Shotshell loading question
I'm just gettting into reloading shotshells, though have plenty of experience with cartridges. I see any number of case/wad/shot/powder/primer combos. Unfortunately, the shells I see listed in many load manuals are, to be honest, kind of oddball, obscure cases. Heck, I want to reuse regular federal and remington cases, you know? So my question is, how important is it to use the same shell and primer and wad combo for a given shot weight in a load manual? My idea is to take the lightest charge for a given shot weight/powder/primer/wad combo and go with that, even if the case differs. Specifially, I want to load 1 oz. 12 ga. shells. What do you think?
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf
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I suggest you check out Alliant's shotshell reloading guide: http://recipes.alliantpowder.com/ Alliaint's site is the best I have seen and I use it regularly; of course the site is geared towards Alliant powders [Red Dot, Green Dot, Blue Dot, Herco, etc.]. Alliant has several 7/8 and 1 ounce 12 ga ga. loads using Federal, Winchester, and Remington hulls. When you depart from specified components [hull, wads, primers] you are on your own. Unlike metallic cartridges there apparently are no preliminary signs of problems in shotshells. 0 -
Eventually you will use AA, Remington, or Federal with the plastic base rather than paper base, but you can get by with the paper bases for several reloads if you check to see if they arent getting loose and plugging the ignition hole. Keep looking and find the manual that covers the hull you prefer. Try not to mix them. The column height differs and your crimp will be screwed up. Find one kind you like and stick with it. The preferred hull for trap shooters is the Winchester AA. I stick with cookbook loads, and believe the experts know more than I do. Most will go bang, but some with differing pressures, and blown patterns. Good Luck 0 -
its gets crucial for loads above 1300fps. but its more forgiving than rifle and pistol. rule of thumb on shotgun is one up one down,(powder bushing) from book, is a good leway. invest in a 'universal charge bar.' they allow you to be VERY ACCURATE, much more than a standard powder bushing for say a 'mec.' you can dial it in real close with the uni bar. sometimes mec bushings are so far off, ive had to tape the ID to lesson the powder to correct load.
try this, dump a suggested powder load into a hull. i/e:
aa hull 18.5 oz 700x. whatever.
empty it right out on your scale and tell me what you get? odds are its WAY OFF. with a uni bar, even if its off, you can dial it in and make a footnote to the right number of turns to achieve the proper drop.
like it was mentioned, AA, remington target hulls, & federals are about the best. the way you tell a good hull is by how many times it will reload before cracking. rule of thumb, if you bought it in walmart on sale, odds are it isnt a good one to reload.
heres a pic of all my experiments and research. got a question? feel free to call.
former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, former navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction. NRA certified instructor.0 -
I have requested a few books from my library and will read those first. I bought some shot, wads, primers, and have a variety of cases saved; surely I'll find a combo with them in some book. Thanks, I'll let you know how it goes.
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf0
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