OK, so I have some 12 gauge brass shells I want to reload, I am using Pyrodex RS FFg powder and I was wondering what is a good measurement of powder to shot, I've heard a lot of different things out their and I would like to hear others opinions. Also, I was wondering if you can reload brass shells with the typical shotgun powder (redot etc.) with a regular shotgun wad with just your overshot card? much appreciated
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Reloading Brass Shotgun Shells
- Thread starter EricBella
- Start date
Your loading depends a lot on the specific brass. Some cases will load with conventional components, but others will require 11-ga wads. BPI (ballisticproducts.com) has the new Reloading Brass Shotshells manual by VanDenberg.
IIRC, there's an old formula for muzzle loaders that uses equal measures of shot and black powder. I don't know how this translates to shot shells.
IIRC, there's an old formula for muzzle loaders that uses equal measures of shot and black powder. I don't know how this translates to shot shells.
One thing you don't want to do is roll crimp a brass shell if you want it to last. You have to put a little taper in them to get them to feed through a repeater tho. The old standard of equal amounts of powder and shot by volume is a good place to start. With a muzzle loader you can open and close patterns by using either more powder or shot but it doesn't apply to choked barrels.
What works in muzzleloaders also works well for shotshells. I shoot a lot of muzzleloading trap events and one of my pet loads for a 12 gauge shotshells is 80 grains of FFg, a 1/8 inch thick card wad, a 1/2 inch fiber wad, and 1 1/8 ounce of shot.
This won't completely use up the space in a brass shell so you might want to use extra card wads if filling up the shell entirely is important for crimping purposes. Since I use a single shot for BPcartridge trap, I don't crimp or glue the overshot wad, friction holds it in place just fine.
If useing BP substitutes, that's 80 grains measured by a volumetric powder measure calibrated for black powder, not 80 grains actual weight. If you don't have a BP powder measure, an empty .30-06 case will measure about 70 grains. An empty .44 mag case holds about 40 grains so two empty .44 mag cases full of black powder would approximate my load.
This won't completely use up the space in a brass shell so you might want to use extra card wads if filling up the shell entirely is important for crimping purposes. Since I use a single shot for BPcartridge trap, I don't crimp or glue the overshot wad, friction holds it in place just fine.
If useing BP substitutes, that's 80 grains measured by a volumetric powder measure calibrated for black powder, not 80 grains actual weight. If you don't have a BP powder measure, an empty .30-06 case will measure about 70 grains. An empty .44 mag case holds about 40 grains so two empty .44 mag cases full of black powder would approximate my load.
Brass shotshells
I've been reloading all brass (Magtech) shotgun shells for about 6 years in 12, 16, & 20 ga. They feed fine through my Win mod 12s w/o crimping.
Modern plastic wads do not fit well (too loose...the case wall are thinner than plastic hulls), so I use oversize fiber wads (18ga in 20ga, 14 ga in 16 ga, & 10ga in 12 ga) from either Circle Fly or Buffalo Arms. Fiber wads don't seal as well as plastic wads, so one needs more powder. I started by using data from before the introduction of plastic wads (1955 +/-). I use an overshot wad sealed with carpenter's glue...no crimp.
There's a lot of data from this era for Red Dot & Herco powders, but not much for more modern powders.
Later I bought a Pressure Trace Unit from RSI & a chronometer from Midway, so I could develop loads using more modern powders.
You have to enlarge (and perhaps countersink) the primer pockets in order for Magtech hulls to accept 209 primers.
Loading all brass hulls is more time consuming than reloading plastic hulls, but I think it's more fun.
I've been reloading all brass (Magtech) shotgun shells for about 6 years in 12, 16, & 20 ga. They feed fine through my Win mod 12s w/o crimping.
Modern plastic wads do not fit well (too loose...the case wall are thinner than plastic hulls), so I use oversize fiber wads (18ga in 20ga, 14 ga in 16 ga, & 10ga in 12 ga) from either Circle Fly or Buffalo Arms. Fiber wads don't seal as well as plastic wads, so one needs more powder. I started by using data from before the introduction of plastic wads (1955 +/-). I use an overshot wad sealed with carpenter's glue...no crimp.
There's a lot of data from this era for Red Dot & Herco powders, but not much for more modern powders.
Later I bought a Pressure Trace Unit from RSI & a chronometer from Midway, so I could develop loads using more modern powders.
You have to enlarge (and perhaps countersink) the primer pockets in order for Magtech hulls to accept 209 primers.
Loading all brass hulls is more time consuming than reloading plastic hulls, but I think it's more fun.
bpss
There are two kinds of brass hulls. Drawn brass hulls, Magtech, CBC, Bell Extrusion, use traditional wads of approximately one gauge larger. For best results, the wad column should be compressed with about 40 lbs. pressure (an old bathroom scale and dowel will do). These are primed with large pistol primers.
Lathe turned brass hulls are very durable, very strong, and very expensive. Worth every penny. They are made by Rocky Mt. Cartridge Co and use regular shotshell components.
I seal mine with a
There are two kinds of brass hulls. Drawn brass hulls, Magtech, CBC, Bell Extrusion, use traditional wads of approximately one gauge larger. For best results, the wad column should be compressed with about 40 lbs. pressure (an old bathroom scale and dowel will do). These are primed with large pistol primers.
Lathe turned brass hulls are very durable, very strong, and very expensive. Worth every penny. They are made by Rocky Mt. Cartridge Co and use regular shotshell components.
I seal mine with a
bpss
There are two kinds of brass hulls. Drawn brass hulls, Magtech, CBC, Bell Extrusion, use traditional wads of approximately one gauge larger. For best results, the wad column should be compressed with about 40 lbs. pressure (an old bathroom scale and dowel will do). These are primed with large pistol primers.'
Lathe turned brass hulls are very durable, very strong, and very expensive. Worth every penny. They are made by Rocky Mt. Cartridge Co and use regular shotshell components.
I seal mine with an overshot card and Duco cement.
There are two kinds of brass hulls. Drawn brass hulls, Magtech, CBC, Bell Extrusion, use traditional wads of approximately one gauge larger. For best results, the wad column should be compressed with about 40 lbs. pressure (an old bathroom scale and dowel will do). These are primed with large pistol primers.'
Lathe turned brass hulls are very durable, very strong, and very expensive. Worth every penny. They are made by Rocky Mt. Cartridge Co and use regular shotshell components.
I seal mine with an overshot card and Duco cement.