Best shot shell reloading Press?

[BOBGBA]

...I tried to give away 20,000 empties I had and ended up putting them into the garbage and recycle bins each week instead...

No, say it ain't so. Tell me you still have those peters blue magic shells......

[Tom-ADC]

In the mid 90's one of my son-in laws was a border patrol agent, he use to bring me once fired Winchester 00 buck empties they used to qualify with, I found out they used the same components that a AA case did.
I sure got some strange looks shooting them and breaking clays until I explained they had #9 shot in them.

[JagerDog]

Questions for you shotshell reloaders. I don't reload, I don't have the time and more importantly the attention span to do so safely. I just throw my hulls in the trash whereas I give my brass away or recycle them. Would me saving my hulls benefit a reloder? Save high brass only or low brass as well. I guess it would be better than just throwing them in the garbage. I know nothing about this so if saving them will help a shooter out than I'm all for it.

Some hulls are desirable to reloaders and some mostly aren't. The ones that are favored by reloaders tend to cost a bit more, so they aren't exactly prolific on the ground/trash. Remington "Gun Club" is about the cheapest hull actually sought after by reloaders.

That said, if there's a vast amount of hulls like Fiocchi, Rio, Fed "Top Gun" around (such as what the club sells), there's probably someone who has gone the extra effort to reload them. But that guy is probably already picking up enough to feed his habit. Longevity isn't the goal as the hulls are profuse.

So the answer is "it depends". Except for a few "specialty" loads I don't touch "lesser" hulls or quantities less than 1000's. There was a time when I was less discerning.

[bigbearbear]

Questions for you shotshell reloaders. I don't reload, I don't have the time and more importantly the attention span to do so safely. I just throw my hulls in the trash whereas I give my brass away or recycle them. Would me saving my hulls benefit a reloder? Save high brass only or low brass as well. I guess it would be better than just throwing them in the garbage. I know nothing about this so if saving them will help a shooter out than I'm all for it.

I would say don't go out of your way to save those hulls, it is usually not worth the effort to benefit someone else. If someone who reloads shoots with you and noticed that you're throwing away hulls that he wants, he'll usually ask you for those.

Just throw them in the trash bin at the range, people who reload are known to dig through them from time to time to find hulls so you're essentially doing the same thing, except not having to store and arrange to meet to give them away.

[Huntsprig]

In the mid 90's one of my son-in laws was a border patrol agent, he use to bring me once fired Winchester 00 buck empties they used to qualify with, I found out they used the same components that a AA case did.
I sure got some strange looks shooting them and breaking clays until I explained they had #9 shot in them.

Yep^^^

I bought my reloader about 1979 and my Dad was a LEO.

He would the save the shells he and the other officers shot when they practiced with the shotguns.

Back then except for the high brass the Super X 00 buck were the same as the old AA CF hulls.

I still have a couple apple boxes full of them.

I also found out the hard way a Grabber 76 doesn't resize high brass shells very well.


.

[strakill]

The short easy answer is yes, both high and low brass.
The harder part of it is, exactly what hulls are you talking about?
Different hulls require different wads, and possibly different powder and charge bars as well as possible adjustments to the machine.

I mainly shoot Federal Game Shock when hunting and Federal Game & Target loads for trap and everything else. As far as any 00 and # 4 I shoot a mix of Fiocchi, Federal, Winchester, and some stuff marked US Military (green hulls, high brass) that is sold by Big 5. So basically nothing really fancy.

If my waste can help a fellow shooter save some money and time I would like to do that.

[ceh383]

I reload Rem. Gun Clubs, so the Feds are not of use to me.
I currently have about 1400 once fired hulls. Every time I go out I pick up about 100 or so...
If you find someone local who reloads that type of hull, it may be worth it to save them.

[novelty]

Spolar with the hydraulic

[Ahansom]

I don't reload much anymore but when I do use a Pacific / Hornady 366. Progressive loader that can easily do several hundred rounds per hour with out breaking a sweat. With the current cost of components, its less expensive to buy my trap/skeet loads than to reload.

[Chewy65]

I have a progressive Mec. I can't tell you which one because I don't know. I'm going to guess it's a 9000. It resizes the base too. It works. I'd prefer the Dillon but it's what I have. I find it jams on cheap or beat up shells. I just stopped loading anything but AA hulls and life is easier now. The no hull no dump feature doesn't work half the time.

The crimp is excellent and the sizer works perfectly. All in all it beats a LEE. But what doesn't??

I think I paid $60.00 used for it. It's worth $60.00. I have loaded about 3000 shells on it to date. Yes you can buy shells cheaper at Walmart. But can you buy as fast of a load at Walmart?? No. Do I get more hits with my reloads? Yes.

I bought a bunch of reclaimed from Phillips. Yea it's a mix of anything from 7 to 9. I did a test of it versus straight 8 shot. The reclaim had close to 20% more pellets overall. It does make a difference. It does spread out the shot column and provides a longer stream making it easier for me to shoot better scores.

Consider that patterns tend to blow more the greater the velocity loads, but my personal results tend to agree with your's. It seems they hit with just enough more force to break clay that otherwise would be a loss. But $60.00 for even a used 9000?

[novelty]

Dillion is tuned for AA out of factory