Several years ago I found a bargain on 20 gauge Cheddite hulls and bought several hundred. The fact that I don't own a 20 gauge press didn't deter me; I had been looking for a bargain on a used one and thought I'd find one eventually. Never have, folks treat them like gold. So I decided to just roll crimp them. They were already primed, so I used my Lee powder measure to put the powder into the hulls, then went to the 1960s model Honey Bair 12 gauge press and used it to seat the wads and drop the shot, then carried them a box at a time to the shed and rolled them.

I've been just throwing the hulls into a bucket, and decided Saturday it was time to reuse them. I purposely used a load the first time that didn't require trimming so that I could get a second use from them, so the first thing I had to do was trim them all the same length. It's pretty easy with an exacto knife, but the problem I found was that the length I needed didn't remove all the old crimp. I using a load this time that isn't as high, but it still is a challenge to enough of the old crimp out to insert the wad. That meant I would have to insert the wads by hand.

So I trimmed them all and primed them with some 1985 Fio primers my dad had bought. I think they must be hotter than the current 616 primers. I shot the test loads over the chrony, and what was supposed to be 1300 was running 1380. I backed off the powder a little and started production.

I set up the 12 gauge MEC and drop the powder, then remove the hull and put the wad in by hand. Some go in easy, but some are a fight. Once the wad is started, I seat it with the dowel, put the hull back into the press and drop the shot. Then as I am putting the shell into the open box I add the overshot wad. When I get 25, I take the box to the shed and roll them. I also have saved all my empty turkey hulls, and I found that I could trim the old Fio 3" hulls and this same load is listed for them. So I've got a couple of boxes of them I can use for another loading.

As I was loading them this morning, it occurred to me that this is probably the most inefficient loading system anyone ever devised, and I oughta share it with the world. Getting only 2 loadings from new hulls is incredibly inefficient, and I could pay for a loader with the money I'd save on hulls alone. So I am not saving any money by doing this, and it's likely taking about 4 times as long to do it this way.

And yet I stay at it.

Good loading to all.

I have a couple hundred low brass 12 ga hulls. You can have them if you want. Located north Shelby co.

I have a couple hundred low brass 12 ga hulls. You can have them if you want. Located north Shelby co.

Thanks for the offer, but I have plenty of good quality 12 gauge hulls and the equipment to load them properly. The other project was just a challenge to try to load 20 gauge shells without the proper equipment. It worked, but it wasn't practical.

But now I have 2 cases of 20 gauge shells, and if I hadn't been loading them my wife would have had me painting or something during that time, so I guess it worked out.

My thoughts

If I were in your shoes I'd sell that roll crimp setup to someone who doesn't know what they are doing..... a fella wanting to get into this could get a MEC 600 Jr for not much more and have a real press.... The go for about $75-100 on Ebay.

The roll crimper is something I use to make turkey shells, so I can't sell it. It's in a drill press that I use for all sorts of things, so there is nothing to sell. The whole point of the operation was to load good shells with supplies I already have and not spend any money.

I did it, but would certainly agree it wasn't a very practical use of my time.

The $75 MEC seems to me to be a myth. I've been watching auctions for over a year and have not seen a real bargain yet. I was watching one that expired yesterday, and it was in such bad shape that they listed it for a parts loader. I quit watching when it got over $75. I looked at getting a gauge conversion for the Sizemaster, but I decided it would be too much trouble to switch. So I keep looking. Thanks for the comments

I bought a Lee Load-All in 16 ga for about 50 bucks. Yeah it's not a MEC or other high end, but it does what I want to do which is load a hundred of so shells. If I was competing in shotgun and shooting 1000 rounds a week, I'd probably invest in a high end progressive loader. But the load all makes good shells that work for me.

You're more patient than me Mr. Steve! Hasn't lead gotten to a price point where it costs about as much to buy it as it does to buy loaded shells? Seems like I remember my Dad saying that as he loads all of his own 12 gauge dove shells.

Yeah there is really no point these days in loading lead loads. I can buy shells cheaper than I can load, even 16ga. I guess you are loading "better" shells than what you can buy, but I ain't a good enough shot to tell the difference.

Handloading on any level isn't likely to save a lot of money. It's always been about better ammo to me, and also the idea of doing something yourself. Growing a garden doesn't save money, but you can surely get better food.

But sometimes it's fun to load ammo with stuff you already have. I've got all sorts of components that my dad bought in the 60s and 70s, and I enjoy putting them to use.

But it looks like I am gonna have to just go ahead and buy a 20 gauge loader if I ever wanna have one.

Dove loads are pointless, but high powered loads for squirrels and rabbits are outrageous. There is money to be saved there