallop edge crimp, which I have been looking or as well.

Sorry that wasn't too helpful, probably.

C-

 

[FROGO207]

If you do roll-crimp the brass shells the mouth will fail lots sooner. IMHO not worth the trade off to crimp if you want to shoot the brass more than a time or two.

 

[cpileri]

The problem I am having with brass shells is too little overshot wad pressure, even with elmer's glue holding in a card or 1/8" cork overshot. They just go "puu-uuufffpthth" and spurt out the barrel at low velocity.
I think they are not building up enough pressure to achieve desired velocity, and a slight crimp might help that.
I suppose I could go with more glue, a thicker overshot wad, etc. but I saw a neat scalloped edge shell on display (Kynoch, I think) and the had tool used to make it, and have wanted one ever since- thinking it would solve my problem as well as be cool.
I am willing to sacrifice the case mouths early for it, at this time anyway.
C-

 

[FROGO207]

What are you using for an over shot wad. It should be a nitro card or two that is tight in the hull. With a 12 GA it should be oversized and would not fit into a plastic hull well. Also you should be putting some pressure on the wad so that the propellant/wad is crushed and seals better. If you were to find an older shot shell reloading guide from the early 50's there are a lot of tips on reloading metallic hulls within.I found lots of info in my Ideal # 39 and 41 reloading manuals. Alcan also put out a real good manual for their metallic hulls. There is some info from Ballistic Products as well as the correct sized nitro cards.