overshot card punch quotation

Purely by accident I discovered what for me is the best backing for punching wads. We built our deck from Timber-Tek, (I think that"s the right name). Consequently we had left over ends and butts just as if it was built of wood. I couldn"t find my piece of industrial belting I had used for years and got to examining a piece of the deck material. Seemed little hard to me but figured I didn"t have anything to lose so I "gave it a whack" with my punch and a florist box. Doggone stuff works great and didn"t dull the punch at all, which I thought it would do. Been using it ever since and have yet to sharpen a punch. What we used has one side in wood grain and the back side is smooth.

This punch tool mounts in any Lee Precision single stage press (or press that accepts standard 7/8-14 threaded dies and is fully compatible with Lee Precision shell holders), allowing the operator to produce their own filler wads and overshot cards.  The corrosion-resistant die is made from stainless steel, and will accept material up to 1/4″ thick.  The punch is produced from hardened tool steel, with sufficient material to allow for resharpening if required.  Wads measure approximately 0.650″ in diameter and are suitable for use as filler wads to raise shot column height, or on top of shot columns as overshot cards to achieve professional looking crimps.

The tool consists of two components including a punch, and die. Starting with the punch, it’s made from hardened tool steel designed to maintain a sharp cutting edge. If you’re the kind of reloader who loads tens of thousands of shells, you’ll be pleased to know the tip has been bored out and extra material left in place so that it can be re-sharpened easily should the need arise. The base of the punch is designed to fit a Lee Precision, single stage press, however it should fit any brand with sufficient clearance that’s compatible with Lee shell holders.

To install this tool, the operator begins by slotting the punch into place and raising the ram. This step helps ensure everything’s lined up well when installing the die, to avoid damaging the cutting edge during operation.

The operator begins by lowering the ram part way until the punch is just below the feed port on the die, but still inside the base of the die.  All reloading presses have a bit of play in the shell holder, so the safest way to protect the cutting edge is to simply feed the punch into the die part way before engaging the cutting edge on material.

Next, the user simply slides the material to be punched into the feed port and begins operating the press as normal.  As filler wads are punched, they will be pushed out the top of the die where they can be collected.  If the operator’s intention is to produce a great many filler wads in one sitting, it is advisable to place a container (a margarine container works well) with a hole cut in the bottom on top of the die, allowing them to stack up inside and avoid making a mess.

Originally designed this unit to punch corrugated cardboard, so that seems like a good place to begin.  The punch works quite well with standard corrugated cardboard boxes I’ve cut into strips.  It’s a fast, simple process that yields nice, concentric disks.  Cardboard works great for buck and birdshot as it’s dense enough to take up slack, but flexible enough to compress during loading.  This is critical to obtaining a professional looking crimp with even the trickiest loads.

Next up is craft foam.  It’s not really my first choice due to it not being biodegradable, but I know some folks really like it, so I have confirmed the punch will work with it.  As with the cardboard and cork, it punches very easily, although the edges aren’t quite as smooth as the denser materials.

Finally we have plastic blister packaging.  Although not biodegradable, I really like having a transparent option on hand when I need something as an overshot card.  Once again it cuts smoothly, and easily.  The material demonstrated above is  actually plastic from grocery store salad containers if you can believe it, however thicker packaging not only punches well, it crimps even better.

The finished filler wads measure 0.650″, the same internal diameter as a standard 12G shot cup, and an equally excellent size for use as overshot cards.  With a good supply of these on hand, it’s no trouble at all to customize my shot columns by placing them above or below my shot or slugs.  Likewise, if I’ve got a difficult load to crimp like low-volume birdshot or roundball slugs, adding one to the top as an overshot card makes things a snap.

So bought a 5/8 punch and punched some cardboard that I had saved up. When I placed it in the empty hull it looked way to small. I have never rolled my own shotgun shells this is my first time. Will it look different after I roll crimp it will it fit? Or do I have the wrong size punch?

Or it could also be that I have not gotten the punch sharp enough yet also bought it used but new. ( Wish they would have said so dull it can"t cut through paper.) Thanks!

I`m also punching os cards from cereal boxes per your recommendation :thumbsup: I have some 12ga. felt wads that I could punch down to size but I thought the over powder cards we`re of a harder material, like thick cardboard or something along those lines. I also thought the over powder card was a gas seal. I`m thinking with felt being a porous material that moisture would be able to get through. Correct me if i`m wrong here, I may be on the wrong track :idunno:

If I remember correctly, I believe Ned stated he never used an overshot card as he didn"t want anything over the shot column. The Polywad Spreader system is based on an overshot wad by the way.

“I don’t think we’re removing the punch bowl yet. We’re just adding a bit more fruit juice,” Dudley said in a speech at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee.