Reloading shells?

[Leo]

I have been pretty involved in league level trap shooting, Sporting clays and regulation skeet. Trust me, the Shotgun reloaders are having the same primer problems as the metallic cartridge reloaders. Power has been pretty sketchy for a long time and expensive. Lead shot is iffy also, and when you do find it, the shipping is tough to absorb.

I have MEC progressive reloaders for 12 & 20 gauge and Jrs. for sub gauge. I have not pulled a handle in a few years. I am not going to reload for $9 a box when just watching sales gets me new for the same money.

The modern AA hulls are 3 piece straight wall plastic and do not hold up as well as the old once piece compression formed hulls. Some do choose to reload them.

Federal Gold Medal hulls have always been decent when using a Federal design wad. The common trap club grade shells are called Top Gun. I have reloaded buckets full of top guns one time and tossed them because deterioration of the paper base wad is a variable I don't bother with. The cheapest Federal hulls have different base wads for different production runs, even though they look the same outside. Sort them all with a marked stick if you are going to mess with them

The Remington hulls from the Gun Clubs all the way to Nitro 27 premium hulls are great. I do use either Remington TGT wads or a claybuster clone. Remington primers are a tiny bit smaller than CCI or Winchester primers, and the bigger ones are tighter to press in the first time. Of course once you use the bigger primers once, the holes are too loose for Remington primers. Since I have not found Remington shotshell primers for sale in about 8 years, that is a non issue.

It is pretty hard to find an ideal target shotshell powder that works in both 12 gauge and 20 gauge. I used a lot of "CLAYS" power for 12 gauge and "INTERNATIONAL CLAYS" for 20 gauge. They do not interchange. Before you buy powder, do a lot of checking in the online reloading manuals

Like any reloading, use safe, careful practices, not fast practices.

I would clean up those old MEC Jrs. They are not complicated, parts easy to find, and when kept cleaned and lubricated, will last longer than you. I bought my first one at Turnstyle Department store on 61st and Broadway for $29 in the early 70's. Wad fingers ($4) and plastic bottles and maybe a spring are all that is not original .

 

[cg21]

I have been pretty involved in league level trap shooting, Sporting clays and regulation skeet. Trust me, the Shotgun reloaders are having the same primer problems as the metallic cartridge reloaders. Power has been pretty sketchy for a long time and expensive. Lead shot is iffy also, and when you do find it, the shipping is tough to absorb.

I have MEC progressive reloaders for 12 & 20 gauge and Jrs. for sub gauge. I have not pulled a handle in a few years. I am not going to reload for $9 a box when just watching sales gets me new for the same money.

The modern AA hulls are 3 piece straight wall plastic and do not hold up as well as the old once piece compression formed hulls. Some do choose to reload them.

Federal Gold Medal hulls have always been decent when using a Federal design wad. The common trap club grade shells are called Top Gun. I have reloaded buckets full of top guns one time and tossed them because deterioration of the paper base wad is a variable I don't bother with. The cheapest Federal hulls have different base wads for different production runs, even though they look the same outside. Sort them all with a marked stick if you are going to mess with them

The Remington hulls from the Gun Clubs all the way to Nitro 27 premium hulls are great. I do use either Remington TGT hulls or a claybuster clone. Remington primers are a tiny bit smaller than CCI or Winchester primers, and the bigger ones are tighter to press in the first time. Of course once you use the bigger primers once, the holes are too loose for Remington primers. Since I have not found Remington shotshell primers for sale in about 8 years, that is a non issue.

It is pretty hard to find an ideal target shotshell powder that works in both 12 gauge and 20 gauge. I used a lot of "CLAYS" power for 12 gause and "INTERNATIONAL CLAYS" for 20 gauge. They do not interchange. Before you buy powder, do a lot of checking in the online reloading manuals

Like any reloading, use safe, careful practices, not fast practices.

I would clean up those old MEC Jrs. They are not complicated, parts easy to find, and when kept cleaned and lubricated, will last longer than you. I bought my first one at Turnstyle Department store on 61st and Broadway for $29 in the early 70's. Wad fingers ($4) and plastic bottles and maybe a spring are all that is not original .

Thank you, that post did NOT make my search for the perfect hull donor any easier though.

