scattergunner 12 Posted March 13, 2010 Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 just started loading my own ammo for my s12 and i couldn't be happier. for cheaper than wally world bulk pack i am shooting slugs that cycle 100% on setting 1-. best part is that i can shoot slugs...... or buckshot..... or buck and ball... or buck and bird....or buck + ball + bird(my favorite) for less than 20 cents per round. at first i was worried that the reloads wouldn't feed good in an auto, but i have fired well over 300 shells without 1 single failure!!! i also like the fact that i can fine tune the powder charge to get ultra reliable reduced recoil rounds. i am casting the slugs with a lee 1 oz slug mold, the buckshot with a sharp shooter 00 mold and using a lee load all for a press. grand total of just over 100 bucks for all of the equipment shipped to my door (purchased new) accuracy has also improved drasticly over low quality factory loads. another huge plus is that raw materials are way easier and cheaper to store in bulk than live rounds. to make a long story..uh.... less long, i highly reccomend looking into loading your own if you like to shoot alot and are tired of wimpy, smelly, and worst of all DIRTY fed bulk pack. cheers! disclaimer: loading shotshells can be very dangerous if done incorrectly. unless you want missing fingers, use only reliable published data and follow recipes exactly!!! no substitutions!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobra 76 two 2,677 Posted March 13, 2010 Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 I want to start doing the same pretty soon. I've been buying all my materials a little at a time at gunshows and now have enough to get a pretty good start. So far I've got an old MEC Jr. loader, 3,000 wads, 12 lbs of powder, a few thousand primers, a few thousand spent hulls, about 50 lbs of shot, and about 700 lbs of tire weights. Need to get some slug and buck molds and I'm going to make my own thing for making bird shot. If it will work like what I have planned, I just need to drill some holes in a cast iron pot or dutch oven, and have channels to run streams of molten lead off a tray and into a waiting bucket of antifreeze. The shot is formed into spheres as it hits the liquid and cools, then drops to the bottom. Can't wait to be loading my own shells. Even the Federal bulk pack "bargain" stuff gets expensive when feeding a few 20 rd drums...lol. I want to be able to shoot slugs without spending so much too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfighteruk 6 Posted March 13, 2010 Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 (edited) Have to agree reloading is they way to go Im using lee 1 oz slug in a new primed fiocchi case ,vp05 wad & 19g of reddot. Just shot a slug stage at a recent tournament & scored straight a's. The vp05 wad is ideal as a lee slug fits straight in at the right height. Tried to star crimp in my mec press but the rounds were opening up so switched to roll crimping,accuracy is as good as or better than any of the factory rounds iv tried. Edited March 13, 2010 by gunfighteruk Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lone Star Arms 2,047 Posted March 13, 2010 Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 I want to start doing the same pretty soon. I've been buying all my materials a little at a time at gunshows and now have enough to get a pretty good start. So far I've got an old MEC Jr. loader, 3,000 wads, 12 lbs of powder, a few thousand primers, a few thousand spent hulls, about 50 lbs of shot, and about 700 lbs of tire weights. Need to get some slug and buck molds and I'm going to make my own thing for making bird shot. If it will work like what I have planned, I just need to drill some holes in a cast iron pot or dutch oven, and have channels to run streams of molten lead off a tray and into a waiting bucket of antifreeze. The shot is formed into spheres as it hits the liquid and cools, then drops to the bottom. Can't wait to be loading my own shells. Even the Federal bulk pack "bargain" stuff gets expensive when feeding a few 20 rd drums...lol. I want to be able to shoot slugs without spending so much too. " I just need to drill some holes in a cast iron pot or dutch oven, and have channels to run streams of molten lead off a tray and into a waiting bucket of antifreeze. The shot is formed into spheres as it hits the liquid and cools, then drops to the bottom." Cobra.. Jewelers use a similar technique for making silver and gold casting grain (great for Werewolves), however only water is is used to cool the grain. Also by drilling holes of the same diameter in layers, and stacking the layers with a bit of space between them in organized into decreasing diameter sizes large to small, you can make a sifter that automatically separates your shot into size groups. I used to own one created for separating out mm stone sizes and used it to quickly separate silver and gold shot, but it wasn't large enough to accommodate the sort of volume one would need for efficient reloading. Now that I think about it, there HAS to be a commercially available product of this type for reloaders. Not being a reloader myself, I haven't looked into it, but I'll bet its out there. Good luck with your reloading endeavors - knowing you, you will create a whole bunch of stuff everyone needs, but didn't know they needed until you invented it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cb8180 2 Posted March 13, 2010 Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 There is! Look up the Littleton Shotmaker--not cheap, though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobra 76 two 2,677 Posted March 13, 2010 Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 Exactly...that's why I'm planning to build my own version, (one that will have a thermostat....) It's such a simple concept I can't understand