Paco Kelly Die set for .410's

[W.R.Buchanan]

I finally received my loading die set for .410's both 2.5 and 3" from Paco Kelly.

This is a well made set of tools for manually loading 2.5 and 3" .410 hulls.

I got them primarily to load heavy 3/4oz shot and buckshot loads in 3" hulls.

The set consists of a de-priming punch and base and a priming punch and base and a crimping die each for 2.5 and 3" hulls.

Also included was a hull mouth conditioner which is used to iron the mouths of hulls which have ben crimped a few times. It increases the life of the hull considerably.

I will play with this stuff tonight and get back on how well they work.

Randy

[turbo1889]

Has a classy high end look to it and I definitely personally prefer a short base for de-priming unlike the Lee and Lanes loaders where you de-prime using the top of the die body which is kind of tall and tipsy for that use.

The big question though is, "Do they re-size the base head of the hulls or not?" The Lee and Lanes loaders do not which is their main short coming.

[W.R.Buchanan]

These don't resize the base.

My main purpose for these dies is the crimper. I can size de-prime, re-prime, charge, insert wad and shot on my DL 266 But I can't crimp a 3" shell without changing the machines setup. This is too much of a PITA to get right in the first place, so I ain't gonna change it for 25 shells.

The new tools allow me to reload the few 3" hulls I will need for hunting and shooting in my M6 Scout and for dove hunting. Also the kit allows reloading in the field if necessary, which it won't be unless there is an apocalypse.

Randy.

[toallmy]

If you don't mind I wonder How does your kit crimp ? Is it the fold 6 side crimp , or a push down sorta roll crimp ?
I found the answer in a later post .

[Outpost75]

Watching this thread with great interest!

[W.R.Buchanan]

The Crimp Function just duplicates whatever the hull had originally and to be frank it didn't do it very well. I never got a crimp that was anything close to what my DL266 does every single time. I sold that kit several years ago as I wasn't using it..

Don't get me wrong, it was a nicely made set of tools, and if you were Roll Crimping with a Roll Crimp tool as the final operation the rest of the tool worked just fine.

I will add that I have a pre Lee, 12 ga. Lee Loader Style Set and it does everything except crimp well. It crimps OK if you mess with it enough. It's just hard to get consistent results across a box of 25 shells.

There are lots of variables in Fold Crimping Shotshells. A Dedicated Press can be set up to cope with all of these things but none of these basic style tools work that well. There aren't enough adjustments to cope with Wad Pressure, Payload Height, Crimp Depth Etc. It varies too much from shell to shell to yield a consistent crimp. Now if you are Roll Crimping as the final step they work just as well as any other loading system, simply because Roll Crimping will cope with all of that on each individual hull you load.

If I had to reload hulls in the field, I take a Hand Tool Kit and a Roll Crimp Tool. I have one of those Russian made Hand Cranked Roll Crimping tools that works pretty good. If you had to do .410's I'd go the same way. If you wanted to load a bunch of .410's then you'd be better off buying a dedicated press MEC or a Pacific DL266 which I consider to be the best Single Stage Shotshell Press ever made. Shame Hornady stopped making it. Mine makes perfect .410's !!!

Randy

[No_1]

I am becoming very interested in .410 as a light weight walking gun.

[toallmy]

I found a thread in the archives that you had mentioned the finished fold crimps were problematic , and left a lot to be desired , but the tools were high quality .
There was a w t b thread that peeked my interest - ' I might have misunderstood ' but threaded dies that fit a regular loading press for loading 410 shells ..... sounds interesting .
I agree loading any amount over a box or so a year calls for a 410 Mec , or role crimper at least .

[W.R.Buchanan]

I am becoming very interested in .410 as a light weight walking gun.

Yes and with some C&H Dies which you could use in a Hand Press you'd have a nice portable tool kit for loading them. :>)

Randy

[No_1]

Yes and with some C&H Dies which you could use in a Hand Press you'd have a nice portable tool kit for loading them. :>)

Randy

Agreed. They would be a perfect match to my Buchanan Precision Machine Hand Reloading Press!

[Drm50]

Didn’t Lee make a 410 loader back in 70s, not a wack a mole but a dedicated 410 press. Not as fancy as their load all for the bigger gauges. I’m not interested in loading 410s by the campfire nor enough into them to buy a Mec or such but would be interested in dies for rifle press that did the crimp. That seems to be the short coming on all the gadgets.