About to dive into loading my own tss

[slave601]

I'm ordering all of the material and equipment for loading my own shells for this upcoming season. My most expensive piece to the puzzle would be the press. It'll only be used for roll crimping so I feel I won't need a large press. Any tips or suggestions on a press or any other material or equipment to help me out would be appreciated! Thanks

[mullet dredge]

Drill press is not necessary. A shell vise and rechargeable drill with roll crimper will do the job just fine.

[slave601]

Who do I go about ordering TSS and possibly a formula for loading? I pretty much have all the equipment ordered as of now

[mullet dredge]

Hal Abbott is a wealth of information and will supply you all the loading info/recipes/directions needed with the purchase of TSS shot from him.

[Puddin369]

I have a drill press that I use that was bought from harbor freight. It was around 100 dollars, maybe even a little less.

Ronny Savage and Hal can both supply with you with shot and recipes. These are the only two people I recommend, not only because of their knowledge and help, but most importantly, all the load recipes that they will supply you have been PRESSURE TESTED. That's very very important not only for the safety of you, but also safety of your firearm. You can look up both of these men on Facebook.

[Alabama556]

I bought a $60 drill press from harbor freight just to finish my fold crimps. It is much easier than using a drill press because you can easily set the depth you want to crimp on the drill press and the crimp is uniform. It is also much faster because you can set the rpm's on the press where you want it.

Yes a dewalt drill will work just fine. I used one for many years. But in my opinion, the press was worth the $60.


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[runngun]

I buy my shot from Mr Ronnie Savage. He will provide recipes and he's helped me a lot. I would listen to him because he knows what he is talking about. I use a drill press with roll crimper. I am set up to load everything except 10 gauge. I have found it to be very ADDICTIVE.  Have a good one and May God bless y'all

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[btodd00]

I purchased all the stuff a couple years back so I can reload #10 tss for my 410's. The data I got from Hal has been my go to and the first pattern I got let me know I didn't need to try much else. I've killed turkeys with the 9 and 10 shot and they are both just as dead, the very slight edge on pattern going to the 10 shot. I would say it's just slightly more even but not a huge difference. I used a cordless drill for first year but when I got a harbor freight drill press
I thought it made it easier. The brand of roll crimper makes a big difference, I think gaep is the best, precision reloading 2nd best and easier to get. I personally liked the bpi one the least but I'm sure a lot of people prefer those

[Alabama556]

Gaep is the way to go with crimping tools.


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[Franklin7x57]

I bought a $60 drill press from harbor freight just to finish my fold crimps. It is much easier than using a drill press because you can easily set the depth you want to crimp on the drill press and the crimp is uniform. It is also much faster because you can set the rpm's on the press where you want it.

Yes a dewalt drill will work just fine. I used one for many years. But in my opinion, the press was worth the $60.


Which gaep did you use to finish your fold crimps and will it also do a roll crimp?

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[Alabama556]

I use a gaep BN2 for finishing 20 and 12 gauge that are fold crimped on a mec single stage press.

I don't think they will roll crimp but I have never tried. I think that is a different crimping tool.






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[Boykin Hollow]

I recommend a drill press as you can easily find them on FB marketplace or Harbor freight.  Just remember to set the belt on the lowest speed possible.

[Alabama556]

I know you said you were roll crimping but one of the advantages of using the Gaep tool to finish fold crimps is it puts a nice taper on the shell and shortens it just a hair.

My 20 gauge 3 inch shells would not cycle 100% of the time in a Benelli M2. I tried the gaep and have not had any issues going forward.

Also no more buffer in my turkey vest. It seems every other turkey load I have had would eventually leak if it had been in my vest for a while.


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[misfire]

I know you said you were roll crimping but one of the advantages of using the Gaep tool to finish fold crimps is it puts a nice taper on the shell and shortens it just a hair.

My 20 gauge 3 inch shells would not cycle 100% of the time in a Benelli M2. I tried the gaep and have not had any issues going forward.

Also no more buffer in my turkey vest. It seems every other turkey load I have had would eventually leak if it had been in my vest for a while.


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I roll crimp mine, but I trim the casing down before loading. Once the card is in place and crimp rolled, I seal with fingernail polish. Works fine, but I do like how your crimps are turning out.

If you are roll crimping, a bench top drill press is the best way to go. You will get even pressure all the way around the crimp, and slow speed is the best. And you will find more uses for the drill press as time goes on.
I have purchased from Hal several times and he is a great guy. I hunted with him many years ago, before the TSS craze, and he was working on the loads even back that far, so I trust him. This year I went direct from China on 4 pounds of #9s.