why they have to cost so much. All it is, is a hotplate with a melting pot and a row of nozzles. WTF? $400 - $900?? Sounds like the same sort of thing Mike, with molten lead though water = very bad, as I'm sure you are aware. From what I have read antifreeze is one good thing you can use. I've also heard of people using dishwashing liquid. Here's some video.... http://www.youtube.c...feature=related Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scattergunner 12 Posted March 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 I want to start doing the same pretty soon. I've been buying all my materials a little at a time at gunshows and now have enough to get a pretty good start. So far I've got an old MEC Jr. loader, 3,000 wads, 12 lbs of powder, a few thousand primers, a few thousand spent hulls, about 50 lbs of shot, and about 700 lbs of tire weights. Need to get some slug and buck molds and I'm going to make my own thing for making bird shot. If it will work like what I have planned, I just need to drill some holes in a cast iron pot or dutch oven, and have channels to run streams of molten lead off a tray and into a waiting bucket of antifreeze. The shot is formed into spheres as it hits the liquid and cools, then drops to the bottom. Can't wait to be loading my own shells. Even the Federal bulk pack "bargain" stuff gets expensive when feeding a few 20 rd drums...lol. I want to be able to shoot slugs without spending so much too. i too am currently working on a small shot tower i dont know what you got for powder, but i can highly reccomend hs-6 or blue dot. they are both nice dense torquey powders that push the bolt extremely well. also if using wheel weights, be sure to "smoke the mold frequently when casting key drive slugs to prevent sticking. you might not want to go with a bottom pour melter with wheel weights due to leakage problems caused by the antimony, but i know plenty of guys who dont mind a little leak if it means free lead. my favorite recipe so far is: win aa hull/ win 209 primer/ waa12 wad/ 1 oz lee key drive slug with a 20g nitro card under it/ and 36 grains of hodgdon hs-6. this load cycles the s12 effortlessly with high flying ejects on setting 1-. other than the addition of the nitro card for accuracy reasons,i THINK this is ALMOST the exact data that is recommended by lee on their site. double check this data before loading!!! disclaimer: i take no responsibility for accidents resulting from a failure to use only EXACT published data. be safe!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
billyjoebob 10 Posted March 13, 2010 Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 Are any of you using the re-loadable brass shells? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scattergunner 12 Posted March 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2010 i havent tried brass cases because i have heard bad things about them getting stuck in chambers. not sure if it is an issue with all brass cased shotshells, or just certain brands but it was enough to scare me off. seems like they wouldnt be good for a semi auto if they have a tendency to stick. you would also probably need one big ass sizing die. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
padenbrown 2 Posted March 14, 2010 Report Share Posted March 14, 2010 (edited) I want to start doing the same pretty soon. I've been buying all my materials a little at a time at gunshows and now have enough to get a pretty good start. So far I've got an old MEC Jr. loader, 3,000 wads, 12 lbs of powder, a few thousand primers, a few thousand spent hulls, about 50 lbs of shot, and about 700 lbs of tire weights. Need to get some slug and buck molds and I'm going to make my own thing for making bird shot. If it will work like what I have planned, I just need to drill some holes in a cast iron pot or dutch oven, and have channels to run streams of molten lead off a tray and into a waiting bucket of antifreeze. The shot is formed into spheres as it hits the liquid and cools, then drops to the bottom. Can't wait to be loading my own shells. Even the Federal bulk pack "bargain" stuff gets expensive when feeding a few 20 rd drums...lol. I want to be able to shoot slugs without spending so much too. lol didnt know a dutch oven was a real thing and why antifreeze??? Edited March 14, 2010 by BROWNEYE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
eseaton 2 Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 Will you take the time to tell me exactly what items you are using and where you got them for that price? Do you use wheel weights? Thanks for your help. Eseaton Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Klassy Kalashnikov 1,393 Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 (edited) I want to start doing the same pretty soon. I've been buying all my materials a little at a time at gunshows and now have enough to get a pretty good start. So far I've got an old MEC Jr. loader, 3,000 wads, 12 lbs of powder, a few thousand primers, a few thousand spent hulls, about 50 lbs of shot, and about 700 lbs of tire weights. Need to get some slug and buck molds and I'm going to make my own thing for making bird shot. If it will work like what I have planned, I just need to drill some holes in a cast iron pot or dutch oven, and have channels to run streams of molten lead off a tray and into a waiting bucket of antifreeze. The shot is formed into spheres as it hits the liquid and cools, then drops to the bottom. Can't wait to be loading my own shells. Even the Federal bulk pack "bargain" stuff gets expensive when feeding a few 20 rd drums...lol. I want to be able to shoot slugs without spending so much too. lol didnt know a dutch oven was a real thing and why antifreeze??? Most automotive antifreeze has a higher boiling point than water. Water boils at 212F so I'm thinking people don't use water because they don't want flash boiling steam/etc. shooting around. Antifreeze usually boils somewhere around 255-275F so it gives a bit more of a margin I'm assuming. I believe lead melts somewhere in the 600's. That's just speculation though. I'm sure a reloader will be along with a full answer. Edited March 15, 2010 by Klassy Kalashnikov Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wade Pruetz 103 Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 I am also interested in reloading and have access to a real nice re-loader. Can someone point me to a good website for reloading supplies? