Saving hulls.

[hawkeye10]

Reloading 12 or 20 gauge can you reload all the hulls or are there some you don't need to save? Don

[shortwave]

I'm not a shotgun shell reloader but I don't think you can reload shotgun slug hulls.

The more experienced will correct me if I'm wrong.

[big al hunter]

If it has a brass base, it is reloadable. Aluminum not so much.

[jaguarxk120]

The best hulls to save right now are the Remington-Peters, long life and les trouble finding data for them.

The rest throw away.

[BigJimP]

No, not all hulls are the same ....many of them, especially the lower end promotional shells are very difficult to reload...or require special components especially in terms of the "wad" required.

The most durable hull for 12ga and 20ga is the Remington STS(dark green in 12ga) or Remington Nitro hull ( gold in 12ga) - STS hulls in 20ga are yellow. There is a wide variety of components suitable to loading those hulls. If you want to reload 12ga or 20ga...I'd suggest you find a supply - or just shoot STS hulls and keep them.

Winchester hulls, these days, present all kinds of issues - and there are so many derivations of them ( from Wal Mart, etc ) that most anyone that loads shotshells in 12 and 20ga has quit reloading winchester hulls in the last 10 yrs or so. Win HS hulls require special components and have all kinds of durability and reliability issues ..and I won't fool with them at all.

There are guys that will reload almost any hull...Rio, Estate, etc...but what you'll find is there are small differences in the overall length and how they crimp ...so most of us use Rio, Estate, promotional Wal Mart Winchesters, etc as throw aways when we don't want to keep our hulls.

Since each hull requires different wads...its much easier to just go with one hull per gague. When you adjust your press for an optimum crimp ...its a pain in the butt to go back and forth to different hulls.

In 12ga....90+ % of the guys I know that reload use Remington STS hulls, Hodgdon Clays powder...and the wad varies by how much shot you want ( 1 1/8 oz, vs 1 oz, vs 7/8 oz, vs 3/4 oz...you have to change wads...and amount and sometime type of powder).

Shotshell primers are not universally changeable ....you have to find a recipe for Winchster 209 primers, vs CCI 209 primers, etc....you can't just swap one for the other.

MEC is by far the most wide used press for shotshells. Shotshell presses are gague specific - so you'll need a different press for each gague.

[BigD_in_FL]

There are no aluminum hulls, but there are a lot that use steel. These are easily reloadable - IF they are the better ones.

Worth reloading - Winchester AA, Remington - ALL of them, Federal Gold Medal. The cheap Winchesters, any of the European ones, Estates and the cheap federals are not worth the aggravation

Winchester AA and all Remington hulls can use the same wad - designed for tapered hulls; however, Federal requires a wad designed for straight-walled hulls

[zippy13]

My friends, BigJim and BigD hit the nail on the head. Premium hulls are the best for longevity and component availability.

[RMcL]

If clay target sports are your game, yes it is better to skip certain hulls with a limited reloading life. On the other hand if you have broader uses in mind, reloading other hull types for specific hunting or specialty loads, the larger case capacity will give you loading options for heavier field loads.

[OkieCruffler]

I usually reload the steel bases once then throw them away but I think I'm going to stop doing that. This weekend I was shooting alongside a fella who was using once reloaded estate hulls in his 28. Two of them came apart. The first left both parts in the chamber and wasn't a big deal, the second lodged about half a hull halfway up his barrel and that gun was done for the day.

[BigJimP]

28 gague hulls ....( especially Remington STS ) have been breaking the plastic hull on the inside of the shot cup...and they will sometimes, end up going quite a ways up into the barrel.....and its been happening on some new shells, on one reload, on 5 reloads, etc....../ it was a really hot topic about 3 - 5 yrs ago.

But that problem - at least with Rem STS has neven been an issue on 12ga, 20ga or .410....

Remington is aware of the problem - says they've changed the source on the extrusion they're using...but who knows.
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My hunch is its a combination of issues - quality of the plastic extrusion and how it is crimped or glued or whatever they do to seat it into the brass cup. ( they might use heat - and just jam them together ) ....but when they break there is still plastic left inside the shot cup.

My way of dealing with the 28ga ....when I fire the shell....I twist the plastic hull inside the shot cup in my hands after I remove them from the gun ...and before I drop them in my vest. If they're solid - I reload them / if they move at all or feel a little loose - then I dump them.
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When it happens - its easy to fix - put a cleaning rod down the barrel and tap the broken hull out. I have seen the spent shells fracture ...and the bird break normally ...so you would have no indication of an obstructed barrel in a pump or semi-auto ( so if you're going to shoot 28ga --- its a good reason to stay with an O/U )...because when you pull the shot cup out in a small piece...you know the rest of it is in the barrel.

I have seen it happen on 28ga Estate as well....but not as commonly as on Remington STS. ( I had another STS 28ga break last week on me - shooting skeet).

But the OP was talking about 12ga and 20ga - where this is not an issue.

[olddrum1]

Alot of this revolves around the vintage and type of reloader your using.

[ZVP]

If I remember my history, even during the grear gun graba in foreign countries, hunters were permitted to keeo their Shotguns, Maybe it will be so here as the Anti's make their move against us.
I'll keep my fingers crossed!
ZVP

[BigJimP]

I'm not worried about the politics of this stuff..../or reloading shotshells for the next flying zombie attack...

the point is, reloading 12ga and 20ga is very easy ...and you have a lot of options / but mixing hulls is not a good idea.

[publius]

Almost all remington's and Win. AA.

[BigD_in_FL]

For target loads, look at Claybuster, Downrange, and Duster wads - they make clones of the OEM Rem and Win wads at half the cost. LOTS of good powders to use - Clays, Clay Dot, Red Dot 700X and on and on....look at both Hodgdon and Alliant's website for data