Advice on buying some once-fired shotshells

[7Acres]

I found a guy selling 2067 empty 12 gauge shot shell hulls. They are --AA-- style winchester brand--shot once. What questions should I ask to clear up exactly what I'd be making An offer on? What would a fair price to offer? Also, I'm not in a rush, so if you'd pass on these hulls to wait for a different/better hull please pass on your preference there too. Thanks!

[r1kk1]

On the web they are running 10/100 ct for AA hulls. I fear the 40/1000 days are behind us. You could check around.

Take care,

r1kk1

[300winmag]

50/1000 is fair, if they are the new style AA I would pass and get Rem sts hulls. JMO
300

[rda72927]

+1 300winmag. Look on the bottom of the hulls, if you see a HS, pass on them. Most of the measure 2.60-2.65 (or at least mine do) and are a 3 pieace straight hull. Even the Rem Club hulls are better, but the best for reloading are the Rem STS hulls.

[Kent Fowler]

If they are the older compression formed, don't let them get away. Use a good target load and they will last a long time. See if he'll take a hundred bucks for them.

[floydboy]

+2 300 winmag and rda72927. Remington STS are certainly the cadillac of hulls but are pricey. I highly recommend Remington gun clubs. They load the same as STS's and are cheaper and lots easier to find. No they may not last as long as STS's but I'm not sold on the idea the STS's are worth the extra money. Besides...I don't like the looks of a shell shot 7-8 times. Gets all burned up looking. Tons of load data and components for the Remingtons. Winchester HS are not worth the trouble. I have several thousand of the old Winchester CF hulls and yes some of them are very good and hold up well. Some of them split at the crimp very easily. I can't tell you how to tell which are which but do know there was a time frame toward the end of the CF production run that the quality of the plastic was not as good as the earlier ones that everybody raves about. I would suggest finding some gun clubs and be done with it. As to price I have no idea what hulls go far. I haven't bought any in years.

Good luck....Floyd

[7Acres]

Great advice guys. Exactly the education I needed! I like the idea of searching for Remington gun clubs. I'll probably hold off on making this guy an offer on his Winchesters. If I'm going to acquire a couple thousand might as well wait to get some more ideal reloading hulls.

[7Acres]

:roll:...hmmm... just as soon as I make up my mind to be a purist I find a guy asking $50 for 2500 12ga hulls, mostly Winchester AAs. From some of the above mentioned pricing advice sounds like some of you would jump on that deal. I'm thinking real hard about this one.

[LaPoint]

I agree that Rem Gun Clubs offer the best 'bang for the buck' in CF hulls. I have over 6000 empties left. I think they hold up every bit as well as the premium STS and Nitro hulls. Don't be afraid of Federal Top Guns though. They are a Riefenhauser (sp?) style hull, meaning that they are constructed of multiple components. If you have a trap / skeet range or a sporting clays course in your area you will most likely be able to pick up the Fed Top Guns for free. I know many reloaders don't like them because of a fear that the base wad will separate from the hull and become lodged in the barrel. If you load them once and toss them you won't have any problems.

[7Acres]

300winmag and rda72927's advice prevailed. I'm going to hold out for some quality reloader friendly hulls (Rem gun club/STS). Not gonna mess with sketchy hulls that will give me more trouble than they're worth. Thanks for the good advise!

[dverna]

I shoot a LOT of trap. 20k+ rounds a year and reload about 15k+ per year.

The new AA hulls are not a "straight-walled" hull as someone here posted. They are not compression formed so they slightly less desirable than the STS hull. You will get at least 4-5 great loads out of the new style AA and most guys will push them further but I do not do so as I have thousands of them. Old style AA's are difficult to find and one of the best hulls every made. Plan on $50/1000 for them.



The Gun Clubs have one problem. They have a steel base instead of brass so they can be hard to size and you may get into problems if you shoot the reloads in a variety of guns with different chambers. I stopped loading them because they were hard to size and I was concerned about them wearing out my sizing dies. Otherwise they crimp great and look as good as STS's.

The Top Gun hulls also have a steel head but they have a paper base wad. If you reload range pickups be sure they are dry as a wet base wad will cause duds. Do not load them more than once as some of the paper is burned away every firing.

The Gold Medal hull is the only premium straight walled hull produced. You can buy it in paper or plastic.

[r1kk1]

I have both HS and old style of AA. Winchester says data can be used interchangeably. I have to agree that the Gun Clubs if used with different shotguns can require some effort to resize the head compare to the AA, STS, and Gold Medal hulls. All AAs in my collection are tapered hulls. I really like the STS and Nitro hulls. I have a skiving tool from ballistic products that works very well on Gun Clubs. Depending on where you look for reloading data, RCBS shotshell book lists the Gun Club data separate from STS. Hodgdon does not as well as Alliant. Go figure. I don't care for paper base wad hulls. I use a wooden dowel marked to check position of the base wad and discard those blown out or migrated.

I have the rest of a case of Hawk wads before they were bought out and plastic changed. Data doesn't interchange. Oh well. I will shoot them up. All in all, if they are the HS type and a good price I will buy them. I save the Gold Medal plastic cases for large capacity hunting cases. I miss the Activ hull for that purpose as well as the original Win 12R wad. I also miss Alcan powders but glad to see the old Rem 97 primers go.

Oh well and take care,

r1kk1

[Buzzard II]

You may want to try papcharlie@gmail.com .(Charles Tyler-Florida) I've been buying from him for years and his prices are very fair. Great service. He ships fast and gives good counts!
Bob

[r1kk1]

You may want to try papcharlie@gmail.com .(Charles Tyler-Florida) I've been buying from him for years and his prices are very fair. Great service. He ships fast and gives good counts!
Bob

I believe he only works summers. I think he snowbirds it to FL in the winter but you are right, he is great to order from.

Take care

r1kk1

[remy3424]

$.05 is usually a good price...at the last gun show I was at, most things were sky high...except a guy selling gray 12 ga. AAs for $.04 each ($4/100)

[ROGER4314]

I reload the Remington STS hulls and buy them at $90/1000 + shipping. While that sounds like a lot of coin for hulls, the things last forever and re-crimp beautifully!

I look at my components a lot differently, now. I used to be concerned that my shotgun and metallic pistol & rifle loads were cost effective. In the present political climate, I view reloading as insulation from the crazy market place prices and supply problems. I may have paid more but I'm shooting and the more cost conscious folks aren't.

Forget the component cost and keep loading. The other option is to take up knitting.

Flash