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Hi -- Been talking with a friend through PMs about shotshell reloading. Took some pics I thought he would be interested in when I thought "what the heck, might as well share with the whole forum". With the passage of SB1235 (aka the ammo bill) there may be renewed interest in shotshell reloading.
Let's get the cost factor out of the way first. "is it worth it to reload shotshells?" Generally speaking for 12g it's not really worth it. Using a reloading cost calculator I've input the cost of components as it stands today. I've also tried to maximize savings by buying in bulk -- 16 lbs of powder and 5000 primers in one order to spread the hazmat and shipping costs around (over $50 in hazmat and shipping alone!)
If I duplicate the load of the bargain bin walmart specials (Winchester Universals), my reloading cost basically comes out exactly the same as buying them from Walmart - $5.43 a box. If you only shoot infrequently and just want some shells to goof around with, then it's hard to beat the walmart special.
However, if you are actually shooting for score or seriously practicing your technique then that's where reloading gets more interesting. If you cut open a walmart special you'll find that shot is all over the map. Different sizes, different shapes, etc. If you are the type of shooter that skips the Universals and instead grabs the Winchester AA or Remington STS shells then reloading becomes much more cost effective. Walmart sells AA or STS shells at $7.87, so there is a savings of $2.42 per box. The question is, are reloads up to the quality of AA or STS? I say yes.
One other factor is the ammo bill. Will Walmart stop selling ammo? I believe they will. The new law calls for ammo dealer to record the buyer's information and keep records. I seriously doubt walmart will go through this. The bill also prohibits mail order, so no more ordering flats of shells from Cabelas, etc.
So besides the cost factor, reloading may become more of an option in terms of just convenience. Going to the shotgun range tomorrow? ok let's crank out a bunch of shells the night before....
My friend is a skeet shooter, and he tells me he likes the 24gm #9 Winchester AA, 1325 FPS. I see it online ranging in price from $8.20 to $9.40 a box. Lets see what we can do. The thing to remember about shotshell reloading is that the recipes are very specific. Use this hull, with this wad, and this primer, etc. This is different from metallic reloading (pistol and rifle) where you can mix primers and cases.
So let's see if we have a recipe that works. Winchester AA hull, Winchester style Wad, 700-X powder, 24 grams of lead shot:
The nice thing about 700-X powder is that it's been around for a long time so there are lots of recipes for it.
So there you go. I've highlighted the load I am interested in. Note if I really wanted to duplicate the factory ammo I would use the load underneath it which is 1325 fps. However since I'm the one shooting these reloads I prefer less velocity (easier on the shoulder). I'm not going to be shooting international skeet so 1250 fps is more than enough for me. So I see from the data I will need to drop 17 grains of 700-X for this recipe.
Most shotshell presses use bushings to control the amount of shot and powder to drop. Spolar, Ponsness Warren, Horandy, and MEC all use bushings. Here is the shot bushing on my Spolar (silver bushing on the black bar)
Some shotshell reloaders are more modern when it comes to shot and powder. The Dillon SL900 and RCBS Grand make use of case activated powder drops (the same systems on metallic reloaders). This allows you to much better fine tune how much shot and powder are being dropped. In addition they will not drop unless there is a hull in place, saving you from spilling shot or powder all over the floor. I think the case activated drop system is much superior to the bushing system. But my Spolar uses bushings, so the next step is to figure out what bushing to use.
From the bushing chart it ways to use number 429 to get 17 grains of 700-X. So I install bushing #429, let's see what it is actually dropping:
Surprise Surprise! In this instance the bushing is actually spot on, 17grains (note I'm not using the chargemaster to dispense powder, just using the scale on it). If the charge was off (say 16.9) there wouldn't be much I could do about it. I guess I could ream out the bushing a little, but it might be off again on the next batch of powder. Instead I'd just live with it -- instead of 1250fps it might be 1247 or something. That's the disadvantage of bushings. With the Dillon or RCBS system you could just turn the screw until you got exactly the powder drop you were looking for.
