Another shot shell question on roll crimping

[Knarley Bob]

Does one need to "lube" the lip of a paper shot shell before rollin' it? My crimps look o.k., but the color of the hull is gone on the very end.
I'm using Fiocchi hulls and a roll crimper from Ballistic Products.
Thanks for any info,
Knarley

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I havn't loaded a lot of paper yet.  I don't believe you need to do much if the shells are new or once-fired and in good shape.

I loaded a few range pick-ups in so-so shape to see how far I could go.  I took candle stub wax and rubbed it onto the paper bodies.  I supported the case with a dowel fitted to be snug inside the cases.  Hand rubbing vigorously seemed to leave a wax sheen on the paper.  They loaded and roll crimped satisfactorily.

In the days before plastic, shell re-conditioners were marketed.  Like a curling iron to warm the shell so the wax was melted enough to spread to where it was needed.  I' never seen one in action, though.

I used a MEC Grabber to do the sizing.  I noticed that the de=capping rod has a swell near the top that is meant to open up plastic crimps.  It created a funnel mouth on paper that spoiled the integrity of the paper at the mouth.  A call to MEC and a 16 gauge de-capping rod soon replaced it.  I didn't splay the mouth of paper shells.

[Fox Creek Kid]

IMO the metal hull crimper from Ballistic is not very good for paper hulls. It's made more for modern plastic hulls. Scrounge an old time hand crank crimper from the Internet or a gun show as they were made for paper and if not beat all to hell give a perfect roll crimp to paper hulls.

[Dick Dastardly]

These people make a polycarbonate roll crimper that seems to do better on paper hulls.  Also, it's the most reasonably priced one I've found.

http://precisionreloading.com/Rollcrimpers.htm

I've sent several pards there and they were all pleased with their results.

DD-DLoS

[Fox Creek Kid]

D.D., I bought 2 or 3 of the poly crimpers a few years back and they do work good on paper. The crimpers listed above them are the same as sold by Ballistic and do not work as well on paper hulls.

Knarley Bob, you want the $11.99 one at the bottom of the page. 

[Fairshake]

I also use the Fiocchi hulls and they seem to roll crimp not as well as my Federal paper. I use the plastic crimper on my drill press. I also cut them back from were the factory crimp was. The Fiocchi will hold more powder and shot than the federal hulls. I use both the wads and the short shell plastic wad in loading. I also just bought some of the brush popper wads to try in my Federal paper hulls for those KD's. 

[Dalton Masterson]

I have one of the old electric hull reconditioners. It does work well for taking out the old crimps on my Winchester paper hulls. It basically just heats up the wax enough that it turns liquid, and irons the paper smooth.
I use it if I am not roll crimping tho. When I roll crimp, I cut the folds off, and make shorter little shells that fit my recipe.
I do use one of the old antique roll crimpers. It works very well.

DM

[Fox Creek Kid]

Dalton M. is correct in that you have to cut off the crimp before reloading. I have an old tool that cuts 'em off slick. I load Federal, Dynamit Nobel & Fiocchi once fired hulls that way. The Cheddite I have are new so you don't have to cut away the crimp.