Advice needed on cutter for shortening hulls. - The DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com

Hi Everyone,

I am going to be shortening some 12 bore hulls and am looking for some cutter recommendations from those of you that have done this before. There seem to be several cutters available on market, any advice?

Thanks in advance,

Lee

PS: Thanks once again to those who offered input on my son’s Charles Daly O/U.

This is a "dissassembler" for component recovery.

May be more what you're looking for. A "cutteroffertolength".

Here's another of same:

jack

I sinply use a short piece of 1 inch electrical conduit, which is a snug fit over a 12g shell, cut to length so that anything which pokes out the end is cut with a small, sharp knife.
Very cheap, very simple, nice and quick, easy to use.
RG

Lee, I use a drill press with a dowel that is the right diameter for 10 ga. 12 ga, 16 ga. and 20 ga. Just set the stop to the length you want and move the cutter towards the rotating hull and cuts it clean as can be. It is a box cutter mounted in a piece of 1 1/2" x 1 1/2".
These happen to be 20ga. Rem, being cut to 2 1/2" and then I roll crimp all sizes.

Lee,
I use an 8" length of 3/4" dowel (for 12 ga.). Drill a 1/8" hole about 1 1/2" from the end and tap in an Xacto blade at approximately a 45 degree angle with the sharp edge towards the end of the dowel that the hull will slip over. (I use the convex curved style blade.) Drill a hole in the end of the dowel and fit a round head screw to adjust for the desired hull length. I tapered the end of mine a bit to allow the hull to slip on easier. Slide the hull on an twist until you reach the desired length. Inexpensive, simple and works like a charm. I wish I could claim to have invented it but I found it either here or another website.
Phil

Fastest cutter out there.

The only thing faster than this mock-up is the real thing, bored for 10 at a time...

I made one kind of like Mike Campbell's and it is fast and efficent.

Regards, Gordon

Yeh, that 2by carrier will work. After 35 yrs. in the termite trade, I could recommmend a better push stick but hey, whatever pulls your socks up and keeps your digits full length.

jack

That looks like an accident waiting to happen.

A man's got to know his limitations.

Would you mind showing us your fingers ?

I like JDW's and my friend Mike Campbell's devices. I have an aluminum rod that fits snuggly in a ten gauge case, roll the shell over a good butcher knife mounted in a vise like handling a rolling pin. As the crimp from each shell is cut, I just slide it up the aluminum rod. My method is simpler than any method I've seen or used until I read this thread.

I'm a big fan of the wooden dowel with an Xacto blade that Philbert suggests. Depth is set by washers on the round headed screw. I've used it for 12 years and it's cheap, fast and effective. However, I prefer a much less agressive angle to the blade.

My vote goes to Mike Campbell. That is pretty ingenius! You could probably do ten (or more)at a time like that. Good luck

Air supply houses sell tubing cutters that mount on a table. They have a cradle that holds the "tube" and a pointed blade to cut. I've used them to cut shells for decorative use. My house has shotgun shells as cup hangers and window treatment pegs, etc.

I think this would work pretty well and us really fast and safe.

I recall an American Rifleman that was describing some sort of short load. They set up a small cutting wheel, (the sort of accessory you buy in a hardware shop), in a hand drill which was mounted on a stand. The shotshell hull was placed on a flat base and slid by hand until the wheel made contact and cut the crimp off evenly all round. Seemed perfect to me.