Getting started in reloading shotgun shells

[autogun]

"I decided that I can load AA quilty shells at gun club prices. "


Yes you can, quite easily.

 

[tmschuller]

Just getting back in to re loading , I used to re load 20+ years ago and no real training on it. I have a old Lee load all and want to make sure I am doing it safely. I want to load BB's for birds getting rid of varmint squirrels in the yard a little farther out. Any problem loading BB's in the old Lee press?

 

[AmmoManAaron]

Just getting back in to re loading , I used to re load 20+ years ago and no real training on it. I have a old Lee load all and want to make sure I am doing it safely. I want to load BB's for birds getting rid of varmint squirrels in the yard a little farther out. Any problem loading BB's in the old Lee press?

No idea, sorry - never used one of those presses.

 

[amboy49]

I reloaded shotshells since 1968 and have several progressive presses. I used to load out a keg of powder (3000 shells) in a single afternoon. In those days I reloaded for quality shells for well under 1/2 of new price. With the price of lead shot and Quality components, I save less than $1.00 (20%) a box over factory Remington Gun Clubs and Federals. I am not going to load for less than a dollar a box, especially since I can afford the extra $10 a week. I keep the equipment cleaned and oiled in storage just in case it is needed when things change. Say you get an entry level progressive like a MEC grabber. The press and a few accessories uses up a $400 bill pretty quick. It will take over 400 boxes (not counting time) to break even. Do you shoot that much? Even a single stage MEC is pushing $200 these days. I bought my first MEC jr singe stage for $29.00 at a department store.

That said, I know people who reload just because they like to. Technically, almost any shell can be reloaded. Can be does not mean they should or that they are trouble free. The problem is some of the foreign made shells have loose primer pockets with American primers. Some hulls are tapered,and some straight, you really need the right wad for the hull you are using. The old one piece compression formed Winchester AA hulls were great, the new multi piece AA hulls are problematic. Federals run a separate base wad, and are ok, (with the proper wad) but I only reload them once for use in a pump or semi auto. This is based on the fear of the base wad coming loose and left in the barrel, ruining the gun. With a break open, you can visually look down the barrel every shot and check for a clear barrel. I never had a wad jam, but I am not risking a gun (or my face) to save 2 pennys on a hull. The Remington STS, Nitro or Gun Club hulls are still pretty good.

If you are bound and determined, I'll be glad to help you with specific questions, or help you find the answers.

Just curious - what type of press are you using ? If an "afternoon" would be from say - noon to five - that would mean you're averaging 600 shells an hour to load 3,000 shells in five hours. That's an incredible rate. I load all 4 gauges on MEC 9000's and can't come anywhere close to that volume - especially in the .410. I figured if you're using an average of 17.5 grains of powder per shell then 3,000 shells would take about 7.5 lbs so yeah, just about an 8 lb keg.

I think you are correct about the price of the cheaper shells such as Gun Clubs, Federals, and Rios being about $1.00 more than reloads but: the quality of the components and shells overall are inferior, the hulls of the cheap shells don't stand up to much reloading, and you can't tailor the purchased shells the way you can your on reloads.

I load 12 ga. down to 7/8ths or even 3/4 oz. for practice on the skeet range. I load 20 ga. down to 3/4 oz. and as you mentioned, HUGE savings on the 28 ga. and .410 bore when you load your own.

Again, would like to learn what kind of reloader you're using for that kind of volume. I'm shooting about 300 rounds a week on average which will slow down somewhatwith colder weather coming - but still would like to maximize my rate of reloading.

Thanks in advance

 

[singlesix]

Don't know if Gun Clubs make the cheap shell list, but I that is all I reload and I can between 8 to 10 reloads per shell.

 

[kennedy759]

I load 16 ga for about $5.75 with rem game load hulls. I get about 5-6 reloads out of them. I use both a Lee load all and a MEC jr. I prefer the Lee, no adjustments and the load come out looking like factory. I use the Mec when I load 2.5 in shells for my older 16ga(I trim the used up 2 3/4 in shells) and also when trying new loads since its easier to change out the bushings in a Mec over the Lee. I like the Lee crimping stations over the Mec, but I like the mec resizing station over the Lee.

 

[crewchief888]

i started reloading 12g on the cheap.
i found 2 lee loadall presses, 12g & 20g on ebay for under $40 shipped.
i belonged to a small gun club at the time, and picked up 500 or so once fired AA hulls out of the dumpster.
bag-o-shot, 1000 primers, & some red dot powder and i was in business.