Differences in shotshell hulls when reloading

[Lavid2002]

Just curious. I am looking up reloading information in my shotshell handbook and the hull types are very limited.
I was wondering if I could change out a remington gun club hull for a remington premier STS hull.

Im going to go slice one in half and compare the dimensions of the insides.

[Unclenick]

Leave the spent primer in and fill them with water to check capacity difference. I've always mixed shotgun hulls on the premise that benchrest groups from a scatter gun were improbable by definition. But then, I always loaded target loads.

[Lavid2002]

They look the same comparing the one in the book.....

[oneounceload]

STS and Gun Club use the same loading data - as does the AA. Where you get into differences is with the Federal or similar European hulls which are straight wall instead of tapered.

[Lavid2002]

Cool...Just wondering. Im looking to buy a slug gun this fall and I want to start gathering range hulls so I can blast away later when I can buy my next toy.

I'm also curious. Why are they so specific with wads?
I can understand the differences in internal dimensions but with a hull....come on... They seem fairly similar.

[SL1]

react differently as the powder burns, making more or less room for the gases in that split instant when the powder is building pressure. Because smokeless powder's burning rate is a function of the pressure at each moment, a wad that makes room a little slower can get the powder burning a lot faster, because the process feeds-back on itself with more pressure making even faser burning. So, the nature of the wads becomes more critical than one would expect without really studying the processes involved.

And, shotguns are not very high-pressure devices, so a pressure error of maybe 5,000 psi that would not destroy most modern guns might destroy a shotgun if the load was hot to begin with.

SL1

[Lavid2002]

What id the wads have very similar structure like the cases above?


Also...why do shotgun loads only have one load. Why not a suggested starting load and a max?

[Edward429451]

Stick with the exact book recipes or an exact recipe from an established long time SS reloader. We read about too many cracked receivers and KB's from people not following load recipes. You might be able to subsitute componants for cartridge reloading a little but not in SS reloading (or at least not in my limited experiance yet.)

When you jump in, go MEC. I accidently happened into a Grabber press and It turns out that the MEC is like that standard for the other presses. It must be so because I have found nothing but ease and good shells from this machine.

There's nothing more satisfieing than casting your own slug, loading it and tagging a 12 X 24 at 100 yds offhand with a short police barerel.

[BigJimP]

You cannot switch wads - without a published recipe ( there are too many factors ) its not just the height of the wad, etc ..../ and wads are specific to the hull listed in the recipes. You will find wads that will work in more than one hull ( like they'll work in a WIN AA, and a Rem STS hull as an example ) ...but they may not work in a Chedite, or Rio, etc ...it just depends.

You also cannot just mix primers ( like you do in metallic ) - shotshell primers are specific / don't mix a Win 209, a Chedite 209, etc ...they are not the same...

Rem STS, Remington Nitro and Remington Gun club will all use the same recipes ( and in the load tables it will tell you specifically they can all be used ).

You will find recipes where for a sequence of components ( Hull first, powder, wad and primer ..... where there will be a range of powders that may give you velocities from 1150 fps to 1300 fps ......so you have some options / but its not like a Min and Max in metallic loading.

How much you crimp a shell also contributes to how much pressure you get ...its not just about cramming stuff into a hull ( and if it fits - it isn't necessarily ok ) ....in fact it may be very dangerous.

Just go by published recipes and you'll be fine. I primarily use the powder co's specs or reloading tables ...and find my hull first - and the length of hull I'm using, then how many ounces of shot, then the powder, then the primer and then the wad....then look at the load data in various columns.....

[oneounceload]

Also...why do shotgun loads only have one load. Why not a suggested starting load and a max?

Some do - depends. Looking at a Lyman manual today showed three different charges using the same components, and their corresponding increases in pressure and velocity. I like low velocity and low pressure - means my shoulder/neck/spine don't get beaten up. Recoil sucks and can be very debilitating - take that into account if you plan to shoot a lot.

As BigJim points out - FOLLOW THE PUBLISHED RECIPES - different components cause different results - not always a good thing!

[langenc]

At a club where I shot couple years ago someone took couple dozen cases and cut them kinda like poster #3 and put them all on a board.

Interesting to say the least.

[Lavid2002]

OK, thanks guys!