Jump to content

Dumb Guy Question about reloading High Brass Shotshells.


Recommended Posts

I have a dumb question to ask. I have reloaded some handgun rounds and a few rifle rounds BUT Shotshells are entirely new to me. Prior to retirement I was a firearms instructor for the local Sheriff's Office and being a handgun reloader, thought it would be a good idea to retain our high brass, slug and buck hulls. I have about two thirty gallon bags of empties. I am unable to find information on reloading these hulls vice AA hulls. Can someone educate a poor old retired boy about reloading high brass? I would love to use these in my two S-12s (and other shotguns). I have a Lee Loader II, but do not understand about the difference the hulls would make with wads etc.

 

I would love to reload Buckshot and Slugs in these hulls and have molds for both #4 and 00 Buck and Slug.

 

Thanks

Edited by neubert500
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Brass height is irrelevant.

 

Actually a lot of the higher quality shells are low base. Most of the high brass have paper basewads which make them iffy to reload safely.

 

AA hulls (tapered 1 piece plastic low base) are good quality, but they are tapered internally.  I like the Rem STS (tapered 1 piece plastic low base) and fed gold medal (mid base brass, no taper, plastic basewad.) better, but they are all good. A rule of thumb is that wads for tapered hulls do badly in straight hulls, but most straight hull wads are OK in a taper. 

 

I like to use federal wads for heavy loads, or the clones. Don't use clones for slugs. See the first pic here for a visual explanation  http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/gallery/album/1129-reloading/

 

Actually I use the rem gun club cheapos the most. They reload to identical data as STS most of the time and are 1 piece plastic, which is better. They are free all the time, since any time you go to the range someone will go through a box or two, and you can get once fired for sure. Even laying on the ground you don't have to worry about moisture damaged paper basewads. They crimp well.

 

Basically, high brass is just more work, and the paper ones can get dangerous if you aren't certain about how many times they are fired and that the basewad has never been damp.

 

I did a video with some handy tips.

 

 

If you get a Lee Load all, this will help. 

GET THE RCBS shotshell manual. It will help a lot. It is way better than the Lyman manual for anything other than light birdshot loads. Actually better for those too.

Edited by GunFun
  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes, but link what you are looking at to be sure.

 

This is the right one.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/890340/rcbs-handbook-of-shotshell-reloading-reloading-manual

 

I think 'discontinued' is midway's inventory status, not the publisher's but they may be close to a new edition. Even if they don't it has far more, and better data than lyman. Lyman just lists a bunch of ways to make light trap loads, with a handfull of feild loads. Velocities for all are moderate.

 

RCBS offers many more combinations of each load. The thing I really like is that they list the same load lots of times, with slightly more powder, with the corresponding pressure and velocity. This is way more helpful than having a low min and a high max load with no idea of what you are going to get somewhere in between. 

 

The data I like for buckshot is to use ~1400 FPS birdshot data, and substitute an equal weight (or slightly less) of buckshot. So long as it fits properly, this is safe. I get better patterns because of the shotcup too. However, this book has more buckshot specific loads than lyman, and the magnum loads are really magnum. 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I was afraid of that. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing, but I hope the info helps. Now if only I could find any powder around here. Primers are available, and I have the rest in good supply.


BTW, I wish I had one of those #4 buck molds. I have nearly bought them a few times, but I hold back when I realize you get less than one good shot per fill, even assuming they all fill out properly.

 

I hope really soon to be building a powered casting machine that I could put a 2 cav buckshot mold in and get flawless buckshot from by the bucketfull.

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...