12 gauge overshot card punch made in china

2. You need to cut discs of appropriate size. “Hollow Punch” chisels are available at HarborFreight and elsewhere (not at HD or Lowes… checked yesterday when I bought these).

Perfect for application and 28ga; I need a .55-.59 (14 or 15mm) cutter for 20ga though. The 20ga shell I did up above was “firm”, but it’s juuuust in there–I could move it with a screw driver to the side and pop it out. It really needs to be .57-.59″ to sit snugly underneath the roll crimp for 20ga. Here’s a plug cutter that is 5/8″, or .625, that’s just a bit too big but would cut plastic too. You want 9/16 punch or 14 or 15 mm.

Anyways, with a fat 20ga roll crimp (this was my first ever, on Win universal which is thin walled), this would work for 20ga; and certainly works good for 28ga. I’m tired of tool searching so I’ll leave someone else to find a 14 or 15mm hollow punch you can chuck in a drill for the “perfect” 20 OS.

I thought this could be a good thread to list the other parts/tools for making homemade fillers like OS cards, wad inserts of felt and thick cardboard. Here’s the ideas I’ve read or come up with:

Here’s a link to larger hollow punch, it has 9/16 (.56″) and 5/8 (.625). The 9/16 should work for 20ga OS while the 5/8 for 20ga nitrocards (used for 12ga load spacers).

Hobby Lobby claimed to have a “Large hole punch set” for $7 with 5/8″ size… but this was a goose chase, she fibbed to me on the phone, it was just 8mm.

I ordered the 15mm hollow punch chisel from ebay I listed up above. It was $4.39. It shipped from China and arrived in less than 2 weeks. It looks good and is decent quality.

For the other punches listed up above, after hammering out 100 cork discs or so on a piece of pine, it seems to me the cutting edge is getting dull on the 1/2″ one.

For the plastic OS discs, you need to chuck the cutter, (rotating plug cutter or drill type hollow punch shown above) into a drill, my drill press will accept the 1/2″ punch and use it as a drill too.

I got an idea on the internet from a post by guy named “BT Justice” of a way to hold the punches if they don’t chuck in your drill– use a shotgun hull with a bolt through the primer hole to chuck into the drill, and then shove the punch into the end of the hull to hold it.  I know BT has indicated he’s been miffed when ideas aren’t given proper attribution, so want to be sure I do mention– that was his idea.  Using a punch set to make wad fillers is of course an idea that hundreds of folks have thought up, besides me, on the internet.    BT made a post back in 2011 apparently talking about using meat tray styrofoam as a wad filler, so I hereby give full credit to all concepts about using a punch with a meat-tray to him!  I got the punch set idea from Cerberus on ShotGunWorld though.

A great guy who goes by the moniker “lostknife4” produces some beautiful looking roll-crimped shells, and puts a nice round label over the OS card.  A lot of folks liked it, and here’s what Lost said about how he made the labels:

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.

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.

Alot of mterials are used for over powder wads. Coffee Can lids ( LDPE), tablet backing or cardboard, cork, Gasket materials ( Napa rubber fiber gasket material is [popular with alot), Waxed cartoon milk and juice containers, felt, and some others. With shot gun shells the wad stack sets the hieght for the over shot wad crimp to be right or the star crimp to be formed properly. Sometimes one wad is enough sometimes itmay take a stack of several. A simple punch can be made to cut wads. A slightly smaller General leather punch or Arch punch can be honed lapped out to the correct size for your cases. Shoot for .005-.010 over the inside case dia. Wads can then be punched with a hammer on the end grain of a block of wood. 12 gauge is around 72 caliber so a 11/16 punch would be close. A old case can be used but a thin brass case dosnt hold up long as a cutting tool. A piece of steel pipe can be used also.

Place an overshot card on top of the shot charge just before crimping to improve overall crimp quality and seal in small shot and/or buffer. Excellent for use with Ballistic Products Roll Crimp tools.

Place an overshot card on top of the shot charge just before crimping to improve overall crimp quality and seal in small shot and/or buffer. Excellent for use with BPI Roll Crimpers.

Our testing lab has proven that poor crimps can alter the performance of an otherwise good load. Overshot cards always produce better, more consistent crimps and this consistency is demonstrated in the standard deviation of loads in our lab. Our ballistic lab recommends overshot cards for better crimps in all loads.

Clear Overshot Disks(either plain or printed with shot size) are also offered for great roll crimping options. See pictures in Additional Images or click on this link.

Shotshell size selection: Use the same size gauge as your hull. Smaller diameter cards also work if your particular size is out of stock. For example, a 20ga overshot card works in a 16-gauge shotshell and so on.

Why reload? A couple reasons:Customization - I can raise/lower velocity, increase/decrease payload, etc. to achieve best killing effectiveness. This seems more important because the 20 gauge isn"t well supported by ammunition manufacturers.

But reloading only really makes sense for hunting loads. Trap & Skeet loads can be purchased for under $6/25, whereas reloading them is $5/25. If I were a gamer, I might reload put-put loads for breaking clays, but then I probably wouldn"t use a 20 gauge.

The absolute highest performance powder in the 20 gauge is Hodgdon LilGun. If you want top velocity at lowest pressure, LilGun is it. The best all-around powder for high-performance 7/8oz - 1oz lead shot loads, where absolute highest velocity is not important, is IMO Hodgdon LongShot.

Ducks seem to die best for me with #3 shot. #3 gives adequate 40 yd penetration, and adequate pattern density. #4 steel is good to 30 yards in my opinion - it gives great pattern density but runs out of steam too fast to kill cleanly at 40 yards. My opinion of course as there are many folks who like #4 shot. I think #3 steel shot is the best size for ducks with a 20 gauge.

Ballistic Products CSD20 is the best wad for 1 oz and greater high-performance lead shot loads. The name "CSD20" is a BPI creation, as the manufacturer, (B&P) calls it something else. Kent uses this wad in their 20 gauge "Fasteel" product. Use 28 gauge fiber wads in the bottom of the shot cup for lighter shot charges. Or something more flexible in the bottom of the shot cup to make good fold crimps easier, as this wad lacks a crush section.

RSI"s 3" SAM1 is the highest capacity 20 gauge wad for steel shot currently available. It is also the most expensive ($23.50 / 250). Do not order the pre-split as the quality is horrible. This wad will protect your barrel/choke with all shot sizes.

Ballistic Products Inc"s "Advantages" manual is the very best source for high-performance data, bar none. But understand that BPI produces that load data partially as a sales tool for their components. So if you are looking for high-performance lead shot data for the Federal 20S1 wad, go to Hodgdon"s load data site. If you are happy with wet fart data (1200fps) using Remington, Winchester and Federal components, buy the Lyman manual.

I have RSI"s manual ( a little booklet), but it has nothing for the 20 gauge. Well maybe more than nothing, but their load data like throwing the shot with your hand.

The following is made by Bob Patterson in Wyoming. http://www.bp44.com/catalog/ - $12.40 + $5.50 shipping. Such a nice piece of wood that I almost don"t want to use it, but it is a darn handy tool for small batch loading.