I screwed up... Now I need to pull down 47 shells.
I've just started reloading 12 ga. a couple weeks ago. Got a Load All II, hulls, primers, wads, powder, shot, more hulls, different wads...
I bought a couple bags of Fiocchi new, unfired primed hulls, 2 3/4 low brass clear style (they were about the same price as once-fired plus primers, and save two steps on the press). I made up skeet loads from data I understood to have been pressure tested with Titegroup (normally a pistol powder, but there's a lot of overlap between pistol and shotgun powders). I had wads that were designed for Remington style hulls with their internal taper, and they drop free inside the Fiocchi hulls, so I tried a trick I saw on YouTube, loading a card under the plastic wad. I didn't have any nitro cards, however; I used plastic bingo chips that work great as overshot cards. I loaded fifty shells, anticipating a skeet fun shoot at a local club (and wanting to be sure I had enough shells).
Apparently the bingo chips neither seal well in the hull, nor expand the gas cup on the wad enough for it to seal. I fired one that felt a little soft (but it had been literally three years since I'd fired my 870); the next two were true bloopers, requiring a bore check to ensure there wasn't an obstruction.
Now I have 47 shells I need to pull down, and I'd strongly prefer not to cut off the crimp (which is the conventional method of breaking down a loaded shotshell), because it shortens the hull enough I won't be able to crimp them on my Load All II without making a riser and possibly modifying the crimp stations. I've gotten correct wads for these straight-wall hulls now, and I'd hate to have to throw away that many hulls or have to roll crimp over a shortened column.
I've thought about cutting the head off a #10 sheet metal or bugle head screw and chucking it in a drill, which will then drive the screw into the center of the crimp and get enough purchase to pull it up far enough to work open (with needle nose pliers and a small screwdriver) without undue effort or damage to the hull mouth.
Has anyone else done non-destructive unloading of 12 ga. shells?