Tools to star crimp shotgun shells?

T

TruthTellers

New member
Firstly, I have no interest in roll crimping. Don't bother mentioning it.

I know the Lee Load All does star crimping, but I have no interest in owning a shotshell press as I wouldn't make enough to justify buying and storing it.

The Lee Loaders that are no longer made came with a star crimp tool. So far this is what I'm most interested in obtaining.

My intended use is to make my own 12 gauge mini shells. I want them to be star crimped, not roll crimped or sealed with glue or other nonsense. Star crimp only.

I can make a star crimp tool if necessary on a lathe and mill. I figure I could use the Lee Loader's crimp tool and reverse engineer it and make one for mini shells. But, my preference is if there is already something out there that's easy to obtain that can star crimp mini shells, I'll buy it.

If such a thing exists, please let me know in this thread. If not, is my idea of making my own crimp tool the best option for me?
 
Have you checked out the MEC tools? When I was loading 12 gauge trap loads the MEC tools which aren't overly expensive would apply star crimps.
 
The crimping operation on shotgun shells is a three step process.
First you have a crimp starter that starts the folds in the case mouth.
Second there is the folding die that completes the folding.
Third there is the finisher die that tightens the crimp and slightly rounds the
crimp.

You would be better off finding a old MEC loader like the 600 JR and just do your crimping on it. You can load shorter shells on the MEC but the dies would have to be altered for the short shells.
 
There seems to be plenty of MEC 600 Jr presses for sale on the net. This is a single stage tool and a quick check revealed they now sell for around $190 new. Used ones should be available much cheaper. At a recent gun show I sold my 600 Jr, a MEC progressive and a MEC case conditioner for the lowly fee of $125. It was getting late in the day and there just hadn't been much interest in shotshell loaders.
 
Second there is the folding die that completes the folding.
Third there is the finisher die that tightens the crimp and slightly rounds the
crimp
Click to expand...

On MEC machines, step 2 and 3 are done at the same time with the same die; does a great job

For mini shells, any press is going to need some major adjustments or some form of jerry-rigged lift kit for wad insertion and crimp
 
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