{"id":188,"date":"2019-02-13T01:55:34","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T01:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tatvcanada.com\/?page_id=188"},"modified":"2020-04-25T23:03:54","modified_gmt":"2020-04-25T23:03:54","slug":"20-gauge-filler-wad-overshot-card-punch","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tatvcanada.com\/?page_id=188","title":{"rendered":"20 Gauge Filler Wad\/Overshot Card Punch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Objective<\/strong><\/p>\n

This tool is designed to mount in a single stage reloading press, allowing the user to punch their own 20 gauge filler wads and overshot cards.<\/p>\n

Construction<\/strong><\/p>\n

The tool consists of two components including a punch, and die. Starting with the punch, it\u2019s made from hardened tool steel designed to maintain a sharp cutting edge. If you\u2019re the kind of reloader who loads tens of thousands of shells, you\u2019ll 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\u2019s compatible with Lee shell holders.<\/p>\n

The die will fit any press that accepts standard 7\/8-14 threaded reloading dies. It can handle materials up to 1\/4 inch thick, with enough clearance to move them freely through the cutting field. I chose to use stainless steel for this part to ensure a long tool life with a minimum of required maintenance. So long as it\u2019s not abused, it should last pretty well forever.<\/p>\n

Installation<\/strong><\/p>\n

To install this tool, the operator begins by slotting the punch into place and raising the ram. This step helps ensure everything\u2019s lined up well when installing the die, to avoid damaging the cutting edge during operation.<\/p>\n

With the punch upright, the user proceeds to thread the die into place overtop of it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s really all there is to installation; if you can install a reloading die in a single-stage press, you can install this punch tool.<\/p>\n

Operation<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Next, the user simply slides the material to be punched into the feed port and begins operating the press as normal.\u00a0 As filler wads are punched, they will be pushed out the top of the die where they can be collected.\u00a0 If the operator\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Materials<\/strong><\/p>\n

Originally designed this unit to punch corrugated cardboard, so that seems like a good place to begin.\u00a0 The punch works quite well with standard corrugated cardboard boxes I\u2019ve cut into strips.\u00a0 It\u2019s a fast, simple process that yields nice, concentric disks.\u00a0 Cardboard works great for buck and birdshot as it\u2019s dense enough to take up slack, but flexible enough to compress during loading.\u00a0 This is critical to obtaining a professional looking crimp with even the trickiest loads.<\/p>\n

Next on the list is my second favorite material, cork.\u00a0 Once again the press made short work of the 1\/4\u2033 thick cork sheet.\u00a0 The great thing about cork wads is they\u2019re extremely dense and won\u2019t compress, making them ideal for heavy projectiles like slugs, roundballs, or filling large voids in the shot column.<\/p>\n

Next up is craft foam.\u00a0 It\u2019s 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.\u00a0 As with the cardboard and cork, it punches very easily, although the edges aren\u2019t quite as smooth as the denser materials.<\/p>\n

Finally we have plastic blister packaging.\u00a0 Although not biodegradable, I really like having a transparent option on hand when I need something as an overshot card.\u00a0 Once again it cuts smoothly, and easily.\u00a0 The material demonstrated above is\u00a0 actually plastic from grocery store salad containers if you can believe it, however thicker packaging not only punches well, it crimps even better.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

The finished filler wads measure 0.530\u2033, the same internal diameter as a standard 20G shot cup, and an equally excellent size for use as overshot cards.\u00a0 With a good supply of these on hand, it\u2019s no trouble at all to customize my shot columns by placing them above or below my shot or slugs.\u00a0 Likewise, if I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n

Demonstration<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out this product video<\/a> to see a demonstration of these punches in action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Objective This tool is designed to mount in a single stage reloading press, allowing the user to punch their own 20 gauge filler wads and overshot cards. Construction The tool consists of two components including a punch, and die. Starting with the punch, it\u2019s made from hardened tool steel designed to maintain a sharp cutting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-188","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tatvcanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tatvcanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tatvcanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tatvcanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tatvcanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tatvcanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/188\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tatvcanada.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}