shotgun loads do not go bang all the time

[beex215]

i do not know what im doing wrong. ive used brand new hulls with primers and reloaded them. some of the loads would go poof and you could actually see the slug hitting the paper. its not loud at all and you know something went wrong. ive even reloaded them with cci 209a primers and i would still get some of the poof loads. 17 grains to 23 grains red dot. 28-40 grains steel. happens randomly.

anyone face the issue and how do i solve this problems?

[Hogtamer]

what slugs? hulls? guage? hand weighed or metered? hulls wet? need more info

[upnorthwis]

Need to know what wads too.

[beex215]

lee 1oz slug
12g chedite 2 3/4 red hull
12g remington 2 3/4 green hull
claybusters 12s0 wad
red dot, steel, unique, blue dot powders.

never had a wet hull. indoor range.
charges were metered

[Hogtamer]

My first guess is that if you used Steel, it does NOT meter through anything I know of. You have to weigh it. Second would be the wads are suspect. I have not used them but many on here say the claybuster wads are not good. A crummy gas seal could be the culprit. Were you able to retrieve any wads and examine? But the first thing I would do (assuming you've got good loading data) is double check my powder drop by weighing 10 - 15 loads from whatever loader you're using with each respective powder you're using and make sure you're right on. BTW, the cheddites are straight walled and the remingtons are tapered to some degree. I'm sure others will chime in sooner or later.....but it is hunting season! Good luck.

[leadhead 500]

I would say to check the powder weight on a reliable scale and it is very possible that the powder is migrating past the gas seal on the wad causing a squib load. I would switch wads to see what happens

[Minerat]

Sometimes the powder or part of it will hang in the drop tube and get carried in with the shot. The shot cup then bottoms on the base wad and the primer blows a thru the powder. I bulged a barrel one time from this. I now hit the front of the loader after throwing the powder and check the height of the shot load before applying the crimp.

[upnorthwis]

Toss the Chedite in the floor file. My experience with them is that not only are they straight walled, but that the ID is bigger than everyone else's ID. The guy that gave them to me said you have to use a lot more powder in them to get them to seal. A LOT MORE POWDER! Nope, not me. Tossed them.

[FullTang]

Claybuster wads may be fine for trap shooting, but they are not good for Lee slugs; the CB Federal clones all have a rib on the inside of the petals which messes up the fit of the slug in the shot cup. Also, if you put them side by side with a genuine Federal wad, the gas seal is smaller in diameter. So, overall not a good fit for slugs or for the thin-walled, large volume Cheddite hulls. You may even have a problem with them seating all the way in the hull, which could cause pressures on firing to drop too much for combustion. PT wads work much better in Euro hulls, and even genuine Federal wads work better (and where I am, OEM Federal wads cost only very slightly more.)

When you have a problem this serious, you might want to try cutting down the number of variables; for example, stick to one or two powders (I'd go with the faster ones) and a single hull type.

[sargenv]

Actually, I have really good luck with the cheddites. Treat them the same as Federal hulls (straight wall) and you will be just fine. I use them exclusively for my steel shot loading and they produce very good hunting ammo. Cheddites (Kent) are the hulls that BPI pushes as the next greatest thing.. I've used them with good success. I have a couple of target loads that I love with them.. using either the 12S3 or 12S0 claybuster equivalent.

When I saw that he was using as little as 28 gr of Steel, that also made me suspect since even the 20 gauge steel loads I was making up utilize at least 32 gr of this slow burner.. It does need be weighed or trickled from something like the RCBS Chargemaster.

[Janoosh]

Hogtamer has nailed it. It's all about wad fit, wad pressure on the powder, and powder type. Wad misfit gives you bloopers. Watch your powder drop for bridging. As everyone else has said, change one piece st a time.

[UNIQUEDOT]

I have had this happen only once in nearly 30 years of shot shell loading. First off the cheddite hulls are excellent hulls for loading slugs. You need either genuine federal wads or European wads and most importantly very firm crimp! And be certain your powder charges are not too light for the one ounce slugs. The crimp and weight of the projectile is very important for proper combustion.

[MT Chambers]

Either way, the powder is migrating up along side the wad, regardless of crimping. I really don't like the hulls with straight sides(inside), I like to use Rem. STS hulls or older AAs, and the proper Rem. or W-W wads. I've never had those issues with tapered case walls.

[UNIQUEDOT]

With federal wads you will get a little migration, but with European wads in cheddite hulls you won't get any migration at all. Even if you pound the crimped mouth of the hull on the table. You simply cant get migration. With the correct wads.