Reloading Federal Top Gun hulls

O

Otto V

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Sprucedale, Ontario
My supply of "good" hulls is almost done, but this year there should be a good supply of once fired 12 gauge Federal Top Gun hulls up for grabs at my local club. These are the new style hulls, with a low, white plastic basewad. I would like to reload them for use on our 5-Stand, using 7/8 ounce of shot. I would probably reload them once, then toss them.

Does anyone have any experience reloading these hulls?
 
I think you pretty safe to reload them once. I was talking to the federal rep once and he refused to even talk about it . He said do you see them listed in any reloading manuals. No because they are not meant to be reloaded. The thing to watch for is hull separation. The plastic comes apart form the brass. There was one accident were the plastic separated
and logged down the barrel few inches, but the brass ejected. The shooter not paying attention loaded another shell and fired, bulged the barrel, popped the vent rib and a pieces in the vent rib hit the guy next to him on the trap range. I know lots of people that reload them, most have good luck ,just be cautious . regards Ken
 
I've reloaded Top Guns by the thousands over many years as well as cutting them down to 2 1/2" for my vintage guns. Using Federal 12SO or equivalent wads and 700X or Clays powder they are my second most used hulls after Gold Medals. For moderate pressure loads used in a break action gun they last through many reloadings, eventually hitting the scrap pile when neck splits prevent good crimps. All the loading manuals have lots of options, both target and field for these
 
A couple things of note, make sure they are in fact all the same plastic base Top Guns. There are/were 2 versions, one made by Federal(current) and one made by Rio, the Rio use a larger, non-Federal primer and have even more volume, throw these out. The Federal have been out for going on 2 years now, you can use the Gold Medal data, bear in mind, like the Gold Medal Grand hull these have more volume than the previous generation, so stack height issues do crop up on them.
 
The plastic basewad Top Gun hulls have more internal volume than the paper basewad Top Guns. For my 1 oz. reloads, I had to switch to the CB6100 wad as the CB2100 (12S0 clone) gave me dished crimps.

I don't know what wad you could use for a 7/8 oz load in these hulls. I expect if you tried the CB6100, you would get a dished crimp.

Bob.
 
Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate the info. I've also noticed there is a large variation in the overall length of the hulls, that can't help with crimps.

I definitely want to stick with 7/8 ounce loads, I think I'll give up on these hulls.
 
All the Federal hulls are excellent for low pressure loads and loads that take up more volume than most but there are better for 7/8 oz like Remington and Winchester compression formed hulls. The very best ( most expensive) ammo hulls make the best reloads and last the longest. Cheap is not always cheap.
 
Federal has top gun factory loads in 7/8oz so reloading them should not be an issue if you use a more volumous powder in combination with the right wad to get a proper stack height for good crimps. As mentioned though be aware of base separation after firing. A few guys I know who have loaded them gave up using them for that reason. I'd be hesitant using them in an autoloader.
 
the spank said:
Federal has top gun factory loads in 7/8oz so reloading them should not be an issue if you use a more volumous powder in combination with the right wad to get a proper stack height for good crimps. As mentioned though be aware of base separation after firing. A few guys I know who have loaded them gave up using them for that reason. I'd be hesitant using them in an autoloader.
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Yup. One guy has over 1000 loaded. One separated, he caught it before taking another shot... won’t shoot them anymore, mentally spooked
 
In these separations, does the basewad blow out of the hull, or is the hull and basewad separating from the case head??

I have a 12 gauge Winchester HS hull, that was fired by a friend. When he opened his action after the shot, only the case head with primer came out. The hull with intact basewad was still in his chamber. The round had been reloaded several times (blackened crimp).
 
The basewad comes out and sometimes gets stuck in the barrel. Not a problem with a break action if you're in the habit of looking through the barrel while reloading but you aren't looking through a barrel when you reload a semi or pump....
 
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Well... - My shooting buddy encountered a hull separation today shooting a 28 g o/u at the club. Shot sounded weird, he opened the gun, couldnt see day light in the bottom barrel. We tried to remove it with our do-all wooden rod, it wouldnt budge. I believe it was a AA-HS. Likely a high mileage hull.
 
You are much less likely to have a base wad separation if your loader pushes down on the bade wad as it seats the new primer.
The best cheap hull by far, is the one piece Gun Club.
I use Top Gun hulls for Black Powder Trap loads, once and done.
 
cosmic said:
Well... - My shooting buddy encountered a hull separation today shooting a 28 g o/u at the club. Shot sounded weird, he opened the gun, couldnt see day light in the bottom barrel. We tried to remove it with our do-all wooden rod, it wouldnt budge. I believe it was a AA-HS. Likely a high mileage hull.
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Years ago there were some Winchester factory loads that presented a big issue. The plastic separated from the brass base and and the entire plastic case complete with wad and shot exited the shotgun in one piece. They were know as whistlers as they gave a distinctive whistling sound. If you were lucky enough to hit a target the results were really impressive. I'm sure these shells created very high pressures but I never heard of barrels being blown up.
This issue only happened in a few lots of shells and Winchester quickly corrected the issue.
 
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