410 overshot card punch quotation

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 0.345″, the same internal diameter as a standard 410G 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.

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 0.345″ 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.

Not sure if anyone would be interested or not, but a while ago I got sick of being told my LGS was out of "specialty" shotgun components (non-resin wads, filler wads, cushion wads, overshot cards) so I decided to make a press-mounted tool to produce my own.

I"ve had a lot of inquiries about similar tools for 20G and .410; I doubt there"d be enough demand for me to make something in those, however if you know of anything similar please let me know so I can refer folks.

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!

Or, try this. Make yourself an elongated hardwood cone from just under .410 ga to 10ga out of wood that fits into your drill motor. Then, spin the cone inside your shell. It"ll develop enough heat to "iron" out the folds and leave the shell warm enough for a real good roll crimp. I"ve literally loaded thousands of hulls using this rig and it never fails me. The added attraction is that it leaves more interior volume for POWDER!

When I started I didn"t have any recipes for .410 hunting loads, so I worked one up with what I had. It turns out that 32 grains of 8700 is just about right.

I have a set of punches that I got from PA and one is exactly .410, I put the punch in my vise, hold a piece of cardboard over the punch and strike it with an old wooden mallet I got from a garage sale. This produces the over shot cards that I need next. I put the card over the shot column. I push it down with a pencil.

I then move the nearly finished shell to the crimp starter location on the Mec loader, and give it a little squeeze. Just enough to hold the card in place.