Ok I'll be using Winchester AA hulls.
Since this is a 24gram load (almost the same as a 7/8 oz load) I'll be using Claybuster "clone" wads. These are direct clones of the Winchester WAA12 style wads.
The main thing in getting a good looking shell is getting the "stack height" right. Basically the combination of powder, wad, and shot should form a vertical stack that is the right height. Too high of a stack and the crimp will be tented up. Too low of a stack and the crimp will be "dished" or sunken in. In both cases there may be a hole in the middle which will leak shot. In addition the wrong crimp could negatively impact pressure which would lead to either slower FPS or a dirtier burn leaving ash/residue.
As expected by using the right wad choice the overall stack height looks good. The entire stack comes right up to the fold line of the hull, the shot is fully contained by the wad.
Next we add a "pre-crimp", getting the folds ready for the final crimp. Even though I like the Dillon system for shot and powder drop, here is where I prefer my Spolar. The Dillon is a very cramped machine (they basically tried to make a shotshell press out of the 650 metallic reloader). It is difficult to make adjustments. You need tools to turn the nuts but it's hard to fit a wrench into the toolhead. In some cases you have to remove stuff to make adjustments. Not so with the Spolar. Lots of room to adjust the various crimping stations.
Here is the shell with the pre-crimp added
The rule of thumb is to adjust the pre-crimp so that the opening is about the size of a pencil. I actually need just a touch more pre-crimp. Here is what I am talking about:
The shell on the right is a new factory shell. The shell in the middle is the one that came out using the pre-crimp as shown above. While very close the center hole is just a tad bigger than the factory. It's not big enough for shot to leak out, but I'm OCD and want my shells to look as good as (if not better) than factory.
So I quickly adjusted the pre-crimp downwards (took seconds on the spolar vs minutes on the Dillon). Just a quarter turn to lower the pre-crimp and the result is on the right. The middle hole is now smaller than on the factory shell. Note AA hulls all crimp with a tiny hole -- that is how the hull is made. Remington STS hulls are actually my favorite hull to load, they crimp beautifully -- no hole.
Let's get the cost factor out of the way first. "is it worth it to reload shotshells?" Generally speaking for 12g it's not really worth it. Using a reloading cost calculator I've input the cost of components as it stands today. I've also tried to maximize savings by buying in bulk -- 16 lbs of powder and 5000 primers in one order to spread the hazmat and shipping costs around (over $50 in hazmat and shipping alone!)
If I duplicate the load of the bargain bin walmart specials (Winchester Universals), my reloading cost basically comes out exactly the same as buying them from Walmart - $5.43 a box. If you only shoot infrequently and just want some shells to goof around with, then it's hard to beat the walmart special.
However, if you are actually shooting for score or seriously practicing your technique then that's where reloading gets more interesting. If you cut open a walmart special you'll find that shot is all over the map. Different sizes, different shapes, etc. If you are the type of shooter that skips the Universals and instead grabs the Winchester AA or Remington STS shells then reloading becomes much more cost effective. Walmart sells AA or STS shells at $7.87, so there is a savings of $2.42 per box. The question is, are reloads up to the quality of AA or STS? I say yes.
One other factor is the ammo bill. Will Walmart stop selling ammo? I believe they will. The new law calls for ammo dealer to record the buyer's information and keep records. I seriously doubt walmart will go through this. The bill also prohibits mail order, so no more ordering flats of shells from Cabelas, etc.
So besides the cost factor, reloading may become more of an option in terms of just convenience. Going to the shotgun range tomorrow? ok let's crank out a bunch of shells the night before....
My friend is a skeet shooter, and he tells me he likes the 24gm #9 Winchester AA, 1325 FPS. I see it online ranging in price from $8.20 to $9.40 a box. Lets see what we can do. The thing to remember about shotshell reloading is that the recipes are very specific. Use this hull, with this wad, and this primer, etc. This is different from metallic reloading (pistol and rifle) where you can mix primers and cases.