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Klassy Kalashnikov 1,393 Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 Your best bet is to buy powder and primers locally. When you buy them via internet they ship it UPS/FedEx and that requires a hazmat charge in addition to shipping, so it's like $30-40 in various fees. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
coleman2 2 Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?showtopic=51708 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wade Pruetz 103 Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 Your best bet is to buy powder and primers locally. When you buy them via internet they ship it UPS/FedEx and that requires a hazmat charge in addition to shipping, so it's like $30-40 in various fees. Yeah looking at Midway and I noticed that real fast. Thanks I will check it out at the next gun show. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wade Pruetz 103 Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 I noticed they were selling once fired AA Winchester hulls, is anyone picking up there hulls and reloading? Also how many times can you reload a hull? Sorry but all this is new to me, I guess I should do some research at the risk of sounding like an idiot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scattergunner 12 Posted March 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 Will you take the time to tell me exactly what items you are using and where you got them for that price? Do you use wheel weights? Thanks for your help. Eseaton I noticed they were selling once fired AA Winchester hulls, is anyone picking up there hulls and reloading? Also how many times can you reload a hull? Sorry but all this is new to me, I guess I should do some research at the risk of sounding like an idiot. all this stuff should be available through midway or cabelas (except the buckshot mold which is on ebay) lee load all 2 12 guage press: 40-50 bucks lee 1 oz slug mold: 20 bucks lube for slug mold(hard bullet lube works good): 5 bucks flux for melting the lead(beeswax works fine):5 bucks cheap digital powder scale: 20 bucks highly recommended optional equipment: lee bottom pour melting pot: 60 bucks (way faster than a saucepan and ladle) sharpshooter 20 cavity 00 buckshot mold 35 bucks (ebay) a collection of good up to date shotshell loading manuals: 10-100 bucks as far as scoring POWDER and PRIMERS go, i say the cheapest bet is to get your buddies together and buy a gang of 8 lb cans of powder from gamaliel or midway. the 25 dollar hazmat fee is per 50lb box not per jug. if you buy enough powder the hazmat only ends up being 50 cents per pound and that is more than made up for by the way better prices and availability of the much cheaper 8lb jugs. cabelas usually has plenty of primers in stock right at the store. i have had the best luck with blue dot and hs-6 for cycling the s12 and cant speak highly enough of it!! i have been hording WHEEL WEIGHTS but havent used them cuz i got a shitload of pure lead flashing, but i will if they are all i can get. the slug mold and bottom pour melter call for pure lead only, but i know guys who use ww lead in them and they work just fine if the mold is smoked properly. ww's might also cause a bottom pour pot to get a little leaky, but who cares if the lead is free! just be sure not to fire harder alloy slugs through a tight choke. WIN AA hulls can be reloaded 4-7 times or so. remington sts hulls are even better. most others are 1 or 2 times if that lol. happy loading!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JesseHolmz 0 Posted March 16, 2010 Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 (edited) i'm getting into this myself lately too... i almost have all the supplies, waiting on my melting pot still, i got the same molds you mentioned though. i saw a youtube clip about using wheel weights and the guy in the clip melted htem all down in a separate pot and tried to purify them first, video here: did your friends using wheel weights do that first? Edited March 16, 2010 by Jesse Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Klassy Kalashnikov 1,393 Posted March 16, 2010 Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 I posted this in general forum but got no responses. This guy takes Federal/Winchester bulk pack, cuts the very top off, melts the shot in a little pot, pours it into a slug mold, and re-inserts it. Even less work than regular reloading. and no components needed. My only concern is whether or not the squared off shape of the top of the slug would feed in a semi auto. I ordered the tools ($47) and hope to give it a try. Worse that can happen, I turn around and sell the tools to a reloader. