Jump to content

12ga reloading supplies and prices


Recommended Posts

So, I love shooting my Saiga 12, especially with slugs. I already reload for my M1A and M4gery, so I'm familiar with the process and many retailers. I'm not having any luck finding slugs for a decent price - do you have to cast to really save on slug and buck loads? Any recommendation on what hulls and wads to stock up on (re: what's cheap and widely available)?

 

I'm considering a Lee Load-All, or if I get REALLY ambitious, a MEC 650.

Link to post
Share on other sites

So, I love shooting my Saiga 12, especially with slugs. I already reload for my M1A and M4gery, so I'm familiar with the process and many retailers. I'm not having any luck finding slugs for a decent price - do you have to cast to really save on slug and buck loads? Any recommendation on what hulls and wads to stock up on (re: what's cheap and widely available)?

 

I'm considering a Lee Load-All, or if I get REALLY ambitious, a MEC 650.

 

Much like rifle/pistol reloading, the bullet (slug) is the most expensive part. A Lee 1oz slug mold, and a Lee production pot, should run about $70 and that is paid for once you reload about 125 shotgun rounds. I cast 1000 of them this winter, all out of scrap wheel weights, and it took about 12 hours of being a slave to the melting pot. But the cost breaks down like this : you get, at 24 grains of powder per round, about 280 rounds out of a pound of powder. A pound of powder costs about $20. 250 wads runs about $5. Primers run about $5 per hundred. So for under 40 bucks you've just loaded 250 rounds. Sure beats the slug loads from the stores. Plus, when shooting my Saiga, I've never been a "multiple projectile" guy, and prefer slugs for just fooling around. A load that works for me is the Lee 1oz slug, 24 grains of SR7625 (or 30 grains of 800x) and the AA12 or equivalent wad (I get the Claybusters at my local Cabelas a few dollars cheaper than the Winchesters). Hulls are whatever I scrounge from the local trap range. The trick is to vary the load components to get the right hight shot column in whatever case you are using to make a nice crimp. My brother and I have had a Mec 600JR for the last 20 years that works like a charm. My Saiga puts the above loads into a man's chest every time at 50 yards, but my 870 detests them. Go figure.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I would not get the Lee load all spend the extra and get a mec press you can get them cheap on Ebay got mine for $50+shipping. I have added stuff like a auto primer dispenser, bigger bottle for shot, have done well over 2000 rounds on mine. I do have the lee shot shell reloading hand book that can tell you what size bushing you need for every powder and what primers to use and wads if you are looking for info. there got to be 100 pages just for 12ga.

post-31053-0-40428800-1297897625_thumb.jpg

post-31053-0-36628400-1297897816_thumb.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

I would not get the Lee load all spend the extra and get a mec press you can get them cheap on Ebay got mine for $50+shipping. I have added stuff like a auto primer dispenser, bigger bottle for shot, have done well over 2000 rounds on mine. I do have the lee shot shell reloading hand book that can tell you what size bushing you need for every powder and what primers to use and wads if you are looking for info. there got to be 100 pages just for 12ga.

thats gonna suck when somone bumps that table. :lolol:

Link to post
Share on other sites

So, I love shooting my Saiga 12, especially with slugs. I already reload for my M1A and M4gery, so I'm familiar with the process and many retailers. I'm not having any luck finding slugs for a decent price - do you have to cast to really save on slug and buck loads? Any recommendation on what hulls and wads to stock up on (re: what's cheap and widely available)?

 

I'm considering a Lee Load-All, or if I get REALLY ambitious, a MEC 650.

 

Much like rifle/pistol reloading, the bullet (slug) is the most expensive part. A Lee 1oz slug mold, and a Lee production pot, should run about $70 and that is paid for once you reload about 125 shotgun rounds. I cast 1000 of them this winter, all out of scrap wheel weights, and it took about 12 hours of being a slave to the melting pot. But the cost breaks down like this : you get, at 24 grains of powder per round, about 280 rounds out of a pound of powder. A pound of powder costs about $20. 250 wads runs about $5. Primers run about $5 per hundred. So for under 40 bucks you've just loaded 250 rounds. Sure beats the slug loads from the stores. Plus, when shooting my Saiga, I've never been a "multiple projectile" guy, and prefer slugs for just fooling around. A load that works for me is the Lee 1oz slug, 24 grains of SR7625 (or 30 grains of 800x) and the AA12 or equivalent wad (I get the Claybusters at my local Cabelas a few dollars cheaper than the Winchesters). Hulls are whatever I scrounge from the local trap range. The trick is to vary the load components to get the right hight shot column in whatever case you are using to make a nice crimp. My brother and I have had a Mec 600JR for the last 20 years that works like a charm. My Saiga puts the above loads into a man's chest every time at 50 yards, but my 870 detests them. Go figure.

the lee slugs are nice. i prefer a .685 round ball for my slugs

(very little deformation) ive recently been cranking out buckshot pellets every weekend. i ran out of my favorite rem hulls, so i started screwing around with some winchester universal hulls. not too shabby. the crimps are a PITA because of the softer plastic, but its more a cosmetic issue. they feed just fine and pack some serious punch.

i just recently started using winchester aa 12 r wads for my buck loads.

not my first choice but for 500 for 5 bucks it was hard to pass up.

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 LBS of IMR 700x $20

1000 Winchester 209 pimers $35

1000 Claybuster Shotshell Wads 12 Gauge CB1118-12 $20

25lbs of Lead #8 shot $33

4 lbs long shot 65.00

1000 chedite primers 25.00

500 waa12 wads 5.00

shitloads of lead. free

Link to post
Share on other sites

I've just finished up my third 25 pound bag ($39.00 each) of #4 birdshot, and am on my third five pound box ($29.00 each) of buckshot (#4 and 00). I have several hundred rounds tossed into various boxes and so forth around the house, and really need to investigate a proper storage solution for them (all my tables are squarish, and wouldn't look nearly so good as the round one).

