Shotshell reload help. Putting the puzzle together

erebus

erebus

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niagara region
Any help appreciated.

I inherited a Mec jr. A ways back and reloaded a bunch of trap loads with what came with the reloader. Now I'd like to do some turkey loads.
Been trying to piece all the element together I have a few hundred hulls from trap shooting. Bought some cheddite 209 primers. Got a bang of shot and can get powder this week. But I cant find any data on the wads I can get. I seem to only be able to get Remington 1 1/8 oz. Wads.

So below is all my ingredients

Mec set up with the 118 bar and 32 bushing
Hodgdon 800x powder at 21 grain
#4 lead shot at 1 1/8oz
Winchester 2 3/4 plastic hull
Cheddite 209 primer

Remington 11/8oz wad
Will these wads work?

I'm trying to be super cautious with this setup as it's all new for me and want to make sure I have every detail correct.20230302_221830.jpg
 

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Building a shotshell load around the wads you have seems to me a tail-wagging-the-dog situation. I think most shotshell loads will assume the wads are the least important part of the equation.

For turkey loads, don't you want 1-1/2 to 2 ounces of shot?

Anyway, Lyman 4th Edition doesn't have a lot of data using the Remington R12H, but it does have a little. 1-1/8oz heavy target loads with Green Dot, Unique, or PB. I think PB is discontinued.

1-1/4oz field loads with Universal Clays or Winchester 540. Hodgdon HS-6 is the same as W540.

That's all I see in the book I have. Nothing with 800X, nothing with Cheddite primers. But if all you can get is the one wad, you can't really be picky about the other items.
 
Hmmm... If you go to the Hodgdon reloading website, you can find all sorts of recipes for shotgun loads. Some notes:

1) You say Winchester plastic hulls - What type, they are not all created equal!
2) 1 1/8 oz loads with 800X are closer to target loads with relatively low pressure (~7000 psi), so you can take some slight liberties with component substitution. (eg Cheddite primers instead of Winchester)
3) Your current setup (31 bushing) will throw 21 g of 800X, sounds like that is what you were using for your trap loads, with 1/8 wads of some sort? So you could likely continue with this setup using larger shot, and an appropriate (1 1/8 ??) wad without changing your MEC settings.
4) You can certainly get other 1 1/8 wads, or wads with greater capacity - eg Claybuster wads from Lawries in Ontario.

Suggest you investigate the Hodgdon recipes around an appropriate hull and wad combination. You can use up your existing stock of wads for target shooting, if deemed surplus for your turkey needs.
 
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Hey. Thanks for the input Battlerifle.your 100% correct and I got to say the situation is a lot like the tail wagging the tail. The hulls I've had for years so I want to use them up, the primers were the only ones I could find, the powder is the only shotshell stuff my local place has and i missed out on some longshot and the wads... short of ordering some claybuster from Amazon at 80$ a bag. The shot seems the only thing I had a choice in.
Everything I've read seems to say the cheddite primers can safely be substitute for winchester 209 so I've found a few recipes that are close to mine but nothing I can find has remington.

The remington wads are the only wads bass pro Carrie's.
Yes Cosmic. I totally forgot about Lawrie. I'll see what shipping is from them and if it's a better deal then Amazon. Also I have found this similar load out from hodgdons.
Screenshot_20230302-201656_Brave.jpg

The WAA wad is a substitute for the claybuster 1 1/8 oz
 

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You need a newer manual. And don’t listen to the guys that say you need magnums to kill turkey I use 1 1/8-1 1/4 oz field loads as long as they pattern well.

With shotshell reloading you need to follow the data no substitutions.

You need to know what hulls you are using they are not all the same and grabbing just anything can land you in a situation you don’t want to be in.
 
1100 fps is a tad slow, perhaps the powder charge can be bumped up. BTW - What kind of Winchester hulls are you using? You mention older, so possibly (hopefully) AA???
 
Claybuster wads at Lawry's are around $15/bag of 500. I load cheap winchester hulls 1x then toss them. AA hulls can be loaded several times.
 
