Trapshooters Forum banner

Over shot cards

8.8K views 52 replies 24 participants last post by  HymieP  
#1 ·
Anyone use them? I understand that they are for rolled crimping. My thoughts were to use them on “diving” crimps I am getting with my reloads.
Ballistic Products sells them. Here is a screenshot from there site.
Image


Today I made up .625” diameter pieces .003” thick and placed them on top of the shot.
I have only loaded 25 hulls and they all came out great.
I have set an inquiry to the powder company about them.
Image
 
#9 ·
The reason I‘m going down this road is because I substituting primers. To do so I have dropped my powder charge down 1 1/2 G. Now I’m on the low end of the pressure for the load with components on hand. This was a recommendation from the powder company. The drop in velocity is acceptable, I have shot the loads (without the overshot card/paper) and they work well. I believe the issue is the powder volume, as I have been using the same wad for years. Also I attempted to adjust wad depth/pressure and crimp depth and did not get any better results.
In the past, when there were choices with components, I did not have this issue.
I have punched out an old shoot program, which is .003” thick. Also I punched out card stock, which was thicker, but went with the thinner material.
Tom
 
#5 ·
you can do that but then you need "subgauge" size. 20G OS cards fith inside 12G wads more or less. But I agree with Tom. Better to solve the stack height problem with wad and powder. OS cards should not be needed for regular trap rounds. BPI calls them out in various loads for various reasons.

OP, what load are you building? Hull, powder, how much powder, and wad?
 
#8 ·
I used fiber over shot cards for hunting ammo back when we used cork and fiber wads. I even have the punches for making your own out of Wheaties cereal boxes stashed somewhere. Since your machine is able to make a reasonable crimp, I would recommend fixing the stack height and not adding another disc in front of the shot.

As mentioned, popcorn, rice, dacron and other things have been used to compensate for an ill fitting wad. The best solution is to change wads, If the wad seater in your press is adjusted wrong, you may be partially collapsing the wad, causing it to appear you have a stack height problem. Modern one piece wads need very little pressure to properly seat.

Here is a tip
Take one of the hulls you are loading and leave the old primer in it. With a knife, make a narrow slot, all the way to the metal. Wrap clear tape around the hull to make a viewing window. Run it through your press, filling the powder, wad and shot. You will easily see what problem needs addressed.
 
#16 ·
I use 20 gauge overshot cards (.028) thick from Precision reloading (i think) when i use federal field hulls in 1 ounce, they are a bit deeper than topgun hulls so i use to get a good crimp with a CB6100 wad. If i could always get one hull and one powder and one primer, Im sure we would not be talking about all this if we had products available. Bulkier powder?? how about any powder...Seems like everyone has a huge stash they have been sitting on for 30 years....and are quick to state you need this or that. Wish i could say that . I dumped over 15K hulls never with the thought of reloading. But now im like a mad scientist. Anyway, they work well in those field hulls from federal , i have yet the need to use on any others. Also , confetti was a good tip....Thanks.
 
#19 ·
I grabbed the wrong bag at sportsman's warehouse one day, and ended up with 1000 WAA12sl wads instead of the CB3118AR wads that I intended to buy (they have similar color, didn't notice I had the wrong wads until I got home). Now when I load 1.125 ounce shotshells in tapered hulls, I have three stack height choices. The shortest is Waa12, in-between is DRXL-1, and tallest is the WAA12SL. I consider myself fortunate to have these three choices at home. If I switch powders, change the charge, or I change between STS ad AAHS, one of those three wads seems to give a good stack height and good crimp. I don't have an opinion on overshot cards, but I do favor matching your wad to the stack height you need. It works wonders!
 
#20 ·
if you use the right amount of lead with the right wad, then you need more material introduced into your final crimp via the precrimp.this controls the initial fold and stack height to some degree,and then you fiddle with the cam adjustment.
"If" your on a MEC.
the best i found if that dont work, is to add 1 dry red bean on top or bottom.
gotta be the red ones, the other beans are either too big or too small.
 
#23 ·
I used overshot cards for awhile when the combination of hulls, wads and powder I had were having crimp issues and leaking shot. It worked fine, but it was like a confetti party every time I shot. The field between the line and trap house was covered with shredded paper fragments from the overshot cards. I was using the red pre-made cards from BPI at the time, so the fragments were really easy to see mixed into the green grass.
 
#25 ·
I top my shot off in all of my 12-ga Federal papers (both 1-oz & 1-1/8-oz) with 1/16” 20-ga cork wads from Ballistic Products.

If I have any trouble with occasional holes in the middle of my plastic hull crimps, then I use really thin 20-ga Teflon OS discs from Precision Reloading.

For some of my 1-oz loads, I use 1-1/8-oz wads with a 20-ga card wad (.125”, .135”, or .200” as needed) under the shot in the shot cup.

You need to experiment to see what works best for you.
 
#35 ·
An OS card isn't going to change pressure and if it does not enough to make a difference. That answer from the powder companies is just a " cover your a$$ " lawsuit answer. Back when plastic wads were first introduced the reloading recommendation was for plastic wads 10% less powder than when loading for fiber wads. It didn't even say what plastic wad. Now there's no data for loading fiber wads so I just increase powder charge by 10% over a mild plastic wad formula. JMHO
 
#38 ·
The old “top” or B wads were frangible to break up and not get shot between the wad and barrel. Doubt it would be much of an issue today but I’ve seen a bunch of old doubles, Damascus and other thin walled guns with raised dimples on the outside of barrels caused by shot caught between the wad and barrel. Old time muzzle loader shotgunner trivia.
 
#52 ·
I use them to load some Cheddite .410 hulls. There are not a lot of wad options these days for the 410. My loader is set up perfectly for AAHS and Fiocchi hulls but Cheddites have more internal volume and the recipes that work for the AA and Fiocchi will leave a dished crimp with the Cheddites. The overshot cards I got from Precision Reloading work and perform well.