I am getting ready to try my hand at reloading 12 ga. hulls. I have a bunch of Federal Target hulls that I would like to try to use. They are the cheapo $6 a box of 25 Walmart loads. Has anybody re-loaded any of these? If so I am not sure what the hull would resemble so I can look it up on a re-load chart.
I know the most popular hulls are AA's and STS's. Can I use that data?
Hull Identification
Re: Hull Identification
I'm not an expert at reloading at all... only just started this year. But have noticed that in the reloading data, the same components in a different hulls will create quite a range of speeds and pressures.
Stick to a hull that you've got a recipe for. Reloading is not an area where "oh, that's near enough" will do IMO.
Stick to a hull that you've got a recipe for. Reloading is not an area where "oh, that's near enough" will do IMO.
Re: Hull Identification
Thanks for responding RichNZ. I bought the Lyman reloading manual and I see what your talking about with different hulls and components. I have to admit that it kind of has me baffled. There seems to be so much change in pressure and speed with so much little change in hulls and primers.
One of the things that bothers me is that there is no published data for the cheapo hulls. Which is what a lot of people buy and toss away. It's kind of a goldmine in a way. Like you I am just getting started. I will probably start buying the premium hulls. But with light loads and the CCI209 primer. I should be Ok. (I hope).
I don't need ultra magnum loads to kill a clay pigeon 40 yards away. I loaded 10 old universal hulls yesterday and went to the range to check them out. I examined them and found no pressure or decomposition problems. I hope to get 2-3 re-loads out them and toss them out.
If anybody sees anything wrong with this. Please respond. They say the Lord watches over the ignorant and the lame. (But only for so long.)
One of the things that bothers me is that there is no published data for the cheapo hulls. Which is what a lot of people buy and toss away. It's kind of a goldmine in a way. Like you I am just getting started. I will probably start buying the premium hulls. But with light loads and the CCI209 primer. I should be Ok. (I hope).
I don't need ultra magnum loads to kill a clay pigeon 40 yards away. I loaded 10 old universal hulls yesterday and went to the range to check them out. I examined them and found no pressure or decomposition problems. I hope to get 2-3 re-loads out them and toss them out.
If anybody sees anything wrong with this. Please respond. They say the Lord watches over the ignorant and the lame. (But only for so long.)
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Re: Hull Identification
Old thread, I know, but I figured I could contribute.
The cheapo short-cup Federal bulk-pack target hulls (sold as Top Gun, Target, Field & Target, etc) can be reloaded. If you have the Lyman shotshell reloading manual, refer to their load data for 2.75" Federal plastic hulls with paper basewads. Do not substitute load data for Federal Gold Medal hulls, as they have different internal geometry (integral basewad for the Gold Medal plastic, and a shorter basewad for the Gold Medal paper).
These Federal hulls will obviously not stand up as well as premium hulls like the Remington STSs or Winchester AAs. They re-size well enough, but after one or two firings, the primer pockets tend to loosen up. I usually just reload them once and call it good. I recently loaded a small batch of twice-fired hulls (the original factory loading followed by one reload) to see how they held up, and while they fired fine, all of them showed signs of gas leakage around the primer. Plus, one of them had the primer back half-way out when subjected to recoil in my 870's magazine. So, more than one reload is probably not a great idea. But if you want to load up a bunch of cheap shells for the next zombie uprising or robot takeover, or if you just want to practice on something cheap while you're getting the hang of reloading, these Federal hulls can be handy. Plus, they're made in maroon, pink, red, white, and blue for your OCD color-coding pleasure.
If you're looking for hulls you can keep reloading and still rely on, just buy some once-fired AAs or STSs and you'll be a happy camper. Out of everything I've loaded, I like the Remington STS hulls best, but once-fired STSs are tough to find around here without ordering them in and paying shipping. Most of what I load for clay-shooting is new-style Winchester AAs. I can get 230 of those once-fired hulls for $15 in my area, and I have some that are on their fourth loading and still holding crimps and primers just fine. By my math, if I can average 6-7 reloads out of each at that price, it's only costing me about a penny a shot in hulls.
The cheapo short-cup Federal bulk-pack target hulls (sold as Top Gun, Target, Field & Target, etc) can be reloaded. If you have the Lyman shotshell reloading manual, refer to their load data for 2.75" Federal plastic hulls with paper basewads. Do not substitute load data for Federal Gold Medal hulls, as they have different internal geometry (integral basewad for the Gold Medal plastic, and a shorter basewad for the Gold Medal paper).
These Federal hulls will obviously not stand up as well as premium hulls like the Remington STSs or Winchester AAs. They re-size well enough, but after one or two firings, the primer pockets tend to loosen up. I usually just reload them once and call it good. I recently loaded a small batch of twice-fired hulls (the original factory loading followed by one reload) to see how they held up, and while they fired fine, all of them showed signs of gas leakage around the primer. Plus, one of them had the primer back half-way out when subjected to recoil in my 870's magazine. So, more than one reload is probably not a great idea. But if you want to load up a bunch of cheap shells for the next zombie uprising or robot takeover, or if you just want to practice on something cheap while you're getting the hang of reloading, these Federal hulls can be handy. Plus, they're made in maroon, pink, red, white, and blue for your OCD color-coding pleasure.
If you're looking for hulls you can keep reloading and still rely on, just buy some once-fired AAs or STSs and you'll be a happy camper. Out of everything I've loaded, I like the Remington STS hulls best, but once-fired STSs are tough to find around here without ordering them in and paying shipping. Most of what I load for clay-shooting is new-style Winchester AAs. I can get 230 of those once-fired hulls for $15 in my area, and I have some that are on their fourth loading and still holding crimps and primers just fine. By my math, if I can average 6-7 reloads out of each at that price, it's only costing me about a penny a shot in hulls.
Re: Hull Identification
The best of the value hulls for reloading .... in my opinion .... are the Remington Gun Club.
Dick's Sporting Goods has them for very good promotional prices.
Same internal geometry as the Remington STS hulls. Shotshell reloading manuals usually share load data between the Gun Club and STS hulls.
Dick's Sporting Goods has them for very good promotional prices.
Same internal geometry as the Remington STS hulls. Shotshell reloading manuals usually share load data between the Gun Club and STS hulls.
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