Reloading federal shotgun shells

[PAMom]

My son recently started shooting sporting clays and is reloading. It has been recommended that he not reload federal.

Appreciate your input.

 

[KEYBEAR]

SHOT SHELLS

Very interested in why your thinking of not reloading Federals .
I have loaded Federals for years 30/35,000 a year with no problem ?

KEYBEAR

 

[Hotdoger]

My son recently started shooting sporting clays and is reloading. It has been recommended that he not reload federal.

Appreciate your input.

May because 'low brass" shells are not advised by some to reload?

I have reloaded Federal paper shells for many years.

 

[KEYBEAR]

I have reload for years also . Load Federal Winchester and Remington .
For the last four or five years been shooting new Gun Clubs and saving the hulls for a friend . They load very well .

 

[rimfire_crazed]

Lots of the old school clays guys will only load and shoot Winchester AA hulls.

Bottom line is this. Do you have a recipe that exactly matches the components you have on hand? If so, load 'em like mad. Doesn't match? Stock the components until you have matching data. NO reason to blow yourself up.

 

[PAMom]

He is using a semi-automatic, reloading winchester AA shells. What powder do you recommend?

 

[bigcraig]

"Clays" is a very popular powder for trap shooters.

 

[KEYBEAR]

Really most clay shooters are giving up on Winchester hulls . To meny loose base wads . The number one hull is Remington .

As for a good powder if your loading 1 1/8 oz. Clays is good and very clean .

 

[Chance]

6 point crimp on Federals

Most like to use the 8 point crimp hulls like Remington and Winchester AA's. You can load Federals but you will just have to set up your press for them. Federal paper hulls used to be the in thing for all of the pro trap shooters at Vandalia.

If you are shooting sporting clays, back the loads down to 1 oz. You won't miss any more and your shoulder and wallet will appreciate it. Many real competitions have gone to a 24 gram load which is very light and patterns well.

 

[PAMom]

Thanks guys for your help.

 

[Leo]

The Federal plastic shells are fine. A seperate base wad is someting many reloaders shy away from, especially in a pump or semi auto because you cannot see if a base wad slips out of a hull and lodges in the barrel. The cheap Federal hulls from the value packs like at wal mart use the same reload data as Federal "Top Gun" hulls. The trick to Federal hulls is to use the right wad. Depending on your application the right wad will start with "S O" and then a number. If you are reloading on a MEC press, the primer seating stem also makes sure the base wad is fully seated. Since few people reload them, most people shooting value pack Federals are glad to give them to you for free. I would reload them once and throw them away. I shoot an O/U so I shoot them 4 or 5 times, but I can easily look down the barrel everytime I remove the old hulls so I could easily see a loose base wad. The new AA hulls have the same problems so they are falling out of favor with people who shoot a lot.

It is pretty hard to beat Hodgdon's "CLAYS" powder for most 12 gauge applications.

 

[onesurveyor]

The Federal plastic shells are fine. A seperate base wad is someting many reloaders shy away from, especially in a pump or semi auto because you cannot see if a base wad slips out of a hull and lodges in the barrel. The cheap Federal hulls from the value packs like at wal mart use the same reload data as Federal "Top Gun" hulls. The trick to Federal hulls is to use the right wad. Depending on your application the right wad will start with "S O" and then a number. If you are reloading on a MEC press, the primer seating stem also makes sure the base wad is fully seated. Since few people reload them, most people shooting value pack Federals are glad to give them to you for free. I would reload them once and throw them away. I shoot an O/U so I shoot them 4 or 5 times, but I can easily look down the barrel everytime I remove the old hulls so I could easily see a loose base wad. The new AA hulls have the same problems so they are falling out of favor with people who shoot a lot.

It is pretty hard to beat Hodgdon's "CLAYS" powder for most 12 gauge applications.

How common is this? I've hadn't heard this and have been reloading Federal plastic hulls for about a year. I know I've reloaded the same haul at least 6x or more. The only time I toss them is when they split. I shoot some it pump but mostly O/U. How bad is it if I pump another rnd down the pipe with a wade in there? Fuhell up my gun or just miss a clay?

 

[Leo]

Loose base wad problems are not too common these days. I have never actually seen it, but a loose base wad in the barrel will blow up the barrel if another load is fired behind it. Even if it only happens once in 10,000 times with tired hulls, it only takes once. Since I was getting all the hulls I wanted for free, I never pushed my luck with my Semi Autos reloading them no more than twice. I have since sold my 1100 trap, my 11-87 Premier trap and my 391 Urika Trap semi autos and went back to an O/U, so it is easy to shoot hulls until they split without worries.

There is some data on velocity changes according to how many times the hull has been reloaded. I do not really worry about it. If my swing and follow through is so far off that I miss the target if the shot is 25 fps slow, I should tighten up my game a little. In any competition people get pretty anal. Do you know that they still sell "counting boards" to actually count the number of lead shot pellets so you can get the exact amount of shot in each shell?

 

[onesurveyor]

Thanks for the insight. Not worth a barrel for sure. I'll keep my reloads in my O/U.