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<  16ga. Ammunition & Reloading  ~  steel shot and roll vs. fold crimp
GrizzLeeBear
PostPosted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 8:11 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 27 Jul 2019
Posts: 18
Location: Bay City, MI

Finally got my 311c 16 ga. out of layaway! Still needs the wood refinished (most of the original finish on the stock is gone) and I am going to open up the chokes to IC/M or SK/LM. This is going to be primarily a grouse/woodcock gun that will see some skeet and sporting clays.
Many of the areas I am looking to hunt are upland woods with marshes, small ponds and streams mixed in. So there may be opportunities to jump shoot some ducks as well. You can not have any lead shot on you when duck hunting here. I would like to have some steel shot loads that will work for grouse, woodcock and close range ducks. I'm guessing #4 steel would be a good size for this type of load?
After doing a little research, it looks like I can reload steel shells for less than half the cost of factory loads. I know Alliant Steel is a favorite, but I do have a pound of Blue Dot that I don't really have any other use for so thought I would start with that. Looking at Lyman #5 and the spreadsheet there are several Blue Dot loads that call for an OS card and fold crimp. I have not done any roll crimping yet, but can I just roll crimp these loads instead of a fold crimp? The roll crimp would be an easy way to ID the steel loads vs. a fold crimp for my target loads. Also, I could write the shot size, etc. on the OS card.
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MSM2019
PostPosted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 10:30 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Mar 2019
Posts: 1819
Location: Central ND

You can shorten the hull and roll crimp any fold crimp load.

Roll crimps usually produce less (about 500 PSI) pressure than the exact load fold crimped. Roll crimps may drop the velocity a bit, maybe 10 - 20 FPS but that isn't the end of the world.

Go for it and have fun.

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putz463
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 2:14 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 06 Oct 2007
Posts: 2343
Location: West MI

Sounds like a good plan, for Duck I find #3 steel to be a good balance of pellet energy and count.

Another way to designate your fold crimp steel loads is to use nail polish as a crimp and primer sealer. If mixing shot sizes mix the colors Red = Right barrel Lavender = Left barrel or choose the hull color to designate.

Good luck with the hunting, a mixed bag is a fun day.

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Sorry, I'm a Duck Hunter so shouldn't be held strictly responsible for my actions between Oct 1st and ice up.
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MSM2019
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 4:31 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Mar 2019
Posts: 1819
Location: Central ND

putz463,

Please say that you really don't do that!!

Very Happy Very Happy

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GrizzLeeBear
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 6:01 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 27 Jul 2019
Posts: 18
Location: Bay City, MI

Why not? He already has the nail polish out when painting his nails. Very Happy Very Happy
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GrizzLeeBear
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 6:06 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 27 Jul 2019
Posts: 18
Location: Bay City, MI

One other question, can I leave out the OS card (if the load calls for it) when fold crimping and just put another felt wad or other filler under the shot to adjust the stack height for a good crimp?
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MSM2019
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 6:28 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Mar 2019
Posts: 1819
Location: Central ND

Overshot cards can sometimes make a pretty crimp......but the best place to build wad column for good crimps, is underneath the shot, inside the shot cup of the wad.

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putz463
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 8:38 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 06 Oct 2007
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Location: West MI

MSM2019 wrote:
putz463,

Please say that you really don't do that!!

Very Happy Very Happy


Sorta, Very Happy the stuff has worked great as a sealant on my 10ga Quacker and Honker shells for years, inexpensive and effective....but not the painted on color code thing, I'll claim poetic license on that one. Very Happy

My Duck loads go in Green Rem hulls and Goose loads in Brown Fed hulls then sealed with clear NP.


"Why not? He already has the nail polish out when painting his nails. Very Happy "

Yep, Lavender on the Left foot Red on right helps with putting the waders on. Ya Clowns, Very Happy


IMO, a thin OSC does help seal the shell but agree that felt under the shot is best to build stack height, then put the Lavender nail polish on.

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Sorry, I'm a Duck Hunter so shouldn't be held strictly responsible for my actions between Oct 1st and ice up.
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