 

I ordered 500 Remington six crimp hulls ($36.00), filled all those, and looked at the hundreds of Winchester hulls I have from all that Wal-Mart ammo I've shot over the course of the last couple of years (I give my brass to a friend who supplies me with meat products made out of pork/deer/whatever). So I asked here, (SGW generally looks down on using the Winchester hulls, says they aren't worth the trouble) but I've loaded loads of them, and still have several hundred hulls to sort through. Unfortunately, I've bought out all the lead in the three or four local gun stores, and look to have to either order it online, or else start casting my own. I'm not sure which I'll go, although I do suspect I can find all the wheel weight lead I cound use.

 

Using the same recipe as the Remington, the Winchester hulls produce a substantially hotter load, but I can reload them a couple or three times, with the limiting factor being a deterioration of the crimp plastic. But in shotgun shells, pretty doesn't have too much to do with the shooting.

 

I did learn that taking care to place your 00 shot in three layers of three each, pressed into the hull with a finger, gives a better crimp and less danger of folding the hull plastic and making a shell that might not feed properly. I use WAA12 wads ($14.95 for 500) mostly, but have found what I consider my best loading with CLAYBUSTER "White Eight" wads (made about 50 miles from here). The loading gives me good reach out range, and only moderate recoil and noise. That's over 20.5 grains of Green Dot, with of course, 1 and 1/8th ounce of lead. I use Nobel primers @ $3.99 per hundred and find them an equal to Winchester primers, and not so hot as CCI 209m.

 

I load on a MEC Sizemaster, and have added a Universal Charge Bar, which has a bit of a learning curve, but once learned a body can change recipes in considerably less time than the average commercial break on SONS OF GUNS.

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

No and NO.

 

The cheap federal hulls are NOT the same as Gold Medal hulls. the cheapies use a fiber basewad in the hull, the Gold medals use a plastic base wad. The gold medal hulls are MUCH better quality. Can you reload the cheapies with the same recipies... YES. I have reloaded TOP GUN cheapies for trap loads only, and I would not reload the cheapies more than once, though, as the basewad after time will start to get funky, and could possibly cause issues. It would serve you better to go buy a few boxes of Nitro Gold rounds, shoot them, save the hulls, and reload them until they split!

 

WAA12 wads are load specific. They are for a certain weight load, and are not designed for slug use. You need to use the wad that the specific slug recipe calls for. If it calls for that wad, ok, go ahead. If not... I would NOT use it. only because it will create pressure issues.

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

:smoke:

Link to post
Share on other sites

I have priced it out approximately, in another thread, in this section.

 

You are CORRECT... you can buy the BARGAIN stuff for just a tiny bit more than the cost to reload... But the REAL savings will come when you get into higher power loadings. They sell HUNTING ammo for anywhere from 8 to 15 bucks a box for SHOT loads. Your cost of reloading stays relatively consistent. within a FEW CENTS depending on how many grains and what kind of powder you use. The rest remains constant.

 

I can reload a "clone" load of Remington nitro gold 27's for about $3.50 a box... lets see you buy them at Walmart for THAT price!! :lol:

Thats using a Nitro Gold hull, Remington nitro gold primers, Universal powder, Remington brand wads, and magnum chilled shot. I can keep consistency almost perfect in every box I load. Trap scores with these loads are consistent 23's and 24's out of 25. ( with a few of those mixed in now and then too... Lifting your head cant control how good a shell is loaded! LOL )

 

 

 

:smoke:

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 years later...

So, I love shooting my Saiga 12, especially with slugs. I already reload for my M1A and M4gery, so I'm familiar with the process and many retailers. I'm not having any luck finding slugs for a decent price - do you have to cast to really save on slug and buck loads? Any recommendation on what hulls and wads to stock up on (re: what's cheap and widely available)?

 

I'm considering a Lee Load-All, or if I get REALLY ambitious, a MEC 650.

 

I'd suggest a used mec press for more control over crimps than LEE. if you are looking at 650, I'd say to only consider the grabber version. The other version is not really designed to size brass. It doesn't seem to be a lot faster than Load All either. IMO, most would be happy with used Mec Jr or similar off of ebay.

 

You will find that birdshot 3 dram loads cost about the same to build as to buy, even buying in bulk quantity. You get ahead in quality or in other types of loads pretty fast.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I have priced it out approximately, in another thread, in this section.

 

You are CORRECT... you can buy the BARGAIN stuff for just a tiny bit more than the cost to reload... But the REAL savings will come when you get into higher power loadings. They sell HUNTING ammo for anywhere from 8 to 15 bucks a box for SHOT loads. Your cost of reloading stays relatively consistent. within a FEW CENTS depending on how many grains and what kind of powder you use. The rest remains constant.

 

I can reload a "clone" load of Remington nitro gold 27's for about $3.50 a box... lets see you buy them at Walmart for THAT price!! laugh.gif

Thats using a Nitro Gold hull, Remington nitro gold primers, Universal powder, Remington brand wads, and magnum chilled shot. I can keep consistency almost perfect in every box I load. Trap scores with these loads are consistent 23's and 24's out of 25. ( with a few of those mixed in now and then too... Lifting your head cant control how good a shell is loaded! LOL )

 

 

 

:smoke:

 

 

Exactly. Making clones to the bulk loads are about the same cost but with better wads. The other advantage is locking in your prices by bulk buying of components. Making heavy or fast loads is way cheaper than buying. Making buck or Slug wins by a huge margin, and you can pick your velocity and pellet count.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Chatbox

    Load More
    You don't have permission to chat.
×
×
  • Create New...