Who relaods for 12 gauge.

[duckslayer870]

I need some help and Im not afraid to admit it. I cant seem to get my crimps right.

[bocohunter]

What type of reloader are you using?The crimper may be adjustable.May be the shells also.Some shells reload great and some are not worth didly.

[GSP]

What type of reloader are you using?The crimper may be adjustable.May be the shells also.Some shells reload great and some are not worth didly.

Also, some shells like different types of wads. If you have a ton of one type hull, try different brand wads.

[Kcoyboy]

What kind of reloader do you have? Ive heard the Mecs are good but Quite honestly I load good shotgun shells from an old Lee Loader. Its one of the few Lee products that I like and have loaded a good 10000 shells on it since 1982. Theonly things Ive worn out are the sizing dies. the auto priming system is worthless though dont get one. Now ive loaded high brass 3 inch and 2 and 3 quarter as well as win AA which load good. I prefer a 6 point crimp but the Lee does a good job on 8 point too. The trick to shotshell reloading is matching the right hull to the right wad. Lyman has a great shotshell reloading book that is worth every penny it costs!!! I would buy this. also different wads create more pressure so its best to get the book. Also the main thing is if the amount of shot in the wad is too much or too little by a small amount the crimp wont be good period!!! Now the lEE DOESNT HAVE AN ADJUSTMENT FOR THE AMOUNT OF PRESSURE ON THE WAD SO YOU HAVE TO GET A FEEL FOR IT!! Once you do that its easy to load good shells. I even load slugs with the Lee Load all which I cast myself great fun!!

[trust me]

Since Mec is the most common equipment, I'll assume that is what you have. Be sure your crimp starter matches your hull. There are 6 crimp and 8 crimp hulls. On newer Mec stuff, the crimp starter will freely rotate to match the shells crimp and its a simple matter to press it down and get it started. On the really old stuff, like my 250 from the 50's, you have to rotate the shell itself.

I laid in a great supply of Win AA back in the 80's, so many that I could sell several hundred on the web and still have enough to use myself. Those are the best shells for crimping I've ever used. Lately I reloaded a bunch of the current Remington Game loads and they do well.

Good point above on the amount of shot. I am loading 16 ga right now with 1 ounce of shot, and I find that if I add just one extra pinch of shot, about 10 pellets, the crimp is perfect.

[AMR40509]

Any chance you can put up a picture of what you are ending up with? That would make it pretty easy to trouble shoot.

I can only assume that you are using a loading guide and matching your shot/powder/wad/primer/hull to an 'approved' formula. If you aren't, we have a much bigger safety problem to address then an ugly crimp. Also, I will assume that you have used a proper scale to check the weights your press is throwing, not just relying on what your busing are supposed to throw.

So step one, is be sure you are loading exactly what you should be into each hull.

Once that is done, if there are crimp issues it's most likely one of a couple of things.

First, as we mentioned in an earlier post, check to see if you are set up for an 8 point or 6 point crimp. Then be sure it matches what hulls you are working with.

Next check out your crimp depth, adjust your crimp starter up and down a little (just a little) and see if that gets your close more even/factory looking.

The nice thing about reloading is that once you get your press set up, it will fly right along with very few issues.

I use a MEC 9000G for 12ga and basically load Win AA's and Remington (STS/Nitro/Gun Clubs/Game Loads all load the same as each other, just some are a 6 point crimp, which I throw away to avoid having to make changes). I do most of my shotgunning on the sporting clays course so I basically load 1OZ at about 1240FPS. I keep my press set up for this and basically have to fill it up, check the weights to be sure they are still on (using a universal charge bar, so it could get adjusted on me) and then start pulling. I check weights every 50 or so shells to be sure I'm still dialed in.

[duckslayer870]

Thanks guys these are all good points. I have a mec sizemaster I am running the right crimp starter for my hulls, I am running some older federal hulls that were given to me. 1 oz shot 18.5 grains of red dot and some remington wads. I just wanted to load some to get started and get a feel for the machine.

[trust me]

some older federal hulls that ... and some remington wads. .

I never had any luck with Federal stuff and also, I think you need to immediately check your loading manual and make sure that hull/wad combination is good...

Some shells are tapered, and require a matching wad. Can't remember which ones, but it creates an issue.

[AMR40509]

I never had any luck with Federal stuff and also, I think you need to immediately check your loading manual and make sure that hull/wad combination is good...

Some shells are tapered, and require a matching wad. Can't remember which ones, but it creates an issue.

Feds are straight walled, Rem/Win are tapered - this means they use a different wad.

Also, if the hulls are Federal Gold Medal they are some of the best reloading hulls out there.

BUT if they are the el-chepo Feds, be very careful. The promo loads Fed makes have a card board/paper base wad, which can come loose. I'd suggest no loading them anymore than 1 time, and if it is possible they could have EVER been damp, just tossing them.

Go out to your local trap/skeet/clays range with a big bag and get some AA's or any Remingtons.