00 buck hulls reloading?

B&G Clinger

Just got a reloader for Christmas. I admit I am a little excited at trying my hand at reloading. Picked up a mixed bag of 12 Gauge hulls today. There were a few hundred Winchester hulls that were 00 buck loads from the factory.
Is there any reason why they cant be reloaded with shot for trap shooting?

perry shooter

With brass case Rifle and pistol ammo you can for the most part MIX & MATCH brands of cases as well as bullets of different brands but same weight[^]
HOWEVER NOT WITH SHOT SHELLSyou must use reloading manuals with published Case brand as well as type Wad brand as well as type and Shot weight. if not you are chancing big trouble even thou you might have 2 winchester 2&3/4 inch shells the volume Of the case because of the base WAD may be entirely different

charliemeyer007

+1 for loading data. I use my old 12 ga. AA's for shot, buck shot and sabot slugs with the correct data. The old Uplands IIRC are hi-brass AA and load the same but have a 6 point crimp instead of 8.

The old AA 20 ga. don't take the same wads as new ones marked HS.

Mixed hulls is not a good plan. The old paper Federal's were nice, then came AA's.

Go to a trap/skeet range and buy a sack of once fired AA's or Blue Magic.

added: With some work you could make shorty 1.75" rounds from the roll crimp slug hulls.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/2506255579/aguila-minishell-ammunition-12-gauge-1-3-4-5-8-oz-7-1-2-shot

geeguy

As above for reloading the actual hulls. However, I thought your question was "if" you can reload 00 buck hulls for trap & skeet loads. Yes, just follow the the advise above and do not mix types.

B&G Clinger

Thanks for the advice guys. Definitly not into making crazy custom loads or anything that could be called "sketchy"

All ready tried the local range. That was a dead end as they discard their old hulls every week. My brother in law just had some training at work and brought home all of the hulls for me. Big thanks to him for that.

I sorted the bag. Three different hulls. 617 Winchester 00 buck hulls. 306 Winchester slug hulls. And 56 Federal slug hulls. All 12 Gauge and all of the 2 3\4 " variety. The slug hulls are not an option for me because my machine does not do the roll crimp. Only 6 & 8 point pedal folds.

I would like to start my reloading with something simple and something I will use. Thats why I would like to load some trap shells. I was thinking that with the correct combination of loading components I could make some trap shells using the 00 buck hulls?

This reloading thing looks interesting and fun....but people keep cautioning me to NOT screw it up!! I get that, as a matter of fact that is why I am on here digging for info. I am also consulting the Lymans 5th Edition Manual that I also got for Christmas.

MG1890

Watch the crimp pattern. You cannot reload factory 6 point crimp hulls with an 8 point crimp press. Other than that the hull does not care what size shot is inside.

Follow a recipe in a shotshell manual TO THE LETTER.

Toss the slug hulls.

charliemeyer007

I have the 4th edition and it doesn't cover the HS cases.

I use the silver AA's for my Lyman sabot slug loads. All my other loads are 1.25 oz. 3.75 DE. I sharpe the shot size on the base, 00 gets a red marked primer, #4 buck is a black primer.

cbyerly

Unless you have a roll crimper you may as well scrap the 00 buck hulls. Go to your local trap or skeet club and ask for once fired hulls to reload. If the people at the club are friendly, you may get them free.

B&G Clinger

quote:Originally posted by cbyerly


Unless you have a roll crimper you may as well scrap the 00 buck hulls.



My loader only does the 6 and 8 point crimps. But it will crimp these 00 buck shells. Why would I chuck them out?
The only ones I would consider scraping would be the slug hulls because they are clearly roll crimp shells. However I dont see why I should toss them just yet. Arent they worth holding onto in case I add another press?
Maybe I am just holding on to junk....but I dont think so.

perry shooter

YOU NEED THE SAME BASE WAD IN EVERY SHELL just because it is the same color or same Make does not mean the empty shell has the same volume you load shot shells by Volume base wad powder the shot wad and amount of shot so the crimp applies closing force . not enough pressure holding the finished shell sand POOF ward or shot may not even clear the barrel BAD JU JU

Ray B

Rather than just saying DON'T; my suggestion is:
Take one of the hulls that was loaded with shot and one that was loaded with buckshot. Take a knife & saw and split the hulls lengthwise in two, cutting right through the fired primer. When they are halved, compare the interiors of the two hulls. If they are exactly alike, then they can be used. However if one has one-piece construction and the other has a separate base wad of either fiber or plastic, then they will be needing different loading data. Just because a hull was previously roll crimped doesn't mean that it can't be star crimped, although the hull may need to be skived (tapered).

charliemeyer007

I think his 00 hulls will be just fine. The roll crimped slug hulls are usually too short to make into folded crimp ones. You can get a roll crimping die to run in like a drill press, and cut your own over the shot wads from light cardboard.

B&G Clinger

quote:Originally posted by charliemeyer007
I think his 00 hulls will be just fine. The roll crimped slug hulls are usually too short to make into folded crimp ones. You can get a roll crimping die to run in like a drill press, and cut your own over the shot wads from light cardboard.



Makes sense to me. You are correct about he slug hulls. They are slightly shorter and I dont think they will work for anything I am trying to do.

Having just gotten a loader for Christmas, I am just getting started and starting from scratch at that. My dad never reloaded and I dont have any buddys to bounce things ideas off of. Unless ya count the GB crowd as buddys!

Anyway I am going to get some components today and see what they say at the store about reloading the hulls I have now. If thats a "no go" I guess I'll be searching for some more hulls. Thanks for the info to all who shared.

charliemeyer007

You should be fine if you follow the loading book on case identification, the proper powder, shot and wad selection. Use a scales to check the actual charge delivered by your press. I fill the powder about 1/2 way, and slam the bar back and forth about 10 times and work the handle like you would loading a shell. Collet the powder in a small clean box for re-use. After the powder is settled in I put in the shot. One cycle of the bar is enough to settle the shot.

Big shot doesn't feed as well as small stuff. A hand dipper or pellet count will be less frustrating.

e8gm

I've loaded and shot hundreds of Winchester 00 buck hulls with high brass using the load data for the Winchester Compression formed hulls. In the Lyman shotshell load manual are actual size pictures to compare your fired hulls too. Just make sure you use the proper crimp starter (6 or 8 point) and load according to the book.

bambambam

There has been plenty replies on this thread so I'll offer my $.02.

Get rid of every hull you have except the Win AA or any Remington STS, Nitro, or Gun club hulls. All of the above are 8 crimp and the longest lasting hulls that are reloadable. Some of the 6 crimp should not be reloaded but ALL hulls "could" be reloaded once or twice before they split. Doesn't mean they ever should be.

The hulls I mentioned above has recipes for just about everything from slugs to all the different types of shot. High brass is a gimmick, any load you find in high brass is reloadable in a low brass shell.

If you are short hulls after sorting, there are 2-3 sellers on GB that offer 500 or 1000 hull lots for $30-$50.