I've been shooting low pressure 2 1/2" 16's in my Mod 20 Husqvarna going on ten years now. My pre-war A5 is also short chambered.
Not all of the2 1/2" load recipes call for a roll crimp. There's really little difference between loading 2 1/2" and 2 3/4". The fold crimp loads I use come off my MEC 600JR just as well as the longer cartridges. MEC makes a short cartridge plate to fit their presses.
All of my roll crimp equipment came from Ballistic Products, and there really isn't that much involved. If you already have a press of the right gauge you can use it to size with. If not the Super Sizer is nice. You'll also need a hull vise, roll crimper and a drill to run the crimper with. Again if you have a press, powder and shot can be handled with the charge bar and then moved to the hull vise for crimping. If not Lee dippers work for powder and an adjustable dipper for shot.
The biggest thing to roll crimping is getting the Feel for when to push down on the crimper. Too soon, and the plastic won't be warm enough to roll. Too late, and the plastic gets too hot and smears.
It also helps if you charge several hulls and then crimp one right after the other so the crimping tool doesn't cool between cartridges. I actually got lazy and bought a cheap plastic bodied Sears drill press and mounted a hull vise to the table. With the depth stop set crimps come out nice and round, even and square to the hull walls.
And no, it's no fools errand. My days shooting dove with the Husqy or roosters with the A5 make the small additional effort invested worth while.
