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Ezra Smack

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
The other day I stopped by to see a buddy who happened to be in the back room cranking out reloads. He was adding a step that I had never seen before. He was warming his hulls.
He had a rig set up that held 25 empties base down with a hair dryer blowing on them. This got the mouth of the plastic shells pretty warm. He claimed that warm plastic is softer and crimps better and "this is how they do it at the factory".

I have heard that factories used a hot crimping die before.

Has anyone else heard of this? As to safety, his warming rig was on the back porch away from powder and primers and he only got the shells warm, not piping hot. A shell would melt before it got hot enough to set off a primer or primer and even if it didn't, it would still be way too hot to handle. The way he did this is perfectly safe.
 
Yes, I had someone else tell me that he warms the shells too, but does that by putting them under a 60 watt light bulb before he loads them.

The trick is, knowing just hot/warm to get them before reloading them.
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
I think that warming the shells would make a lot more difference if you were reloading in your garage on a cold day rather than the climate controlled environment of your home.

Rather than a hair dryer, the most practical method might be to use an infrared heat lamp (the red flood light used to warm chicken coops) It would be really easy to hang one of these over a table and place a bunch of shells base down under the light while they are waiting their turn to be reloaded. This would add very little time or effort to the process.
 
You can fold crimp hot, roll crimp, harten crimp etc., but when it all shakes out the most consistent crimp ballistically, is the simplest form which is a fold crimp at room temperature.

I also think you will find that the hulls are not warm for new ammunition. What there is, is a spinning final crimp die that basically does what the final station of a MEC progressive reloader does, puts a nice radius on the shoulder of the crimp which 'locks' in the crimp. Whether the spinning die is warmed from friction or because it is heated I do not know.

I believe you can get that die from an Italian company named Gaep. They make a reloading machine that reloads only new hulls, among other things.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
dogchaser37 said:
...What there is, is a spinning final crimp die that basically does what the final station of a MEC progressive reloader does, puts a nice radius on the shoulder of the crimp which 'locks' in the crimp. Whether the spinning die is warmed from friction or because it is heated I do not know.
Someone *makes a roll crimp die for loading slugs that is used in a drill press. There would have to be some heat generated from friction but is it necessary at room temperatures?

* I think it is sold by Ballistic Products.
 
This is not a roll crimp die that Gaep makes.

A roll crimp die will mess up a fold crimp. All roll crimp dies need to be warmed up a bit, before they work perfectly. Precision Reloading makes a nice roll crimp die. Consensus is that it is easier to use than the BPI counterpart.

But, again the die Gaep makes is to finish off a fold crimp, it is not for roll crimping..
 
By warming the plastic you will extend the life of the shell.
Warm plastic bends easier than cold. That's why shell mouths start cracking,
the repeated opening and closing, warming the plastic for crimping
will extend the life of the shell.
 
jaguarxk120 said:
By warming the plastic you will extend the life of the shell.
Warm plastic bends easier than cold. That's why shell mouths start cracking,
the repeated opening and closing, warming the plastic for crimping
will extend the life of the shell.
I rather have my doubts that any difference in folding the crimp at 75*F or 125*F will have any appreciable effect when they are un-folded, cold, in about .002 seconds, then blasted by 3,500*+ gasses.

It strikes me that the un-folding is a lot more "abusive" than folding them is.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
If anyone had the time it would make an interesting experiment to compare crimp quality and shell life between warmed, room temperature and refrigerated shells.
Refrigeration would simulate a cold garage or outbuilding. A hair dryer would do fine to warm just a few shells. This actually would make a good YouTube video again, if someone has the time.
 
I load 2 7/8 inch 10 G. Fair amount of labor involved cutting down & prepping 3 1/2 inch hulls. Remington Federal and Cheddites . Heated treatment is a good way to reform the case mouth and make the hulls last longer.

Way I do it is with a hull interior sized mandrel spun in the lathe. Drill press will work too, method is very similar to roll crimping. Push the fired hull on friction builds heat. Plastic gets soft and reforms to proper size and shape. BP sells tapered Aluminum hull conditioners that don't work very well. Taper, one size fits all gages, only hits the mouth. Shank is 1/4 inch and prone to breakage.

First ones I made were simple wood plugs with a lag screw shank, bolt head cut off. Then made a nicely finished tool steel shank aluminum plug. Aluminum takes too long to build heat slowing the job down. Switched to steel shank with a wood hull sized plug. Takes a very little time to push a hull on the spinning mandrel. 25 hulls few minutes. They load like new hulls. I am getting dozen loads out of 10 G hulls now.

With heat you can form plastic easily, it does need something inside to hold dimensions and shape as it cools. Pause the slightest amount as I remove the hull is enough.

Bass
 
dogchaser37 said:
You need one of these!!

Image
And that right there is an example of a rare bird at this point in time. Those that have them are willing to keep them too!
 
Forster made these for reforming paper and plastic hulls.......they work.

The original models just heated up the paper hulls and remelted the wax. This one in the pic has adjustable temp settings for plastic and paper hulls.

I tried on plastic hulls and it did smooth out the mouth of the hull, but ............what good is that?

I do use it on Federal paper hulls which I use now and again.
 
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