12 guage reloading

I would like to say two things.

1) You are correct, there is little financial benefit to reloading target 12 gauge loads. There has not been in 5-7 years.
2) You and others cant/shouldn't compare your reloads to challenger shells. If your reloads were only as good as challengers, I would question your practices. You should have no issue competing with or exceeding the quality of AA's or STS's for the exact same costs as running bulk garbage to compete with challenger.
 
mmcintyre1220 said:
I would like to say two things.

1) You are correct, there is little financial benefit to reloading target 12 gauge loads. There has not been in 5-7 years.
2) You and others cant/shouldn't compare your reloads to challenger shells. If your reloads were only as good as challengers, I would question your practices. You should have no issue competing with or exceeding the quality of AA's or STS's for the exact same costs as running bulk garbage to compete with challenger.
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#2 is a great point and largely why I still load for targets. The biggest issue where I am is acquiring quality shot at feasible prices. I can load reclaimed shot all day and it works well for farting around but isn’t AA quality
 
bertn said:
First hand experience. Got quite a large number of wadds from a club member a few years ago and the one type was so brittle that even handling wads would make some petals snap off.
Obviously I trashed them, don't know how they were stored and can't remember the brand.

So when buying older wadds just fold petals out and you'll notice if they are still flexible or not.
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No lie. I reload everything from 410 to 10ga and have like 10,000 wads for 16ga alone not one newer than 25 years and 40,000 plus for the 28ga plus all the others
I bought 30,000 28ga when the HS hull came out thinking that pink one would be gone. I have never had even ONE wad go brittle and I have been reloading shotgun since 1965 and some years 25,000 rounds
It is all in the storage
Also run a greenhouse business and if I leave the plastic trays stored in light especially sunlight they last 3 years and crumble if not and stored in the dark I have them 10 years and counting since we are only in business 10 years
Cheers
 
I reload for small game because I enjoy doing so and it's relaxing - use a beam scale for measuring the powder charge the rest is done with a Lee Load-all the one with the steel/metal base that I bought at a gun show for $15.00
 
I treat reloading for clay target shooting as a hobby. The time it takes is enjoyable. Being in SW Ontario, I make the trip to Hummason & Lawry once per year to stock up on components. Quite often, it`s a day trip with like minded friends & we stop at one or two gun shops along the way.

My current cost to reload is $ 73.00 per flat. It works out to $ 0.29 per shell. My next 8 lb keg, Extra-Lite at $271.00, will bump that to $ 77.00 per flat. These costs are for 1 oz. loads & include HST.

I cannot tell the difference in my breaks whether I reloaded a Remington, Winchester, Federal, or Challenger hull with a 1 oz. load at 1200 fps.

I have reloaded thousands of Challenger hulls. They reload well. Most of the time, I reload them only once. There are so many available I see ne need to hoard them.

Bob.
 
By the time you add in the cost of a good progressive press, to do some volume, it will take several years just to pay for the press. I load 28 gauge and 410 for skeet, but I don't bother with 12 gauge or 20, because it just isn't worth it.
 
Not a lot of ammo available lately at any price and reloading components are in the same boat . Prices have gone through the roof even if you can source anything.
 
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Just some random thoughts
- Haven't reloaded birdshots in ages... like 20 or 30 years, price of lead shots is getting kind of silly.

- Only reload slugs

- What's wrong with Challenger? I've sent a few flats down range... can't say I've seen any difference between that and the Winchester/Remington/Federal offering. Though, I still prefer to shoot the Winchester AA for their hulls...
 
For me it is simple. I don't care what make or brand they are if they don't have a one piece compression formed base hull they don't go in my guns
Two piece designs especially being reloaded have potential to separate and lodge in the barrel and lead to an undesirable event
Sure many of these may be snow or dirt but some were base wad separation plus I stood next to a guy at the club some years ago when his barrel burst and that was 100% base wad failure after a reload
Plus
None of the offshore ammo companies are members of the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Institute (SAAMI), which governs manufacturing in the USA. All firearms and ammunition products in this country have to pass SAAMI standards before they can be produced and sold.
They ( challenger) have also had problems a few years ago with total metal base separation and full hulls getting lodged in barrels
yes many guys have zero issues with them so carry on. I don't need to shoot them so won't
To each their own

Cheers
Z7sPoc3.jpg
 
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Any of the promo plated steel head shells are not meant to be reloaded that goes for Federal ,Winchester, Challenger but the Challanger and Winchester seem to be the bad offenders . The Cheddite hull seems to be the worst offender and I have heard the Winchester econo hull is a Cheddite. Rem STS and both types of AA of which I have thousands are my go to reload components. I am with 3macs my group won't touch promo shells with a 10 foot pole. Big $$$ guns and promo shells are not a winning formula. you get what you pay for We use premium flats and reload the hulls.
 
