Easing into shotgun reloading

Those are straight wall. The tapered hulls like win AA or rem nitro are nearly twice as thick at the base as they are at the mouth. And the different colored base wad in there is a separate piece of plastic. In the tapered hulls the base wad and hull walls are one piece, similar to metallic cartridges. The primer hole in the green hull looks a little small for a standard decapping pin. Have you tried to change the primer yet? This may be the only thing preventing reloading those hulls. If your press can remove the old primer and put a new one in you can use Winchester polyformed case data. If not, the red hull looks good.

I searched my Lyman #4 manual for the load I used for 00 buck and WAA12R wads with the petals cut off. I couldn't find that particular load. Lots of other loads with petals removed for 10, 16 and 20 ga. But not for 12. Must have been in another book. I will try to find the one I used.
 
Just because you "can" reload those hulls, does not mean using those hulls with unpublished data or cutting up wads is a good way to learn shot shell reloading from scratch. That is why I recommend starting with tapered hulls and mainstream data. Plenty of time to experiment later on, after getting grounded in known quality products and published loads. It is not expensive to do so.
 
I bought Hornady swaged buck in 5lb boxes, don’t know if it’s still available.

Used to be able to buy Remington buck in 25lb bags but I doubt that’s available now.


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That is why I recommend starting with tapered hulls and mainstream data. Plenty of time to experiment later on, after getting grounded in known quality products and published loads
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The data with petals cut off the wads is in a Lyman manual. Is that not mainstream enough for you? I don't recommend loading without published data either, which is why I didn't give data without finding it first. Tapered hulls are nice, but not that much better. In my experience they crimp the same. They might last for more loadings, but that's not my only requirement for a good load.
 
"I searched my Lyman #4 manual for the load I used for 00 buck and WAA12R wads with the petals cut off. I couldn't find that particular load. Lots of other loads with petals removed for 10, 16 and 20 ga. But not for 12. Must have been in another book."
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No that is not mainstream enough for me or someone loading their first shotshells.
 
Marco and Big Al , I’ve got a lot from both of your post here and appreciate what you both have said . I will in fact load those green hulls but not at first .

The new hulls and manual came yesterday. All the shells are black which I’m happy about , not that it matters but I didn’t want several different colors of the same shell type . I started reading the manual last night and plan to read most of it before starting . There was however a lot at the beginning that I already knew because it’s basic general reloading info so I just skimmed through that stuff to be sure there was nothing shot gun specific . Which there was when talking about scales , they recommend a larger scale then I use . This however seems do to some shot charges weighing over 1-1/8oz which would put me over my max 500gr beam scale . I do have two other electronic scales though that should weigh more If I ever need it but don’t think I’ll be loading more then 1-1/8oz any time soon so I should be gtg .
 
So far all I can find locally is steel 00-Buck . When I look in the Lyman 5th there is only one load in the book on pg309 that has the components I'm using ???? Well the only Winchester cases , none of them say AA though ????

The wad is quite different which based on what we've been talking about is likely because of the lighter weight of steel shot needing more room in the shell . Just guessing here but would think 00buck lead in 2-3/4" shells has 9 pellets and 00 buck steel would have more ? 10 , 11 , or 12 pellets . In the only load data I have that matches my components . The shot weight is 7/8oz . I assume I weigh out the number of pellets that is closest to 7/8oz with out going over and that's my number of pellets I load ??

I'm going to keep looking for lead but if it's all I can find then that's what I'll get .
 
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Mossberg 500 , I have a 18” tactical and a 20” traditional type with plastic stock . It’s never been my plan to use steel but I will have something to load before years end . I have less than 100 double lot buck factory shells and less than 50 slugs . In my opinion this is an unacceptable amount to have on hand in times like this . So I’ll get what I can .
 
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Regarding a scale: not nearly as important in shot shell. Alliant (all years) pamphlet include tables and bushings to use, for shot and powder. It's not precise, but good enough for shotshell. Having reloading background, that bothered me, and I got an adjustable charge bar.
I never weight shot charges. Just the powder.
I suspect that after you work with AA hulls, and you try your green ones, you will probably not like the results, crimping the shells in particular. The AA will give you a beautiful 8 point crimp everytime. You use a different crimp starter for 6 point crimp shells, and I did not like the frequent imperfect crimps (one of the 6 would fold flat). Once I set up my progressive MEC, I stopped messing with with 6 point hulls entirely. When I stopped shooting sporting Clay's (if burned down in a brush fire), I kept the AA's. I loaded steel for waterfowl, back in the day, I buy them now.
 
Bushings are notoriously light when it comes to dropping the powder charge they say they do.
You do want to verify your powder drops.
 
Metal god said:
Mossberg 500 , I have a 18” tactical and a 20” traditional type with plastic stock . It’s never been my plan to use steel but I will have something to load before years end . I have less than 100 double lot buck factory shells and less than 50 slugs . In my opinion this is an unacceptable amount to have on hand in times like this . So I’ll get what I can .
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Instead of steel you could cast your own, used to be a guy on ebay that sold buckshot molds.


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I cast my own single-aught buckshot. The beauty of single-aught is the diameter is small enough that you don't have to remove the petals from the wad.

Don
 
Ballistic Products sells gas seal wads that don't have petals. But you need additional wads to fill the space between the gas seal and the shot charge. They can be paper, fiber or cork. Also available at sporting goods store or Ballistic Products. A regular wad has a gas seal and spacer built in. I wouldn't try a gas seal wad for steel. Probably not good for the barrel. Steel shot uses special wads and different data than lead. What wads did you get? There are loads for 00 buck with AA red wads that stack in rows of 2 that don't have the petals removed.
 
I’ve not bought wads yet because all the different shot I want or can get require a different wad . I’ve concluded I shouldn’t buy wads until I have shot to match ???
 
Why are we removing pettles , do they not make the wads with out or is that a custom type of reloading .
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Metal_god,

You have to do it with double-aught buckshot because you are stacking them in layers of 3, and with their diameter (.330") they don't fit the hull with the petals on. That's why single-aught buckshot with it's slightly reduced diameter works better.

Don
 
. You have to do it with double-aught buckshot because you are stacking them in layers of 3, and with their diameter (.330") they don't fit the hull with the petals on.
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Yep, that is for the standard loads you get in multiples of 3. But you can load in multiples of 2 without cutting the petals off. Load data for WAA red wads with the proper amount of lead weight/powder charge can be 10 pellets stacked in rows of 2. Which method you use will be determined by how well each load patterns in your gun. Buffer may also help with patterns, again you will need to test it. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't.:rolleyes:
 
LEE sells a buckshot mold. Midway sells them for around $50 and I think they make 18 pellets at a time. Making your own shot might be the only way to get any. I am having a hard time finding almost any shot available other than #9 or even smaller. It seems that almost everything I look for on line is OUT OF STOCK. Welcome to an election year. Grant.
 
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