reloading shotgun shells

FlyingHigh

FlyingHigh

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i've discovered that i go through shotgun shells like a kid goes through candy. i'm thinking of reloading them. i was told that i could save my fired hulls and reload those. what kind of process do i go through to do this? i've also been thinking of picking up the hundreds of hulls that are lying around in the bush where i shoot. cleans up the area and gives me free hulls. how do i go about cleaning them prior to reloading?

what would be the best, most economical press? i've bee eyeballing the Lee Load All. it's $50 bucks, and seems like it'll do the job. i'm new to reloading, so i don't know if a progessive press would be the best way to go, since i hear they're more complicated.

suggestions? advice?
 
The Lee Load All is a good starter press. I have never upgraded from one. It is simple to use. In fact my 11yr old son does most of our reloading for shooting clay pigeons. Picking up empty hulls might not be a great idea. Any hulls that have a paper base wad should be thrown away as the base wad can separate but mainly because the wad could have gotten wet and they are not worth trying to dry out. You should be looking at using hulls with a plastic base wad only. Winchester AAs, Federal Gold Medal, and some Remington hulls are very common and good for reloading. There are others but they are not as common. Get yourself a reloading manual and decide what loads you would like to shoot, then you will know what components you need. Loading lead shot for clay pigeons is fairly simple with lots of load combinations to choose from.
I have never reloaded buck shot so someone else should comment on that .
Reloading steel shot for ducks and geese is a little different and probably doesn't pay depending on what you can buy factory ammo for.
 
i shoot mostly the Federal Field and Range value packs. i think that and the Winchester Value Packs is what most people shoot in the bush around here. i suppose it could pick 'em all up and sort out the ones in don't want. what do you mean by base wad? eg. when i look in a fired hull, what am i looking for?
 
You may find that it isn't worth-while, like I did. Reloading is a hobby in itself though. If you are going to do it you would be better off getting some quality target hulls, since most of the published data is based on them. If you mused out loud at a trap range that you could use hulls, I'll bet someone stuffs your pockets with them. I gave away 2 barrels of hulls awhile back, and now just throw them away.
 
Look down inside the hull.

At the base, encircling the flash hole is the base wad. You can tell by looking if it's paper or plastic.

The Fed and Win econoshells that you mentioned both have plastic basewads so they may work nicely for you.

I have the Lee Load All that I bought 20 years ago and it is my only 12 gauge loader. It works just fine and is a good way to start off to see if shotshell reloading is for you. It works very nicely with 2-3/4" shells. It's a bit awkward with 3" shells.

I bought a MEC Steelmaster in 10 ga a couple years ago. It's nicer than the Loadall but I can't say that the end result is any better.

Good luck.
 
I reload winAA's (tapered hull) and Fed topguns (straight hull). It works out to $4.77 per box of 25 shells based on powder/primers/wads/shot.
 
I reloaded a bunch of shotshells a few weeks ago. With current pricing I reloaded them at a cost of $4.60 per box of 25. We did a group buy of Winchester Target Load a few months ago that was $55 for 8 box's of 25 tax's included. I reused those hulls and shot the reloads today for the first time, they shot fine.

I paid $17 for a pound of Alliant Red Dot and used about 7/8 of the pound.
I bought 1000 econo wads for $20 for the 1000 and used 350 of them.
I bought a 25lb bag of 7.5 shot for $28 and used the entire bag for 350 shells.
I bought 1000 W209 primers for $48 and used 350 of them.

It was running out of shot that limited me to 350 shells reloaded so my true cost was:

17 for powder
7 for wads
28 for shot
17 for primers

That is $69 for 14 box's of 25 shells. If I wouldn't have taken breaks for various reasons it would have taken me about 2 hours to load all of that on the MEC Sizemaster I was using.

For me the time is definately worth it as I would most likely have sat and watched TV for that time anyhow.

cd.
 
I know of a place to get trap ammo relatively cheap, I don't think I would save any money reloading, but I only go through 2 boxes every couple of weeks.
 
at 4.60 a box, that's pretty darn good, considering how many rounds i go through. for me, 200 rounds in 2 hours, with 250 to 300 being more common. the Federal Value packs that i buy are 100 rounds for about 29 bucks after taxes. that works out to about 7.25 a box. if i can pick up hulls at the range or in the bush, i bet i can knock down the price to about 3 bucks a box. that works out great for me.

so when i'm sorting them out, i need to make sure that the shell has the plastic base wad. here's a pic i took of a federal shell from the value pack and a winchester super x shell. these both have the plastic based wad i assume?

P2260005.jpg
 
Pick up some once fired AA or Fed gold Medals for $0.07 or so a piece. They will load and crimp so much better than a value pack hull.
 
I have reloaded shotgun shells(and rifle) all my life and i can't get my head around anyone saving money to any extent reloading either steel or lead. I have one of the finest P/W machines and make my own shot, but still can't see it saving much money. Someone mentioned getting powder for $17/lb., I think it is at least double that now, primers are through the roof. I think one would be better off watching the larger stores for sales and buying a bunch of factory loads.
 
If you want to load quantities I'd skip the Lyman and go with a MEC 600 Jr. It's a better unit and lasts forever. You will also need a set of scales to measure powder charges. DO NOT depend on the bushing guides as they rarely equate to reality.

Get the Lyman Shotshell Reloading handbook. It has step by step instructions on how to load and many recipes.

Follow the recipes as written. Don't substitute components. Use the hulls that the books and websites recommend.

You will save a little money on 12 gauge. I can load a box of 7/8 ounce loads for under $5.00 including taxes and get better ammunition than the cheap stuff from the factories. Where the real savings come in is loading subgauges such as the 28 gauge and .410.
 
ben hunchak said:
I have reloaded shotgun shells(and rifle) all my life and i can't get my head around anyone saving money to any extent reloading either steel or lead. I have one of the finest P/W machines and make my own shot, but still can't see it saving much money. Someone mentioned getting powder for $17/lb., I think it is at least double that now, primers are through the roof. I think one would be better off watching the larger stores for sales and buying a bunch of factory loads.
Click to expand...

I bought the powder for $17 a pound on March 14, 2009. So some retailers still have good prices. I bought:

1lb Herco $17
25lb shot $27
1000 Win 209 Primers $45
1lb RedDot $17
1000 wads $20
1000 Win SP Primers $28
1000 Win LP Primers $28

For a total of 182 before tax's and 205.66 after. And yes, this was 2 weeks ago.
 
thanks for all the info folks. it really gives me something to go on. i think the first thing i'll do is try to find a shotshell reloading manual. it'll give me the run down on what i need. i also need to talk to a few more people i know, to see what they say regarding picking up shells. some posters here say no, some say ok. i guess it all depends on the person. if it turns out i can't use the hulls i pick up, i probably won't bother, since i'll still have to buy factory loads to reload. i might be better off buying a set up for reloading my 7mm and .303 and using the money i save there to buy shot shells.
 
$17.00 for Reddot is a steal!

It pays big time to load your own buckshot, round ball and slug loads as well. I wonder how long it will be before the US bans the export of 12 guage ammo because it is a Police and Military Calibre.?
 
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