Is there such a thing as a "Lee Loader" for shotgun shells?

[Chicken Thief]

I usually roll crimp, but i would like to experiment with star crimping.
As i load for slugs i dont want/need a full Lee Load All or other big press just to make star crimps.
So the question is: Is there such a thing as a handtool that will do star crimps?

[repawn]

They did make the lee loader for 12 Gauge and others - you can find them on eBay for 35-50 dollars.
I found a lee load-all sitting in the back of the lgs for $10.

[fcvan]

I bought a Lee Load-all many years ago because a buddy needed some shells loaded and dads equipment is still at the farm. I was surprised at how well it worked so I've been using it for 25 years. It would be neat to find a 12 gauge Lee Loader or better yet 20 gauge just to have them.

[longbow]

I have a Lee Loader for 12 ga. and bought it new about 35 years ago. Not sure if they are still available but as mentioned, the Lee Loadalls work pretty well and are not expensive. Not as portable as a Lee Loader though.

Also, rereading, yes, Lee at least used to make plastic star crimp starters in 6 and 8 fold. I have both and again, they are about 35 years old. You just put them over the case mouth and whack with a mallet.

I have not seen any in years and haven't checked the site but I doubt they still make them. You could probable buy MEC or other press mount crimp starters and mount them in a tube to whack with a hammer. That should do what you want. In fact, if memory serves the Lee Loadall crimp starter is double sided so that could be mounted in a tube and give you both crimps.

Having said that I picked up a MEC Sizemaster press pretty cheap them a MEC 600 Junior for $25.00 (and with lots of accessories!) and I love them them. I use both for shotshell and slug reloading.

Different strokes!

Longbow

[singleshot]

Yes! rockymountaincartridge.com makes just such a critter (lee loader type that is)...for both brass and plastic shells of any gauge. Not sure about the star crimper. You could just glue in an overshot card like you would for brass shells...

[jmort]

Thanks for the link to Rocky Mountain Cartridge. I'm liking Lanes products
http://zoned.fortunecity.ws/about.html

[longbow]

Well, there you go! Two outfits I hadn't heard of before and looks like both make nice products. Good to see someone is thinking and filling a need.

Longbow

[jmort]

I discovered one more for .410 and 28 gauge made by Paco Kelly of Lever Gun web site fame
http://www.pacotools.com/tool_discriptions
Looks really nice
And the Slug R Us products
http://slugsrus.com/store/handload.html

[Chicken Thief]

Well, there you go! Two outfits I hadn't heard of before and looks like both make nice products. Good to see someone is thinking and filling a need.

Longbow

Yeah and the rocky thing is for brass and the other dont state whether it is star or roll.

[Chicken Thief]

Paco's dont do star and SlugsRUs is rollcrimp.

So we are further nowhere now.
I did do some searching before asking you know :neutral:

I'll have to do my own, thanks guys.

[turbo1889]

I have a "Lane Loader" kit for the 410. The double duty kit with tubes for both the 2-1/2" and 3" length shells. It works as well or better then the original Lee shot-shell loaders but unfortunately has the same two problems that the original Lee Loader had. Namely it doesn't size down the brass base of the shell so reloads can only be sure to work in the same gun they were fired in originally (original Lee Loader for shot-shells had same problem) and the crimping cone for making star crimps is a simple tapered cone and you have to use your finger nail to push the inside corners of the fold crimp in to get a decent looking crimp (early Lee shotshell loaders had the same problem but some of the very last ones made included a star crimp setter unit that usually is the first thing lost out of the old sets).

My Lane loader set is for plastic shells with fold crimps and 209 primers. He also sells sets for mag-tech brass shells that use large pistol primers. There is a way he could also sell a simple extra add on for his sets consisting of two pieces that would allow the user to size the brass bases of the hulls and I've been meaning to e-mail him with that info (worked it out myself as a custom made add on to his kit) since I think others would probably be interested in it as well but haven't got around to it yet.

Also, at least as of a year or more ago the instructions that came with the Lanes Loader kits were just old photocopies of the old Lee Loader shotshell instructions of which the Lanes Loader is a modern improvement on and aren't that informative and you kind of got to figure it out yourself (not hard to figure out how it works yourself at least not for me).

[Norbrat]

There are a couple of 12G Lee Loaders on ebay. Typically, post to US only! :mad:

The first reloading tool I bought was a Lee Loadall Junior, which I still have. Instructions are here: http://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/LOADALLJR.pdf

The crimping is done in 2 stations; first a reversible (for 6 or 8 star) nylon tool starts the crimp, then it goes into a simple stopped tube which finishes the crimp. I can take some pics if you like.

Parts for this tool are no longer available.

The Loadall instructions are here: http://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/LA1088.pdf

I reckon you could get the bits and pieces you need to make a hand crimper by cannabalising the Carrier http://leeprecision.com/carrier-12-ga.html

Good luck!

[singleshot]

Paco's dont do star and SlugsRUs is rollcrimp.

So we are further nowhere now.
I did do some searching before asking you know :neutral:

I'll have to do my own, thanks guys.

Dude, seriously? All you want is a star crimper? That's it? Why not just be clear and say so?!? Just get a MEC star crimper, chuck it into a drill press or get a 3/4" piece of pipe or pvc and a dowel and hammer and crimp away. This isn't rocket science. Sheesh.

[singleshot]

Ok, I gotta ask, why would you want to star crimp when you can roll crimp? Roll crimps are superior in every way except one. The only reason the industry went to star crimps was for speed and mass production.

[Norbrat]

Dude, seriously? All you want is a star crimper? That's it? Why not just be clear and say so?!?

He did in his original post; third line.


