Shotgun....

[Frankr]

well they do some strange stuff, fun to watch. shotgun shells you need to experiment some to find what you want.
we use to load what we called "annie Oakley shells" for a game we played on Tuesday skeet night. we shot under the lights about 40 yards behind the trap house, we broke clays around 80 yards or further. I had a stout load of blue dot behind a 1oz load of 6's with a rem fig 8 wad..we were always trying to come up with a better load. other loads shot tight patterns out of a skeet choke,,ect ect...a lot of fun then as you would have it PEOPLE bitched about us shooting after dark. and club rules changed ect..But we drew a good crowd every Tuesday night for around two years. I shot a lot of trap/skeet and sporting clays..But I got out of it sold ALL my shotguns..I had a few nice ones. 687's 686's 3200's and a few more of this and that.I never went for the Krieghoff but I have shot a few of them..nice..I almost bought one

 

[fredhorace77]

I just started reloading shot shells and was wondering if there are any good forums to ask questions and learn a little? I have a lyman shotshell reloading manual but it leaves a lot out... I've learned a lot from it but have some question still and have know one to ask..

The Lee press is decent, but a MEC will give you more control over wad pressure and amount of crimp. This is probably why your loads were a little "fat" as you put it. Also it's hard to get a nice crimp and uniform loaded round on buckshot without the use of filler. You need to remember that a shotshell cartridge has a specific set volume. And yes we must pay attention to the powder charge and weight of the shot load, but when reloading shot shells, anytime you take something away in one area, you need to make up for it in another area. So, if you are loading "light loads", which I'm assuming you mean light on powder, then you need to make up for that lack of use of space by either using an over the powder card, bigger wad, or more buck shot. Find you a factory buck shot load and cut it open and poor out the contents, you'll soon realize how much filler they add to get a uniform crimp.

 

[MrMajestic]

I prefer to roll crimp my buckshot loads. Not high production rate but easy to control.

 

[Phil]

Dillon SL 900 with the shell feeder, Bought it back when it was affordable.

Bought the components when they were affordable too, I haven`t paid attention to what this stuff costs now a day`s but it sounds like I don`t need to see it.......IE lead $10.00 a bag affordable was what I paid.

 

[Rsadams]

The Lee press is decent, but a MEC will give you more control over wad pressure and amount of crimp. This is probably why your loads were a little "fat" as you put it. Also it's hard to get a nice crimp and uniform loaded round on buckshot without the use of filler. You need to remember that a shotshell cartridge has a specific set volume. And yes we must pay attention to the powder charge and weight of the shot load, but when reloading shot shells, anytime you take something away in one area, you need to make up for it in another area. So, if you are loading "light loads", which I'm assuming you mean light on powder, then you need to make up for that lack of use of space by either using an over the powder card, bigger wad, or more buck shot. Find you a factory buck shot load and cut it open and poor out the contents, you'll soon realize how much filler they add to get a uniform crimp.

It is surprising what goes into modern shotshells. By light load I mean the same as tactical buckshot which like remington managed recoil is an 8 pellet 00 , 1200 fps load. Which is a 1 oz payload so the recoil out of a mossberg 88 , 18.5 barrel doesn't try and rip your arm off even with a limbsaver pad.

I bought it as a new toy, really didn't need a short barrel shotgun, but got a gift card for academy for doing some security work for a friend while he went on vacation out of the country. The recoil, as all over the internet is horrible but still really fun to me.. But at a dollar a round for managed buckshot I figured I could reload it cheap and you can. Just useing a waa12sl bird shot wad and wst powder it's only making 6800 psi but pushing 8 00 pellets1235fps according to the book.

I know the short barrel takes away some but it also does with factory ammo. Iam going to do some penetration and crono work later but so far it patterns well and seems to be doing what it should. And honestly with the elections coming and the state of the world, it doesn't hurt to know how or be able to reload everthing in my opinion. I wanted to start out with the little Lee load all Becouse all iam useing is the primer,resize and crimp function. I use my scale for powder and you have to install the buckshot by hand. I already have thousands in reloading equipment for pistol and rifle like we all do. Its crazy how it adds up in , ohhh I need this etc and upgrades as you get more into it..lol

In a shtf situation you could reload shotshells with a stick if you had the components and the right Lee scoop... Plus I can work on my home defense load I have always wanted, made of cat poop and thumbtacks..lol. The bad guy would never be the same..

 

[Rsadams]

Dillon SL 900 with the shell feeder, Bought it back when it was affordable.

Bought the components when they were affordable too, I haven`t paid attention to what this stuff costs now a day`s but it sounds like I don`t need to see it.......IE lead $10.00 a bag affordable was what I paid.

Now it's triple that for a 25lbs bag. I don't think it would be worth it unless you just want to.. Iam just playing around learning something new. But as prices go they will never go back down and probably only get higher along with every thing else.. Or the way things are looking, disappear or be made illeagel.. These days If I shoot it, I learned to reload it and store away the components for " emergency " applications...

 

[dickn52]

Of course your lead is imported now since we shut down those nasty lead smelters finally. Your cost is in the shipping.

 

[Rsadams]

Of course your lead is imported now since we shut down those nasty lead smelters finally. Your cost is in the shipping.

More jobs gone, there is so much lead still used in so many products. Once again another crying shame for the American worker...We were the biggest production farmers in south Texas for 40 years. When the government got their hands into it my family retired from farming. The last ones stopped some years ago becouse it became to hard to make an honest living doing it anymore.. We used to be able to feed the world.. And don't get me started on the GMO seed monopoly..Now about the only thing down there paying is the illeagel drug market..

 

[JRS]

You can buy as much lead shot as your heart desires, from RotoMetals.

 

[2506]

Go to you-tube and look up Bubba Rountree Outdoors. He has all kinds of information and test done loading buck shot. You can also find where to get what you need to do the loading including buck shot molds.

 

[Rsadams]

Go to you-tube and look up Bubba Rountree Outdoors. He has all kinds of information and test done loading buck shot. You can also find where to get what you need to do the loading including buck shot molds.

I love to watch that guy, that's what got me interested in it to begins with.. He really makes it look simple.. My problem is I could only get federal 209a which seems to be close to a magnum primer. I will do a lot more when I get my hands on some winchester209s...

Thanks for all your advise...

 

[Rsadams]

Just an UPDATE , so my managed recoil 00 buck loads came out great, about a 8 inch pattern out of an 18.5 barrel mossberg (futhest pellet to pellet ) other than those two a very nice tight pattern at about 17 or 18 yards.. Best part very manageable recoil very low pressure for the gun and shoulder.

Penetration test was good. Through a half inch sheet of plywood and so deep into the tree (pine) behind it I dug in an inch and couldn't find the pellets.
Best part they came out to .41 cents a round verses $1.00 for factory remington.. And I got no deal on the components, so you could even build them cheaper if you didn't pay full retail.. Just a thought for you guys that already have the equipment but don't use it for bird shot anymore..

Federal gold medal hulls.. WST powder.. Federal 209A primers... WAA12SL wads and Hornady 00 buckshot.. 8 pellets at about .96 of an ounce..