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobra 76 two 2,677 Posted March 16, 2010 Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 Will you take the time to tell me exactly what items you are using and where you got them for that price? Do you use wheel weights? Thanks for your help. Eseaton I noticed they were selling once fired AA Winchester hulls, is anyone picking up there hulls and reloading? Also how many times can you reload a hull? Sorry but all this is new to me, I guess I should do some research at the risk of sounding like an idiot. i have been hording WHEEL WEIGHTS but havent used them cuz i got a shitload of pure lead flashing, but i will if they are all i can get. the slug mold and bottom pour melter call for pure lead only, but i know guys who use ww lead in them and they work just fine if the mold is smoked properly. ww's might also cause a bottom pour pot to get a little leaky, but who cares if the lead is free! just be sure not to fire harder alloy slugs through a tight choke. WIN AA hulls can be reloaded 4-7 times or so. remington sts hulls are even better. most others are 1 or 2 times if that lol. happy loading!!! I did read that the wheel weight lead would be harder than pure lead. I'm hoping that will be a good thing for making slugs to fire through a rifled choke that normally calls for sabots. What are your thoughts on that? I realize I'm not to fire them through a full choke. Also...can you reload the Federal bulk pack ammo hulls at all? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nsa400 11 Posted March 16, 2010 Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 Yes you can reload the fed bulk pacs. I have reloaded them several times,w/birdshot,buckshot,and slugs. Works good, I love my MEC. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Slug-O 6 Posted March 16, 2010 Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 Hey Scattergunner.... Could you load slugs at 1100fps??? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JesseHolmz 0 Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Yes you can reload the fed bulk pacs. I have reloaded them several times,w/birdshot,buckshot,and slugs. Works good, I love my MEC. what loading data did you use for reloading them with buckshot and slugs? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wade Pruetz 103 Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 just started loading my own ammo for my s12 and i couldn't be happier. for cheaper than wally world bulk pack i am shooting slugs that cycle 100% on setting 1-. best part is that i can shoot slugs...... or buckshot..... or buck and ball... or buck and bird....or buck + ball + bird(my favorite) for less than 20 cents per round. at first i was worried that the reloads wouldn't feed good in an auto, but i have fired well over 300 shells without 1 single failure!!! i also like the fact that i can fine tune the powder charge to get ultra reliable reduced recoil rounds. i am casting the slugs with a lee 1 oz slug mold, the buckshot with a sharp shooter 00 mold and using a lee load all for a press. grand total of just over 100 bucks for all of the equipment shipped to my door (purchased new) accuracy has also improved drasticly over low quality factory loads. another huge plus is that raw materials are way easier and cheaper to store in bulk than live rounds. to make a long story..uh.... less long, i highly reccomend looking into loading your own if you like to shoot alot and are tired of wimpy, smelly, and worst of all DIRTY fed bulk pack. cheers! disclaimer: loading shotshells can be very dangerous if done incorrectly. unless you want missing fingers, use only reliable published data and follow recipes exactly!!! no substitutions!!! Please tell me how you are doing this for so cheap, I have access to a MEC 9000 so that's free and we have hulls for free but the cost per round for everything else is about .24/round. Federal bulk pack runs about .23/round and Winchester AA runs about .30/round. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JesseHolmz 0 Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 just started loading my own ammo for my s12 and i couldn't be happier. for cheaper than wally world bulk pack i am shooting slugs that cycle 100% on setting 1-. best part is that i can shoot slugs...... or buckshot..... or buck and ball... or buck and bird....or buck + ball + bird(my favorite) for less than 20 cents per round. at first i was worried that the reloads wouldn't feed good in an auto, but i have fired well over 300 shells without 1 single failure!!! i also like the fact that i can fine tune the powder charge to get ultra reliable reduced recoil rounds. i am casting the slugs with a lee 1 oz slug mold, the buckshot with a sharp shooter 00 mold and using a lee load all for a press. grand total of just over 100 bucks for all of the equipment shipped to my door (purchased new) accuracy has also improved drasticly over low quality factory loads. another huge plus is that raw materials are way easier and cheaper to store in bulk than live rounds. to make a long story..uh.... less long, i highly reccomend looking into loading your own if you like to shoot alot and are tired of wimpy, smelly, and worst of all DIRTY fed bulk pack. cheers! disclaimer: loading shotshells can be very dangerous if done incorrectly. unless you want missing fingers, use only reliable published data and follow recipes exactly!!! no substitutions!!! Please tell me how you are doing this for so cheap, I have access to a MEC 9000 so that's free and we have hulls for free but the cost per round for everything else is about .24/round. Federal bulk pack runs about .23/round and Winchester AA runs about .30/round. it depends on if you're molding your own bullets and how much powder, etc you buy at once. price decreases based on that Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wade Pruetz 103 Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 It must be the molding that saves money, on a cost break down that is about 10-11 cents per/round if you buy the lead shot in bulk. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
coleman2 2 Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JesseHolmz 0 Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
coleman2 2 Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Jesse, Goto castboolits forum alot of info how to cast your own for shotgun. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.