I gave serial numbers to customer service be said that 12g one is from the early 70’s also lol I am going to get them running he sent me the list of parts I needed

 

[Mij]

yes the mec, even thought the load all gave me nicer crimps, but to change bushings on the load all, you have to turn it upside down to pour out any shot and powder still in the hoppers, then you have to remove the screws in the front and take the hopper off to get to the bushings, a real pita. the only other advantage to the load all is it comes with all the different powder and shot bushings while you have to buy them separate for the mec.

My MEC has a sliding bar that will allow you to adjust both shot and powder with micro precision (I bought as aftermarket item). No need to ever change bushings. Loads all gauge without changing anything except the micrometer adjustment on the slide bar.

 

[Leo]

One thing that is different about the MEC JR than a progressive press in a technique to test weigh the powder charge.

Slide the bar with only the powder bottle and take about 5 samples without weighing them. This equalized the powder in the bottle. Now move the handle down and back up without sliding the bar. Make sure it bumps on both ends of the stroke. This packs the powder in the metering bushing. Now weigh the powder sample on your scale. This will be the actual powder charge of each shell. It will be heavier than a sample taken after one pull. Since the MEC Junior requires 5 handle movements per shell, this is the real powder charge getting into the hull you are working on. The progressive models finish a shell every stroke, so the bushing never packs.

NEVER trust the hull chart for the exact powder charge, the weight will never be what the chart says, too many variables.

Another tip. When you bolt the press down to a board, bolt a cake pan between the press and the board. If you have a powder or shot spilling mishap, you will be glad you did.

 

[Paul 7.62]

You can customize your loads for where you break your birds, custom wads can open or close up your patterns, you might not need hard shot and can go cheaper with soft shot. If you belong to a club you can buy things like shot in bulk and the same with wads as a group buy. Also buying powder in 8lb. jugs helps too , same with primers buying them 10,000 at a time.

 

[Paul 7.62]

One thing that is different about the MEC JR than a progressive press in a technique to test weigh the powder charge.

Slide the bar with only the powder bottle and take about 5 samples without weighing them. This equalized the powder in the bottle. Now move the handle down and back up without sliding the bar. Make sure it bumps on both ends of the stroke. This packs the powder in the metering bushing. Now weigh the powder sample on your scale. This will be the actual powder charge of each shell. It will be heavier than a sample taken after one pull. Since the MEC Junior requires 5 handle movements per shell, this is the real powder charge getting into the hull you are working on. The progressive models finish a shell every stroke, so the bushing never packs.

NEVER trust the hull chart for the exact powder charge, the weight will never be what the chart says, too many variables.

Another tip. When you bolt the press down to a board, bolt a cake pan between the press and the board. If you have a powder or shot spilling mishap, you will be glad you did.

Leo is right, don't trust bushing for shot or powder but weight them. I have used just about all the progressives, My favorite was the P&W but it is expensive, Hornady 366 is a good press at about the right price, Dillon is a great press but I never got a good feel for it, RCBS Grand is one press I never used.

 

[cg21]

What a rabbit hole this is…. I appreciate all the advice. So as of right now I am going to try and pickup / glean / purchase STS and / or AA. And I will just start filling boxes with hulls whichever fills first that’s where I will start…

as far as primers is it just get whatever you can at this time? Is there ones to stay away from?

and powder I am seeing a couple popular ones keep popping up in my research reddot and tightwad.

for primers wads and powder I will wait until we figure out what club to join and see if there is a group buy there seems that is pretty typical.

 

[tomcat13]

Now you're finding out just how Involved it is!
Certainly it Can be cost effective; however, in my own experience-Patience is Required.
As others have mentioned: "find a Recipe that works for your needs & stick with it"
In addition to Primer availability, you may find that Shot Cost is a Challenge as well.
I would expect Shot Costs to go up significantly(they're already pretty high), with the impending upclick for EV's & their Batteries.
JMO

 

[Leo]

I have used Winchester primers and CCI primers in shotshells for 50 years. A few bricks of Remington and Federal primers were in the mix. Never had any problems with any of them. Double check the load manuals, some brands need a change of powder charge. Mostly I load a light 1150 fps target shell, so there is lots of safety margin. If I was loading max pressure, high velocity hunting ammo, I would be careful to go exactly by the book.

