Fiocchi Hulls--Any guys using these- small problem

[squirrelnuttz]

Hey guys,


I was wondering if anybody has used Fiocchi hulls to reload their shotshells?OK, obviously some have been, and for those, I have a question.

I have a quantity of Fiocchi hulls 12 ga.2/34", and am trying to put together some loads, but in my Lyman manual, it only lists loads for the Fiocchis with the shorter base wad.All the ones I have cut in half (both low and high brass)for a check against the drawings of hulls in the Lyman book all have a taller basewad. These shells were Fiocchi, factory loaded by Superior Canadian of Edmonchuk.I have quite a few of these hulls, so it would be nice to be able to use them.Even the Alliant and Hodgdon websites say for their tests/loads they use the low basewad Fiocchis.

Just starting into shotshell reloading, and apparently according to the book, substituting components is a bad idea. It would be nice to find data developed for these hulls, or else they are just so much garbage.


Anybody out there know where I can find data featuring these hulls?Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sunray]

Not all shotgun shells are reloadable. Could be that your hulls just aren't.

 

[bearhunter]

The only problem you might have with the Fiocchi hulls might be the primers. Its been a long time since I've bothered to reload shot shells as it's just as cheap to buy them these days. Back a few years ago, the primer pockets on Fiocchi hulls were a few thousandths of an inch smaller than North American hulls and wouldn't always accept North American sized primers. You needed Fiocchi primers, which are available but must be specially ordered. They aren't any more expensive though.

 

[10x]

Hey guys,


I was wondering if anybody has used Fiocchi hulls to reload their shotshells?OK, obviously some have been, and for those, I have a question.

I have a quantity of Fiocchi hulls 12 ga.2/34", and am trying to put together some loads, but in my Lyman manual, it only lists loads for the Fiocchis with the shorter base wad.All the ones I have cut in half (both low and high brass)for a check against the drawings of hulls in the Lyman book all have a taller basewad. These shells were Fiocchi, factory loaded by Superior Canadian of Edmonchuk.I have quite a few of these hulls, so it would be nice to be able to use them.Even the Alliant and Hodgdon websites say for their tests/loads they use the low basewad Fiocchis.

Just starting into shotshell reloading, and apparently according to the book, substituting components is a bad idea. It would be nice to find data developed for these hulls, or else they are just so much garbage.


Anybody out there know where I can find data featuring these hulls?Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Your first problem is that those hulls are not Fiocchi
Superior Canadain and Challenger used Cheddite hulls made in France.
I have reloaded these hulls using 700x powder, 1 oz shot and Gualandi H25 wads ( Shot and wads purchased from Superior Canadian - BTW these were the same wads as Superior and Challenger used as well)
These hulls have a steel head rather than brass. I had to modify the full length sizer on my Pacific 366 so that it wouldn't wreck the "brass".
They reload very nicely.
Be very careful with some of the red cheddite hulls. The plastic in the hulls biodegrades in the sunlight and gets brittle. The blue (semi clear hulls) seem to be indestructable.

Lead shot 1.125 oz in cheditte hulls

http://data.hodgdon.com/shotshell_load.asp

Ballistic products sells a loading manual that includes both cheddite and fiochi hulls. Reloading Data is NOT interchangeable between the two brands.

 

[BCFred]

There are loads listed for Fiocchi purple target hulls with the high base wad in Fackler and McPherson's loading book. The loads on the list do use primers other than Fio 616 too. I have loaded a few boxes of the high base wad hulls without any problems, but I don't use them all that often as any I have picked up have a 6 fold crimp and I'm too lazy to change my press.

 

[10x]

There are loads listed for Fiocchi purple target hulls with the high base wad in Fackler and McPherson's loading book. The loads on the list do use primers other than Fio 616 too. I have loaded a few boxes of the high base wad hulls without any problems, but I don't use them all that often as any I have picked up have a 6 fold crimp and I'm too lazy to change my press.

Loads for Fiocchi hulls and Cheddite hulls are different.
Superior Canadian used Chedite hulls and Gualandi wadds - not Fiocchi

 

[squirrelnuttz]

Thanks for the responses guys, good info.The only reason I figured they were Fiocchi was because some shells ( I have different shot sizes still factory loaded) was because it said "Fiocchi 12 Italy" on the headstamp, but "Superior Canadian " and 5 (shot size) printed on the side of the hull..Not all have this mark, some just say "Superior Canadian 12" on the headstamp as well as printed on the side of the hull with the load info. I picked up a brick of the Fiocchi 616 primers for this project as well.

The ones I have are maroon, ribbed tubes, with a gray plastic basewad.All appear to have brass plated steel heads.I have both high and low brass. The base wads in both the Fiocchi Headstamped cases and Superior headstamped cases look identical, same higher basewad than the Lyman diagram, construction, color, even between high and low brass shells.(I cut them in half to cross section) I just checked my handy Lyman Book again, thinking that these may be Cheddite, but they do not match the color of the diagram, nor the base wad height.The book indicates that the Fiocchi hulls can be had with either the low or high basewad, and to be certain of exact match to the drawing prior to using them with Lyman data. Kinda stuck here, but thanks again for the input, guys.Gonna check out that Fackler &Mcpherson book too.

Any other info from you guys would be greatly appreciated.

 

[10x]

Thanks for the responses guys, good info.The only reason I figured they were Fiocchi was because some shells ( I have different shot sizes still factory loaded) was because it said "Fiocchi 12 Italy" on the headstamp, but "Superior Canadian " and 5 (shot size) printed on the side of the hull..Not all have this mark, some just say "Superior Canadian 12" on the headstamp as well as printed on the side of the hull with the load info. I picked up a brick of the Fiocchi 616 primers for this project as well.

The ones I have are maroon, ribbed tubes, with a gray plastic basewad.All appear to have brass plated steel heads.I have both high and low brass. The base wads in both the Fiocchi Headstamped cases and Superior headstamped cases look identical, same higher basewad than the Lyman diagram, construction, color, even between high and low brass shells.(I cut them in half to cross section) I just checked my handy Lyman Book again, thinking that these may be Cheddite, but they do not match the color of the diagram, nor the base wad height.The book indicates that the Fiocchi hulls can be had with either the low or high basewad, and to be certain of exact match to the drawing prior to using them with Lyman data. Kinda stuck here, but thanks again for the input, guys.Gonna check out that Fackler &Mcpherson book too.

Any other info from you guys would be greatly appreciated.

Can't argue with a headstamp!
You have some very old shotshells then. The last hulls Superior Canadian reloaded were the blue cheddite hulls. Now that I recollect the fellow at Superior (A.K.A. Blemiester shot) mentioned that they used to load fiocchi hulls before they got a sweet deal on cheditte.
I checked in the Lyman first, and third edition handbook - no Fiocchi listed.
Check with Ballistic products as I believe they sell Fiocchi hulls.
Will Bilozir in Alberta may know as well as he sells their products in Canada.
The fellow who would know for certain is the guy who used to run Superior Canadian and Blemeister shot in Edmonton. Its too bad I can't remember where I put his card or his name. Also try the Hornaday information help line. These guys helped me a great deal on 7/8 oz and 3/4 oz shotshell loads in cheddite hulls.