Reloading shot shells with steel shot

Moose_Master said:
Thank you for the input but I know exactly why I want to load my own. I was just curious if there are people using the manual "Status of Steel" as a main reference for their reloads.
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Moose_Master, so what are your questions? Or what information are you missing?

I have the following Ballistic Product's manuals .... and they are all part of my references for loads ....

  • "Advantages Manual"
  • "Buckshot Loading Manual"
  • "Slug Loading Manual"

If I were to reload steel shot ... the "Status of Steel manual" would be my first place to look for reloading recipes ....
 
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Moose_Master said:
Anyone here ever used the Ballistic Products manual for loading steel? I bought it and looking at the recipes I kinda wonder about some of their recipes if they are safe to use or not.
Some show some fantastic speeds and that is what makes me wonder.
Anyway, anyone here is using "Status of Steel" 19th edition manual for reloading steel shot for waterfowl?
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The "Status of Steel" manual 19th edition contains only pressure tested loads .... However, it seems one load has a typo ....

From the Ballistic Products web site:

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Product Type: Loading manual and application guide
Length: 120 pages.
Details: Over 480 lab-tested load recipes in steel shot.

Load Note: Load #120831-4209 (page 113) has been removed from service. Do not load this as it is a typographical error. If you have any questions, please contact our customer service.

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I have few recipes I would like to try due to the great speeds they show but I have learned in my life that if is to good to be true I should look again. Never used the Status of Steel manual and I was hoping to get a hold of someone who already made and tried the recipes in the manual.

One recipe for example out of many for 12 gauge 3 1/2 shell:
-shot 1 1/8 oz
-shot grains 492
-shot size 1 or 2
-PSI 10800
-FPS 1800
-Cheddite hull and primer
-powder Steel (50 grains)
and the gas seal, wad, filler wad load inserts etc.

Of course I fell in love with that FPS 1800. But still want to make sure I hear from someone else who tried recipes from this manual. There are many recipes for steel for every shell length in the manual.
 
Moose_Master said:
I have few recipes I would like to try due to the great speeds they show but I have learned in my life that if is to good to be true I should look again. Never used the Status of Steel manual and I was hoping to get a hold of someone who already made and tried the recipes in the manual.

One recipe for example out of many for 12 gauge 3 1/2 shell:
-shot 1 1/8 oz
-shot grains 492
-shot size 1 or 2
-PSI 10800
-FPS 1800
-Cheddite hull and primer
-powder Steel (50 grains)
and the gas seal, wad, filler wad load inserts etc.

Of course I fell in love with that FPS 1800. But still want to make sure I hear from someone else who tried recipes from this manual. There are many recipes for steel for every shell length in the manual.
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Moose_Master,

.... Ballistic Products has quite a reputation in the industry of shotshell reloading. They have done a lot of research in that field and they have pressure tested thousands of loads. The load data in your Status of Steel manual should be correct. Yes, printing errors can happen ... but there should not be many .... especially not in the 19th edition.

If you have doubts about those loads ... give Ballistic Products a call and ask for confirmation that a particular load data is correct.

-----

And with respect to that load ... what does the wad column look like?

This load is only pushing 1 1/8oz of payload ... and with Steel which is a slow burning powder. And it seems it does achieve that velocity way below max pressure of 14,000 psi (12ga 3 1/2"). With a good wad column that can cushion pressure spikes ... I think 1800 fps should be doable or close to it ...

Here is a reference ..... the commercial Lightfield Commander slug, 12 Gauge, 3-1/2" ... reaches a velocity of 1890 fps ... but with a heavier payload of 1-3/8 oz.
 
Thanks for the thoughts.
So there is no seal. Wad is: CSD114(slit), Filler wad & Load inserts shows: 14FW20 in base, Over shot: OS12 and the rest of recipe is above.
All the Steel components can be found at Sporteque in Drummondville,QC.
I plan on buying minimum components for tests and once I settle to a load that I truly like I will buy large quantities. I already bought from PW the upgrades for steel loading for one of my PW375.

If I like the results of my tests I will buy for the other PW375 I have the set up for steel for 3" shells and also for 2 3/4 so I can reload steel for each shotshell length. Sometime 3.5" is overkill and even 3" is to much for certain applications waterfowl related. I like to have the whole array when I go hunting.
3.5" is sometime punishing but certain situations ask for it and I have to make sure I have all the tools handy.

Thanks again for your thoughts.
 
When I load steel I donot use my machines for the shot or powder drops. They are never consistent
I weigh every load on the scales one at a time
It doesn't take that long to do what one needs for a hunting season
Plus I have never had any luck keeping good patterns over 1600 fps and faster is not needed to kill
Also no way in hell would I use cheddite primers. Trash IMO and hard on firing pins
Cheers
 
I absolutely agree with using the scale for shot and powder.
I have no idea yet about patterns. I will have to see each load how it performs. There are many other loads in the steel manual. The example above was only one of them and I gave it as example for that huge speed that made me re-think my strategy. There are loads from 1500 to 1800 FPS. Definitely I will not start with that load above. It was just an example from the manual.
I will start with the milder and keep going.

I don't care how trashy Cheddite are. All the test will happen with my workhorse Baikal MP153. So if I damage that thing it won't be a hole in the sky. The measures I take and the questions I ask are not for the gun health and integrity but for mine. I try to read as many opinions before pulling that trigger with the chamber 5 inches from my face. Just sayin
 
The example above was just an example.

There are heavier payloads at lower speed which were a factor in my decision to start reloading.
There are some sweet loads for 1 3/8 oz (601 grains) at 1400 FPS which I plan to start with. But for the heck of the passion I will try my hand at some lighter payloads at some amazing speeds.
 
