Hi Marc,
I cut down the blue Rio hulls using a homemade trimmer from a piece of dowel rod an x-acto blade and a wood screw (search around the Internet and you'll find a pic; otherwise PM me and I'll take a pic of mine). The Rios seem to hold up well. I use 15 -16 grains of 700X, Cheditte or Winchester primer and either a BPI Piston Skeet Light or SRC wad and a 6 point crimp using a MEC 10ga Spindex crimp starter. This combo gives a height which doesn't require any spacers. The BPI wads are more expensive but I still load for about $5 a box which is less than half the cost of store bought 2 1/2" shells. I get by with a MEC 600 press but I deprime then size on a Super Sizer. If you're a competition shooter this is way too slow but if you only shoot a few boxes a week it's fast enough. I use a batch process.
Phil
