*Need Help* modifying Federal 12 Gauge Multipurpose Load

[egoknot]

I am very new to the forums and to reloading so please bear with me and my lack of expertise.

This is what I did.

I got a few boxes of the (Walmart) Federal 12 Gauge Multipurpose Load 12 gauge 3 dram eq. 1 1/8 oz shot #8. I cut the tops off and removed everything but the powder. I put in a new X12X Symmetrical Gas Seal and tapped it down. I then added 1 1/8 oz of mixed #4 and 00 buck shot, topped it off with a new overshot card and roll crimped the top. I have yet to fire any of the them as I've recently read this can be disastrous especially with mixing hulls, primers, shot etc etc. My question is, am I going to seriously hurt myself, my gun, or just the object I'm aiming at? I didn't change the weight of the load or powder, just the diameter of the shot its pushing. I'm using a cheap 10 year old Mosberg 500.

Thank you so much for your help, hopefully I can return the favor someday.

[Bill Steele]

I posted this a few days ago for a similar question. Cut and pasted it for you.

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The warning is pretty standard for shotgun loading. Shotguns are not designed to withstand high pressures. Small changes in load specifications can make very large changes in pressures (on a percentage basis) which can be a problem when fired.

In general, unlike cartridge reloading, shotshell reloading doesn't offer much in the way of safe experimentation. You don't "work up" loads in shotgun reloading, you just find the exact receipe in the book that meets your needs, buy the exact components for that load (exact hulls, exact primer brand and type, exact wad, exact powder and charge weight, etc.) and load that specific receipe. In the absence of many years of shotshell reloading, swapping components is generally discouraged.

I think you can go ahead and test your loads. Just find a place you can shield any flying pieces of the gun if it does come apart, rig up a string to operate the trigger and try it. The worst case is you will have to buy a new shotgun. I would say if you tested 20 like this and all the hulls came out looking OK, no broken hulls, etc. you could conclude, in your gun that specific brand and specifcation of target shell load might work. The only problem is manufacturers change wads, etc. and while the change works fine for their load, may not work fine for your swap load.

Another approach would be to buy a Lee shotshell loader (like $50), pickup a bag full of spent Gun Club hulls while shooting a few rounds of clays, go on Hodgdon's web site and get a receipe for those hulls and your slugs, go to Ballistic Products web site and buy everything in that list (wads, primers powder). Call it $150 for everything you need to to make 1000 rounds (not counting the slugs themselves). Oh, and you won't need that string if you go this route.

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In your case, substiture Buck for Slugs. There is one wrinkle in the above post, as you have subsituted the whole shot column, the risk of using your substitution in subsequent boxes of the same shells is a little lower.

Good luck, have fun.

[M27]

you were all fine until you changed the wad

did you only use the x12x and no other wadding in your column?

I would say that is not safe to shoot.

what wad was in there?

What is your OAL

you may also run into issues with the roll crimp but I would not be nearly as concerned with that as with your wad column

if you want to try this again leave the original wads in and change only the shot.

[wpage]

You should be OK the mossberg 500 is a solid platform...

When test firing be certain to wear eye ear and hand protection to be certain.

[sargenv]

It's not something I'd do.. I've been reloading shotshells since the late 80's.. I prefer to follow data.. general rule is that the payload should be equal weight.. if you have a load that is 1 1/8 oz of shot, replacing said payload in buckshot should not exceed 1 1/8 oz total weight. It can be a little lighter, up to an 1/8 of an oz or so, but not any heavier.

I've also found that when handloading with a very slow powder, there is a point of diminishing return when you lighten a load too much. The slower burning powders need a bit more resistance (payload weight) to burn correctly.

[cgates]

I agree with one of the above posters in regards to the major issue being that you changed the wad.

You can change out the type of shot pretty safely if you leave everything else as is. That wad change can make a HUGE difference in pressures. Just get out a reloading manual and compare different wads in the same hull with the same powder and shot -

I do something similar - but I just pry open the crimp, sub some cast buckshot for the birdshot, and re-crimp. When substituting bigger shot for smaller shot in the same wad, the weight will always be less - and less shot weight will lead to lower pressures.

also, you do not know what kind of powder is in those shells. the burn rate may be different from lot to lot. Manufacturers dont use a standardized powder like reloaders do. What that means is that one group of your modified shells may be just fine, but the next time you do this, you may have a real problem especially if you are already on the verge of max pressures.

[nothing4u]

If you're gonna test it anyways, I'd suggest rope and a tree to hide behind.

[egoknot]

The gas seals that come factory have that little tower on em raising the shot cup too high for me to use 1 1/8 oz of #00 buckshot/#4 mix. I removed the factory gas seal, inserted a new X12X Gas Seal, reinserted the short shot cup and added very specifically less than 1 1/8 lead mixed shot. All shells were individually hand loaded and scaled to ensure i wasn't "over leading" em. I will take your guys advice and pop a few of em with a string from a safe distance with my mosberg. I dont dare put em in my Belguim A5

[sargenv]

Not really sure why you are bothering.. personally, I'd buy a cheapie Lee Load All press, powder, primers, et al, and wads and just load the shell.. Shotshell primers aren't as hard to find as other primers (last I looked, Powder valley still had Cheddite 209's). Shotshell components are not in as short a supply as centerfire handgun and rifle components are.. Since you chopped the crimp off the shell, these really are only good for one loading.. You may as well just shoot the shell as is, and then reload it 3 or 4 times until the crimp gets shot off..

[3006mv]

can you show a pic of your roll crimp and tool?
yeah just start from scratch w/ WAA wads and hulls and hs6, look for lee load data search ebay for a lee load all as others suggested.
I load my own slug and buck and buck and ball loads using the above.