New the forum & shotgun reloading

[the sentinel]

Hello. I'm new to the forum, and to shotgun reloading. I was searching on the web and found this sight, and found alot of information useful, but I still have questions.

I'm thinking of getting into shotgun reloading. I recently bought a mossberg SPX 'tacticool' slug gun, and found it to be an absolute tack driver with slugs and its factory ghost ring sights, which rekindled my interest in shooting 12 guage slugs. I'd asked on another forum about reloading slugs, but kept getting the same answer "unless you're going to shoot ALOT of slugs, don't bother" I do intend to shoot a lot of slugs, though. ;) And I plan on stockpiling a bunch, too. So now that I told my story, I will procede with my questions.

what goes into casting slugs? I thought about loading foster style, but I'm thinking now that round balls might be the way to go. I know next to nothing about casting slugs/round balls/bullets in general. The mold I was looking into was the lee .690 round ball mold. Am I on the right track? Thank you!

[Alchemist]

Sentinel,

First of all, welcome from another newbie. :drinks: I've only been here for a short time, and have already learned a lot. There are a lot of helpful, knowledgeable guys here who can teach you a lot.

You didn't say whether you have reloaded metallic cartridges...but I assume not. I would recommend getting a Lyman shotshell reloading manual and read through the reloading "how-to" section. That should both answer some questions for you as well as raising a few more questions.

Read through some of the threads to find out what some other guys are trying. Get some catalogs or look on-line at reloading suppliers to get an idea of what equipment you need. Places like Midwayusa, Mid South Shooters Supply, Natchez, etc are good places to start looking for equipment.

It might look like a lot to learn at first, but it comes quickly if you study several sources.

The most important thing to keep in mind is SAFETY!! The manuals are developed by professionals with lots of expensive test equipment and years of experience. Follow the load data and you'll be okay. Deviate from it and a disaster could await you.

Hope that helps...see ya around the site!

Alchemist

[the sentinel]

I do reload for some metallic stuff, but never really dabbled in shotshell loading. I figure its different enough to have to ask some questions. I have read over a bunch of the slug related posts in the archives, and found a wealth of knowledge there. I will have to get a manual, but I will probably do that once I start accumulating more of the reloading stuff.

I have developed a couple more questions since my first post. What is a compression shell? Would that be like a Winchester AA shell? And what are butler cards, and where do I get them from? Thank you!

[IcerUSA]

the sentinel , again , get the Lyman Shot Shell reloading book , has a ton of info in it including seversl pages on shell construction . I got one and it took alot of guess work out of reloading shot shells .
I would also suggest that if you plan on doing alot of shooting to get a progresive reloader , 650 or better .
Just a couple points to consider .

Keith

[Buckshot]

Hello. I'm new to the forum, and to shotgun reloading. What goes into casting slugs? I thought about loading foster style, but I'm thinking now that round balls might be the way to go. I know next to nothing about casting slugs/round balls/bullets in general. The mold I was looking into was the lee .690 round ball mold. Am I on the right track? Thank you!

..............Welcome to the board! Casting RB's are the simplist easiest casting of all to do. A RB is the poorest ballistic shape there is for shooting (outside of cubes :-)). They lose their velocity quickly. On the other hand you can drive them damn fast :bigsmyl2: With a .577 Snider a conical Minie' will go about 1000 fps but a cast RB will exit the muzzle at 1600 fps. At close range that's a BUNCH of wallop value. The other nice thing about RB's is that they're ALWAYS point forward!

Usually slugs are cast fairly soft due to barrel chokes, but if you have no choke you could cast them of pretty much any alloy. I've never cast shotgun slugs, but have cast a passel of 58 cal Minie' boolits. The issue's (base cavity fillout) would be the same.

..............Buckshot

[Alchemist]

I have developed a couple more questions since my first post. What is a compression shell? Would that be like a Winchester AA shell? And what are butler cards, and where do I get them from? Thank you!

Sentinel,

precisionreloading.com is one I forgot to mention yesterday...they are probably the most shotshell intensive reloading supplier out there. All kinds of wads, reloaders, etc. Worth checking out.

Compression formed hulls are the AA's and similar constructed hulls.

Hope that helps.

Alchemist

[the sentinel]

I'll invest in a book. That sounds like a sound investment. I also have my eye on a used mec 600(?) JR press I saw at my favorite shop selling for $50. So I figure I can pick that up, and that'll be a big part of the battle. I also heard good things about universal charge bars as opposed to using bushings, in terms of consistancy.

Really what I'm after is to make a bunch of slugs I can plink with, and store away for a rainy day, I guess you might say. Ammo prices aren't getting any better. I figure I'll start rolling my own slugs if I'm just going to plink with em. I guess the trick will be getting enough lead to make a big pile of roundball slugs. All of my shotguns are cylinder bore. My brother's got a coach gun that im.cyl and mod. and in the interest of universal ammunition, I'll probably look for pure lead. I hear leap pipes are pure lead. Any truth to that? Thanks!

[HORNET]

Welcome to the asylum, LOTS of info available on here. If you go down the main page a ways, there's awhole section on casting for shotguns. There was a member called hubel458 (IIRC, or something like that) that did some extraordinary things with slug loads. That lead pipe should be nearly pure lead except for any joints, which are usually a lead/tin mix that's good for pistola boolits. P.S. Don't believe everything you read about cats or sheep.

[runfiverun]

that mec if it is the one that you move the case to each station is okay.
if it is the one that goes around i would not start with it.
you want to keep it as simple as possible to start with.
you may want to start loading some trap loads first then when you are familiar with
the process and see how things work. hulls,crimping,wad fit, sizing of hulls. then
move up a bit to the super-duper stuff.
what you can do with shotgun loading is amazing but you got to be careful
as there is no real way to read pressure signs.

[Alchemist]

I'll invest in a book. That sounds like a sound investment. I also have my eye on a used mec 600(?) JR press I saw at my favorite shop selling for $50. So I figure I can pick that up, and that'll be a big part of the battle. I also heard good things about universal charge bars as opposed to using bushings, in terms of consistancy.

Really what I'm after is to make a bunch of slugs I can plink with, and store away for a rainy day, I guess you might say. Ammo prices aren't getting any better. I figure I'll start rolling my own slugs if I'm just going to plink with em. I guess the trick will be getting enough lead to make a big pile of roundball slugs. All of my shotguns are cylinder bore. My brother's got a coach gun that im.cyl and mod. and in the interest of universal ammunition, I'll probably look for pure lead. I hear leap pipes are pure lead. Any truth to that? Thanks!

A MEC 600 JR for $50.00 is a good deal, providing all the parts are there. I've used one for years, and you can do 4 boxes an hour after you get the rhythm down. The MEC also makes a really nice shell once it's adjusted properly. Anyway, I'd snatch that puppy up for $50.00!

[azduke]

Started off with a Mec 600 jr and it is good.I since moved up to a Mec 9000G
progressive due to shooting Olympic(bunker)trap and shoot a minimum of 200 rounds every Sunday