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Joined: 21 May 2015 Posts: 128

Couple of questions:

Do you need the speed of a drill motor to roll crimp plastic hulls?

There are some Russian made reproduction hand roll crimping tools on eBay that are tempting.

Not sure if the heads which look like the BP head will do the trick...

But, I'm more concerned that the hand crank won't create enough heat to roll.

Any inputs?

Thanks in advance,

Joined: 21 Mar 2019 Posts: 523 Location: Texas

Hand crank works better on paper. Kinda depends on your arm, but drill press works great. The 4 pin ones work best in my experience with plastic in drill press.

Joined: 05 Nov 2010 Posts: 26 Location: Southwest Arkansas

*Last edited by 16'er on Sun Feb 28, 2021 9:00 am; edited 1 time in total*

I have the manual hand crank one in 12ga (ordered the 16ga, but got a 12ga model).

Took a while to arrive. Works fine on new 12ga plastic hulls. Haven’t tried paper as of yet. Let’s me load for 2.5” 12ga if I buy primed hulls without purchasing another reloader.

Seems to be made of a cast zinc alloy.

Joined: 12 Sep 2010 Posts: 1973 Location: Maine

Are these coming from Russia or have they already landed on US shores? Nothing against international commerce, but I'm not using MY credit card # on a transaction where the other side is in Russia.

Joined: 07 Jun 2020 Posts: 224

Of all roll crimping heads I have used, and I have tried just about everything, I have found I like GAEP (Italian made best) their OTC for paper hull and OTP for plastic. After that I like the old Lyman roll crimping heads, that can still be found on EBay now and then.

Others have stated it before but I add the key to roll crimping is warming the head, I use a lightly lubed cloth and friction, patience and persistence will yield the experience to produce great looking crimps.

Lastly while Russian stuff is cheap, GAEP heads with an inexpensive Barbour freight drill press does beautifully

I have cut some Fiocchi 2 3/4" cut to 2 1/2" which leaves a bit of the original 6 point crimp. I have one of those old hand roll crimpers in 16g which makes a fairly nice roll crimp. There is no significant heat formed turning the crank a few times but they roll nicely considering they do not have smooth mouths after the cutting the hulls.

Joined: 07 Jun 2020 Posts: 224

I have extra OTC heads for paper hulls if anyone needs one

I would love to have a 12g roll crimper for plastic hulls. to use with my drill press similar to the Harbor Freight one.

Joined: 21 Mar 2019 Posts: 523 Location: Texas

Dave: I ordered one from Russia long time ago from flea bay( eBay). No issues what do ever. It took about 3 weeks but I got it, they( Russia) only took 1 million dollars from my account after that.
No just kidding, no issues at all. I actually served with a few Russian soldiers and they are good people. Now the govt is another story, hey just like here.

Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 603 Location: Victoria BC Canada

Thanks Carlos. I have done a lot of shells with the Hartin Crimp in 12 gauge. I stopped because it was so difficult to put the OS card on a MEC9000. I went to a much lower pressure formula and went with 2 3/4" shells after reading "Finding out for myself" in Double Gun Journal.
I do the roll crimp for fun and how it looks when I have lots of time. I also use it to get a few extra loadings out of my hulls.

Member Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 601 Location: Virginia

I bought one of the Russian tools a few years ago. It works well and doesn't require a drill press. The only issue I had was the overshot card dislodging when turning the hull sideways to use the tool and spilling shot. Fixed that by mounting it vertically.