Just get a MEC star crimper

That would work nicely, but seeing he's in Denmark, any hints where he may be able to get one, seeing that so many suppliers in the US are so myopic that they won't ship anything to a "Foreign" country, not even a little plastic part? Or they want some outrageous "handling fee" to fill out a customs form at the Post Office?

BTDT too many times! You guys have no idea how difficult it is to get even the simplest, most benign shooting stuff sent out from the USA.

[jmort]

Ok, I gotta ask, why would you want to star crimp when you can roll crimp?

I'm pro roll crimp. As mentioned you could get/try MEC star crimper and use a couple different options to make it work.

"BTDT too many times! You guys have no idea how difficult it is to get even the simplest, most benign shooting stuff sent out from the USA."

I feel for you bro, a lot of the world is like California on steroids.

[singleshot]

He did in his original post; third line.

Except for the fact that his title asked for a Lee Handloader kit, which many of us went out of our way to find...

That would work nicely, but seeing he's in Denmark, any hints where he may be able to get one, seeing that so many suppliers in the US are so myopic that they won't ship anything to a "Foreign" country, not even a little plastic part? Or they want some outrageous "handling fee" to fill out a customs form at the Post Office?

BTDT too many times! You guys have no idea how difficult it is to get even the simplest, most benign shooting stuff sent out from the USA.

Myself and others on this site would be willing to buy the item and ship ourselves. Are you serious that companies like MIDWAYUSA.COM won't ship reloading equipment to Oz or Denmark?

[Norbrat]

Myself and others on this site would be willing to buy the item and ship ourselves. Are you serious that companies like MIDWAYUSA.COM won't ship reloading equipment to Oz or Denmark?

Thank you for your kind offer, I may just take you up on that.

It is true that Midway USA will not ship to "foreign" countries. However, there are subsideries of Midway set up in Europe and now Oz who can get Midway stuff, albeit sometimes at much inflated prices.

I don't want to hijack this thread, but suffice to say that the ease of access you folks in the USA have to shooting equipment, parts, chemicals, etc, etc is something we "foreigners" can only dream about.

[TonyfromItaly]

I agree, it is difficult to get reloading equipment out of USA. I post a link of an italian company that makes a nice press that star crimps and rolls it. It is expensive, but a nice piece of work.

http://www.omv.it/pressa-smart-2/

[Cap'n Morgan]

I agree, it is difficult to get reloading equipment out of USA. I post a link of an italian company that makes a nice press that star crimps and rolls it. It is expensive, but a nice piece of work.

http://www.omv.it/pressa-smart-2/

Now, that's pretty neat! Star crimp AND roll crimp - all in one.

[Bren R.]

I feel for you bro, a lot of the world is like California on steroids.

It's the other way around. We can import the stuff into most countries with no problems. US export laws are incredibly strict and ever-changing - to the point where even a call to BIS and the DHS won't give you a clear answer.

Sometimes brass/shotgun hulls are okay, but only unprimed... sometimes they're not... powder and primers seem to be on the verboten list... scopes - I've heard all scopes aren't exportable, then I've also heard that only "mildot" scopes aren't. And even if it is legal, someone may have neglected to tell US Customs and Border Protection.

If I'm legal to own it, and it's under a certain (very respectable) quantity in regards to ammo and components... it's no problem at all for me to bring it into Canada.

It's just not worth it for retailers to try to run the export gauntlet and the governmental agencies don't seem to mind that at all.

It's funny... if we really did have "free trade"... we have no shortage of components and ammunition up here (yet) to ease your panic buying... but the 49th parallel might as well be the Berlin Wall for all intents and purposes.

Bren R.

[Chicken Thief]

Ok, I gotta ask, why would you want to star crimp when you can roll crimp?

I'm pro roll crimp. As mentioned you could get/try MEC star crimper and use a couple different options to make it work.

"BTDT too many times! You guys have no idea how difficult it is to get even the simplest, most benign shooting stuff sent out from the USA."

I feel for you bro, a lot of the world is like California on steroids.

Higher starting pressure/better ignition of the powder.
When i use slow rifle powder the boolit and powder is pushed into the forcing cone and stops without proper burn.

[JIMinPHX]

Shotgun shell Lee Loaders came in several versions. The original basic version only worked well on paper shells. Later versions also included a crimp starter for plastic shells. They also made a "deluxe" version that had several optional tools included. Other manufacturers, aside from Lee, made similar rigs. I can't remember the names of the other manufacturers off the top of my head.

Lee stopped making all the shotgun shell Lee Loaders many years ago. I found this frustrating when I started loading .410 shells because Lee does not make the Lee Load All in that caliber & the cheapest thing that you can get is a Mec Jr., which was out of my price range. I wrote Lee & asked them to either bring back the Lee Loader in .410 or else start making the Load All in .410. I never got a reply.

Eventually, after about a year, I ended up making my own Lee Loader type rig. It worked fairly well, but it took a lot of my time to get it right. I later realized that what is different about the shotgun shell Lee Loaders compared to their metallic cartridge brethren, is that with the shotgun shell version, you finish the shell by pushing down with your hand over the top of a loaded shell in a metal tube, where as the metallic cartridge versions finish with you hitting the top of the loader with a soft mallet. Putting your hand in harm's way may have been a big enough liability issue for Lee to decide to stop making them. That's my take on it anyway. As I said, they never replied to my letter.

[singleshot]

Higher starting pressure/better ignition of the powder.
When i use slow rifle powder the boolit and powder is pushed into the forcing cone and stops without proper burn.

Yes, but a roll crimp is proven to give more consistent starting pressure with far less pressure variation, so why not increase the powder charge slightly?