Reloading Slugs

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hornadyLnl9mm

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Hey Folks,

Just a quick one for any of you reloading shotshell. I have 4lb jugs of Universal and Titegroup. Saw a Lee Load All was only $100, and figured I could get setup up with slug mould, hulls, primers and wads for a couple hundred bucks all in to move into reloading shotshells, too. I got excited and jumped in.

I'm mainly intersted in loading slugs and buck shot, but in the current state I am having trouble finding hulls for these loads.

I am not wholy set on these powders, I could change it up, but I'd like to keep supplies to a minimum.

My question is this, do I have to load Universal with Lee Drive Key Slugs ONLY in Federal Gold Medal hulls as Hodgon states is my only option?

I don't want to blow up my gun anymore than you want to hear about it. I respect load data and planned to follow it to the T. However, I am finding posts where guys are buying cheap bird shot loads, dumping out the shot to cast into slugs later, and reloading the shells with lee slugs. This implies that any load with the correct hull, primer, powder, charge, and wad combination can safely be loaded with a slug over shot data as long as the slug weight is equal or less than shot weight.

Am I reading this correctly?

I don't have any manuals with me, and haven't bought a shotshell reloading manual yet, so I can't dig any further than what I can find on the internet. Just looking for some clarity. I'm trying to source supplies so I can play with the press when I get home.
 
Go to the: "Hodgdon Reloading" site. There, you will see several loads for slugs, using other than Federal hulls. I've loaded Lee 1 oz slugs in various brands of hulls, including: Winchester, Remington and Cheddite(Challenger), for years. Stick to published load data, and you will have no problems.

By the way, Universal is a good powder for both slugs and buckshot. Very versatile in many other field loads, too.
 
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The official line is that shotshell reloading data must be followed to the letter by handloaders because there are no reliable pressure indicators that can be monitored.

Having said that, I can't help but notice that there are groups that seem to consider this approach excessively cautious. They go ahead and pick their components and work up on powder charges to get the performance they want, same as they would with metallic cartridge loading. Just saying.

Remington Gun Club hulls have become very popular among 12ga reloaders since the AA declined in usefulness.
 
Thanks for the replies. I googled Universal to get to Hodgdon and the load data only showed one possible hull for universal. I bought it for it's generic usefulness so I was confused as all get out.

I posted on castboolits too, and a fella there went to Hodgdon, found Universal and the load data is completely different searching that way. Same site, same product, different listing and totally different load data. 12 hull options as opposed to the one.

The responses I got over there were that any shot load will have less pressure with a slug over shot so it is safe. Performance may not match that of slug load data, though.

I have a bunch of shot and slug load options to try now. I like the idea of Gun Club, I found some locally, and if I find STS or Nitro 27 hulls I can pick them up and mix and match with the same load data.

I have a way better starting point, and my powders are not nearly as limited as it looked yesterday.

Any suggestions on shotshell reloading manuals? I still need to dig a bit deeper into wads and I really want a full run through on the components and procedure.
 
HI; Drop a few bucks and sign up to LOAD-DATA. about 20 bucks.
Lee load all for years. Use good supply's, Remington STS hulls or gun club. Weak hulls buckle when reloading.
UNIQUE or other flake powder work, red dot , blue dot etc. Ball powder are like sand paper and jam in the lee load-all
I load slugs to shoot for fun, not to kill elephants so Unique is Ok and will work for shot loads, cleaner now then 20 years ago.
Do not buy old wads, they will be brittle and crack on loading with poor pattern.
Primers, cheddite are preferred, Winchester, ok. federal sometimes seat deep and may misfire. Watch out for black powder 209 meant for muzzle loader, do not use.
 
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