I am very new to shotshell loading game, so very much I am with Post #6 - NO SUBSTITUTIONS from published, pressure tested loads. People who do not understand such things as how pressure is created, how it is measured, safety factor for the fire-arm design, or "rules", might have been able to "get away" with doing differently for years. And just because you have specific components, does not mean is okay to use it - so far as I know, have to get the correct stuff, or do not start. And just because you can not find correct components to buy, or can not afford to get correct components, does not mean "making do" with incorrect components is a smart thing to do.

I notice from various reloading manuals for shotgun - change one component in recipe for something else - pressure goes way up or down - and velocity might stay the same - so if you are mixing and matching components, resulting velocity does not tell you much, compared to actual pressure testing. Is MANY published sources of pressure tested load combinations - Lyman has at least one series of books on that, Hodgdon, BPI and others. I even have an elderly Winchester-Western pamphlet with their shot shell loads - from 1975 - although finding those components that they used then, might be an especial challenge.
 
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Especially if you're down Niagara way, another useful supplier for shotgun reloading would be Hummason over in Ancaster.
 
CB-1118-12 would be the ticket for your setup. You could also use these for trap, skeet, etc. BTW - if you need to deviate from your current bushing size, you can always load the powder manually with a scale or powder measure, and leave your powder bottle empty. (Its prudent to check your bushing drop weight anyway, they can be quite off)
 
Reeloading for Shotguns is easy if you have all the correct "Book" stipulated Ingredients and this is where the problem lies. If not it can become a Dogs Breakfast but is doable.

Been doing plenty of experimenting myself especially in Buckshot, Slugs, Shorties in 12 & 16 Ga.

Get a few Reloading Books including the Lyman Shotshell Reloading Handbook and it does not hurt to read up what Tom Roster "the Shotshell Professor" has to say.

Keep you Safety Glasses on when Reloading, keep a clean Reloading Bench and only the Powder you are reloading with on the Bench.


Cheers
 
cosmic said:
CB-1118-12 would be the ticket for your setup. You could also use these for trap, skeet, etc. BTW - if you need to deviate from your current bushing size, you can always load the powder manually with a scale or powder measure, and leave your powder bottle empty. (Its prudent to check your bushing drop weight anyway, they can be quite off)
Click to expand...


Or get a Universal Charge Bar for your MEC and never worry about bushings ever again, or not trying to match a charge for an existing bar..

http://https://ontargetsportingarms.com/mec-universal-charge-bar/
 
cosmic said:
Well - Thats an Australian website. As I understand it, the supplier that makes the MEC adjustable charge bar is no longer doing so. Getting one can be a challenge, OP is looking to make a few shells for turkey hunting???
Click to expand...

I picked up one new in the package last year online. I linked the first website to show the item, not to call Australia and order one.
 
erebus said:
I've got a scale. So when a powder measurement stipulates 21 grains. Is there a conversion to grams or is there a separate powder scale
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Grains is a scale, 7000 grains to a pound. Powder scales ( physical scales), either beam type or digital all measure in grains, some also in grams. Powder charges are normally quoted in grains, Americans, by far the most prolific reloaders don’t use grams. The computer or pad you are reading this on will do the conversion for you.
 
erebus said:
I've got a scale. So when a powder measurement stipulates 21 grains. Is there a conversion to grams or is there a separate powder scale
Click to expand...

There is about 0.065 grams in one grain - you can look up on Internet to get more precise conversion - many of us weigh powder charges to 0.5 grains, or 0.1 grains - so like to 0.0065 grams. Is no doubt there are scales that display in grams that go that fine? Does yours? Because I have the calculator out, that 21 grains weight would be 1.365 grams weight or so - look up to find exact conversion - if you weigh in grams, then that third number after the decimal point likely matters. A typical digital or beam scale for smokeless powder will say it is accurate within 0.1 grain weight - so what it displays is going to be up to 0.1 grain heavy or light than the "true" value. That means your gram scale needs to be accurate within 0.0065 grams, to be equivalent to most powder scales.
 
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