Some of my shotgun friends have been using the foreign made Cheddite brand primers and they have reported they work fine. I personally have never tried them.

Like any reloading supplies these days, you generally have to figure out what is available.

 

[Michigan Slim]

The Cheddites work good for me. I've used a ton of them for Cowboy Action shooting. Never a failure yet.
Red Dot is an excellent powder. But it's made out of unobtainium right now.

 

[Aszerigan]

Unless you’re making your own shot, don’t bother.

 

[Gunmetalgray]

As others stated, sticking to one hull will be less troublesome. Reason being is once the pre-crimp & main crimp is finally dialed in to make good repeatable crimps on one type hull, a different brand hull could need diff settings. Could get frustrating. Also, not sure if anyone mention straight wall vs tapered hulls. Wads are different for straight wall vs tapered hulls. Rem STS, gold nitros or gun club hulls are all good. The cookie sheet under the press is great suggestion, for 'when' shot is spilled.

 

[Remington 90T]

AA or STS brass-based shells are the best -For shooting at the 16 yard line cheap throwaway shells cost about the same as any I can reload-Problem has been finding supplies - traveling 50 miles one way to get shot and having to go another way for primers -Hazmat fees are a big problem when they limit you on what you can order. I still find it cheaper to reload my handicap and game loads. If you are planning to reload for a youth league, many require new shells for safety reasons. Mec 600 is a true stand by reloader. Simple, just clean it up -get the right charge bar and you will be reloading -stop by any trap club they will help you out. As far as reloading cost here is a good cost calculator site http://ecsc-skeet.com/linked/shotshell_reloading_cost_calculator.htm

 

[STFU]

AA or STS brass-based shells are the best -For shooting at the 16 yard line cheap throwaway shells cost about the same as any I can reload-Problem has been finding supplies - traveling 50 miles one way to get shot and having to go another way for primers -Hazmat fees are a big problem when they limit you on what you can order. I still find it cheaper to reload my handicap and game loads. If you are planning to reload for a youth league, many require new shells for safety reasons. Mec 600 is a true stand by reloader. Simple, just clean it up -get the right charge bar and you will be reloading -stop by any trap club they will help you out. As far as reloading cost here is a good cost calculator site http://ecsc-skeet.com/linked/shotshell_reloading_cost_calculator.htm

Thank you for that link ^^^

 

[Aszerigan]

The cookie sheet under the press is great suggestion, for 'when' shot is spilled.

Absolutely !!

 

[Gunmetalgray]

Alliant Claydot is another good powder and (usually) more readily found in stock. Per Alliant, it's designed to use the same load data as Hodgdon's Clays, which became so difficult to find that I no longer even look for it.

https://www.alliantpowder.com/products/powder/clay_dot.aspx

 

[cg21]

Unless you’re making your own shot, don’t bother.

Do they even make a 7.5 mold ?

 

[cg21]

Alliant Claydot is another good powder and (usually) more readily found in stock. Per Alliant, it's designed to use the same load data as Hodgdon's Clays, which became so difficult to find that I no longer even look for it.
View attachment 288759
https://www.alliantpowder.com/products/powder/clay_dot.aspx

Thank you I think my plan is to start stocking up as I see and find stuff… then figure it out once I have some stuff laying around.

 

[cg21]

AA or STS brass-based shells are the best -For shooting at the 16 yard line cheap throwaway shells cost about the same as any I can reload-Problem has been finding supplies - traveling 50 miles one way to get shot and having to go another way for primers -Hazmat fees are a big problem when they limit you on what you can order. I still find it cheaper to reload my handicap and game loads. If you are planning to reload for a youth league, many require new shells for safety reasons. Mec 600 is a true stand by reloader. Simple, just clean it up -get the right charge bar and you will be reloading -stop by any trap club they will help you out. As far as reloading cost here is a good cost calculator site http://ecsc-skeet.com/linked/shotshell_reloading_cost_calculator.htm

Well maybe I could reload for some cheaper practice? We will see how this endeavor goes loves it today maybe not tomorrow, kids are funny like that.

 

[Michigan Slim]

Do they even make a 7.5 mold ?

I have a Littleton shot dropper. I've used it a couple times. Not the prettiest looking stuff but it seems to work fine. Hard to regulate temps.