I am with 3mac1 on the RSI data and wads simple and do the job I have used and have on hand most all BP products and data but my conclusion with most of their products and data is overkill a lot of hype and marketing . The old adage keep it simple stupid .IMHO
 
Moose_Master said:
I absolutely agree with using the scale for shot and powder.
I have no idea yet about patterns. I will have to see each load how it performs. There are many other loads in the steel manual. The example above was only one of them and I gave it as example for that huge speed that made me re-think my strategy. There are loads from 1500 to 1800 FPS. Definitely I will not start with that load above. It was just an example from the manual.
I will start with the milder and keep going.

I don't care how trashy Cheddite are. All the test will happen with my workhorse Baikal MP153. So if I damage that thing it won't be a hole in the sky. The measures I take and the questions I ask are not for the gun health and integrity but for mine. I try to read as many opinions before pulling that trigger with the chamber 5 inches from my face. Just sayin
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Ok. You spend the money and buy top quality components to reload steel and then use a cheddite primer when a winchester is like a few pennies in the difference
I cannot grasp that and get off the speed kick since that is what it is. I went through it years ago also but back then we needed it since 1200 was not killing birds
Better to have lower pressures and great patterns at 1500 since that kills just fine
 
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Moose_Master said:
The example above was just an example.

There are heavier payloads at lower speed which were a factor in my decision to start reloading.
There are some sweet loads for 1 3/8 oz (601 grains) at 1400 FPS which I plan to start with. But for the heck of the passion I will try my hand at some lighter payloads at some amazing speeds.
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I will put this as basic as I can
I know nothing about the BP manual or wads because the rsi and sam1 worked for me so I never tried anything else

That being said there would not be one load printed there that they didnot test and would be safe to try providing you change nothing
When I started I reloaded at least 50 if not more of what was in the rsi book. 6 rounds of each and shot them through paper to see how they did with two chokes ( 3 in each)
The ones that showed promise I reloaded 10 more of each and shot those again in paper with more chokes
Over time I finally got it down to may be 10 loads I do now for 12 and 10ga and have used those for many years

No one is going to tell you which load in that manual you have is better than the others since you have to do that with your chokes and guns
Hope this makes sense and if others have easier ways please share
 
warzaw said:
I am with 3mac1 on the RSI data and wads simple and do the job I have used and have on hand most all BP products and data but my conclusion with most of their products and data is overkill a lot of hype and marketing . The old adage keep it simple stupid .IMHO
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The only thing I have tried over the years different is bought my wads unslit thinking I could make a difference and for the slight changes I seen it was not worth the effort unless I was trying to make a dam slug which I wasn't
Take care
For me it is Steel Powder, winchester primers, sami wads and remington or federal hulls and RSI steel shot although there is a few bags of this old stuff on the shelf
Now you know how long I have been doing this and sorry Hummasons I love your lead but this old steel was real bad

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If the data in the manual asks Chedditte primers how can I change that and still pretend I followed the recipe from the manual.

Thank you for the input in general.
 
Moose_Master said:
And BTW, where did you get Federal and Remington hulls.
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Remington I bought years ago in large batches of 1000 per box in 12ga 3" and 3 1/2" once fired at the remington factory in The US and had Prophet river take care of all the requirements bringing them into canada for me. Forget that today and I bought enough to take me to my grave
The federals I saved from buying factory shells and bought a nice batch of may be 700 10ga from a gentleman in sask on the ee
Plus I guided back in those years and would gather good and bad around every blind
My suggestion run a WTB add in the EE you never know what you may find and talk to every outfitter you know and if you will pay for them I am sure the guides will save them for you but expect a lot of challengers I would say in the batch today
Cheers
 
Moose_Master said:
If the data in the manual asks Chedditte primers how can I change that and still pretend I followed the recipe from the manual.

Thank you for the input in general.
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You probably cannot since they are more than likely also saying cheddite hulls and if so have UK metric dimensions for primers and the winchesters will be loose and fall out but so will the north american cheddites. I would ask that question before I bought the hulls or someone using cheddite hulls will know which is not me
Cheers
 
When I first decided to reload steel I wanted to go Federal/Remington path but I soon realized there is no way to find them here in Canada. So I went the next way available which is BP. That's how I eventually found out about Sporteque stocking BP products. From my research BP is the only way to go for someone who starts in this very moment reloading steel.
For lead shot/trap loads I always used Winchester primers as I bought many years ago 30 000 of them and an incredible price and they worked great for me. Still have from the old batch and never had hiccup on any load using them.
 
Moose_Master said:
When I first decided to reload steel I wanted to go Federal/Remington path but I soon realized there is no way to find them here in Canada. So I went the next way available which is BP. That's how I eventually found out about Sporteque stocking BP products. From my research BP is the only way to go for someone who starts in this very moment reloading steel.
For lead shot/trap loads I always used Winchester primers as I bought many years ago 30 000 of them and an incredible price and they worked great for me. Still have from the old batch and never had hiccup on any load using them.
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You tried the EE a want to buy listing??
Like I have said before few reload shotgun here it seems but even fewer steel and I am sure some would save their 3 and 3 1/2 hulls if you were going to buy them rather than toss them

They have everything you need. Out of stock at the minute but that changes quite a few times a year
ht tps://www.precisionreloading.com/cart.php#!c=13

I am sure you have a friend state side that will buy them and call Prophet river first to get the requirements about having them shipped to canada legally
Pretty much what I did years ago
Don't say can't get them

or first year buy a few flats of steel new and save your own for next year
 
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A while back I did tried for months. Then I came to realize that it will be a long shot as most people buy nowadays Kent and Challenger cheapo ammo. And if someone has for sale it will be a handful from personal use. Maybe not all the same, different types, some older some newer some rusted etc. So I went the BP way which I knew I can find components for.
This is it in few words.
 
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