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warzaw said:
Any of the promo plated steel head shells are not meant to be reloaded that goes for Federal ,Winchester, Challenger but the Challanger and Winchester seem to be the bad offenders . The Cheddite hull seems to be the worst offender and I have heard the Winchester econo hull is a Cheddite. Rem STS and both types of AA of which I have thousands are my go to reload components. I am with 3macs my group won't touch promo shells with a 10 foot pole. Big $$$ guns and promo shells are not a winning formula. you get what you pay for We use premium flats and reload the hulls.
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You have heard right :)
My pals the same other than those that don't reload the hulls have guys waiting to buy them
They get like 25 cents for 410 and 28ga AA's so if one does the math there less than promo I think
have to check that
na I was wrong 161 with tax for aa take out the hull resale and leaves like 100 bucks
which is not bad IMO for shooting AA's in small gauges
Wait now I am talking 28ga so 138 for challenger 28ga so yes quite a bit cheaper in smaller gauges
and yes I shoot trap with a 28ga :) rem 870 with full choke barrel and 7 1/2 AA get them quick LOL and hear a lot of LOSTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
 
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I’d like to think that good hand loads shoot much better than challengers. I have a lot of 12 guage components that I purchased very cheap years ago. I believe the last time I checked I’m loading for around $4.50 per box. I was luckily to purchase a lot of supplies fro guys getting out of the sport.
 
JOHNNY K. said:
Hello folks.
I'm considering reloading 12 guage for skeet and trap. I've done some calculations and it seems each round will cost me about $0.36. Does that sound correct?

My skeet club is selling a case of challenger 12 ga for $95 which works out to $0.38 per round.
Doesn't seem to be worth my time to reload.

Any insight would be appreciated.
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What was your shot price?
 
Most has been covered here pretty well already. Reloading 9/8oz 12g has minimal savings (and there was a period a few years back it was actually more expensive than budget factory loads). Your shell cost seems a bit high- but there are a few components that you need. My estimated costs are $0.055 for powder, $0.06 for primer (wild card right now), $0.03 for wad and $0.16 for lead ($55/bag) or $0.30/shell plus tax. It really depends on the cost of the components. Loading down to 3/4 pulls $0.05 of lead out ($0.25/shell plus tax).

The real advantage for me is making special loads you can't buy easily. I load 3/4oz 12g for skeet and for beginners- very low recoil- my 10yr old daughter shoots them no problem. Also can load up special hunting loads which would otherwise be very expensive. I don't load 9/8oz at all- I shoot the cheapest factory shells I can buy.

If you want to get loading I'd suggest collecting primers and powder- both seem hard to come by at the moment. The lead and wads should be easy to find- but need to find good prices to keep costs down- definitely hit up old timers to see if they will part with some of their stash. I would also start collecting hulls. People do different strategies for hulls- you may need to figure out what works for your situation. Personally I tend to not mess with the cheap hulls- they aren't worth the trouble. Gun clubs are the only cheap hull worth reloading IMHO, but even then I am almost 100% AA hulls. I will load up cheap hulls when I know they won't come back (Uncle's hunting trip) but in volume the AA's have consistency and durability which I appreciate. I'm pretty lucky to have been able to collect an adequate supply of AA hulls over the years- but your situation may be different.

Not sure about all the hate on for challengers- I've cut a few apart and the shot looked great inside. But I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion. I will shoot them without a second thought. If the OP is just shooting 9/8oz target shells personally I'd be shooting the challengers from the club.
 
cartwheel said:
Most has been covered here pretty well already. Reloading 9/8oz 12g has minimal savings (and there was a period a few years back it was actually more expensive than budget factory loads). Your shell cost seems a bit high- but there are a few components that you need. My estimated costs are $0.055 for powder, $0.06 for primer (wild card right now), $0.03 for wad and $0.16 for lead ($55/bag) or $0.30/shell plus tax. It really depends on the cost of the components. Loading down to 3/4 pulls $0.05 of lead out ($0.25/shell plus tax).

The real advantage for me is making special loads you can't buy easily. I load 3/4oz 12g for skeet and for beginners- very low recoil- my 10yr old daughter shoots them no problem. Also can load up special hunting loads which would otherwise be very expensive. I don't load 9/8oz at all- I shoot the cheapest factory shells I can buy.

If you want to get loading I'd suggest collecting primers and powder- both seem hard to come by at the moment. The lead and wads should be easy to find- but need to find good prices to keep costs down- definitely hit up old timers to see if they will part with some of their stash. I would also start collecting hulls. People do different strategies for hulls- you may need to figure out what works for your situation. Personally I tend to not mess with the cheap hulls- they aren't worth the trouble. Gun clubs are the only cheap hull worth reloading IMHO, but even then I am almost 100% AA hulls. I will load up cheap hulls when I know they won't come back (Uncle's hunting trip) but in volume the AA's have consistency and durability which I appreciate. I'm pretty lucky to have been able to collect an adequate supply of AA hulls over the years- but your situation may be different.

Not sure about all the hate on for challengers- I've cut a few apart and the shot looked great inside. But I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion. I will shoot them without a second thought. If the OP is just shooting 9/8oz target shells personally I'd be shooting the challengers from the club.
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If you like poor non consistent patterns from soft shot
AA 5% antimony
STS 5.5%
Gun club 2%
Challenger 2%
Cheers
 
While I like premium cartridges, and have been shooting AA for about 45 years, lower Antimony shot will make no difference to scores in Skeet, or 16 yard Trap for 99% of shooters.
 
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