So let's see if we have a recipe that works. Winchester AA hull, Winchester style Wad, 700-X powder, 24 grams of lead shot:
The nice thing about 700-X powder is that it's been around for a long time so there are lots of recipes for it.
So there you go. I've highlighted the load I am interested in. Note if I really wanted to duplicate the factory ammo I would use the load underneath it which is 1325 fps. However since I'm the one shooting these reloads I prefer less velocity (easier on the shoulder). I'm not going to be shooting international skeet so 1250 fps is more than enough for me. So I see from the data I will need to drop 17 grains of 700-X for this recipe.
Most shotshell presses use bushings to control the amount of shot and powder to drop. Spolar, Ponsness Warren, Horandy, and MEC all use bushings. Here is the shot bushing on my Spolar (silver bushing on the black bar)
Some shotshell reloaders are more modern when it comes to shot and powder. The Dillon SL900 and RCBS Grand make use of case activated powder drops (the same systems on metallic reloaders). This allows you to much better fine tune how much shot and powder are being dropped. In addition they will not drop unless there is a hull in place, saving you from spilling shot or powder all over the floor. I think the case activated drop system is much superior to the bushing system. But my Spolar uses bushings, so the next step is to figure out what bushing to use.
From the bushing chart it ways to use number 429 to get 17 grains of 700-X. So I install bushing #429, let's see what it is actually dropping:
Surprise Surprise! In this instance the bushing is actually spot on, 17grains (note I'm not using the chargemaster to dispense powder, just using the scale on it). If the charge was off (say 16.9) there wouldn't be much I could do about it. I guess I could ream out the bushing a little, but it might be off again on the next batch of powder. Instead I'd just live with it -- instead of 1250fps it might be 1247 or something. That's the disadvantage of bushings. With the Dillon or RCBS system you could just turn the screw until you got exactly the powder drop you were looking for.
Ok I'll be using Winchester AA hulls.
Since this is a 24gram load (almost the same as a 7/8 oz load) I'll be using Claybuster "clone" wads. These are direct clones of the Winchester WAA12 style wads.
The main thing in getting a good looking shell is getting the "stack height" right. Basically the combination of powder, wad, and shot should form a vertical stack that is the right height. Too high of a stack and the crimp will be tented up. Too low of a stack and the crimp will be "dished" or sunken in. In both cases there may be a hole in the middle which will leak shot. In addition the wrong crimp could negatively impact pressure which would lead to either slower FPS or a dirtier burn leaving ash/residue.
As expected by using the right wad choice the overall stack height looks good. The entire stack comes right up to the fold line of the hull, the shot is fully contained by the wad.
Next we add a "pre-crimp", getting the folds ready for the final crimp. Even though I like the Dillon system for shot and powder drop, here is where I prefer my Spolar. The Dillon is a very cramped machine (they basically tried to make a shotshell press out of the 650 metallic reloader). It is difficult to make adjustments. You need tools to turn the nuts but it's hard to fit a wrench into the toolhead. In some cases you have to remove stuff to make adjustments. Not so with the Spolar. Lots of room to adjust the various crimping stations.
Here is the shell with the pre-crimp added
The rule of thumb is to adjust the pre-crimp so that the opening is about the size of a pencil. I actually need just a touch more pre-crimp. Here is what I am talking about:
The shell on the right is a new factory shell. The shell in the middle is the one that came out using the pre-crimp as shown above. While very close the center hole is just a tad bigger than the factory. It's not big enough for shot to leak out, but I'm OCD and want my shells to look as good as (if not better) than factory.
So I quickly adjusted the pre-crimp downwards (took seconds on the spolar vs minutes on the Dillon). Just a quarter turn to lower the pre-crimp and the result is on the right. The middle hole is now smaller than on the factory shell. Note AA hulls all crimp with a tiny hole -- that is how the hull is made. Remington STS hulls are actually my favorite hull to load, they crimp beautifully -- no hole.
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