Hulls

[Taylor]

If you were picking a hull to reload slugs...for instance Lee key drive.
What hull would you choose?
Straight wall or tapered?
Remington or Federal?

And why would you choose what you chose? (ain't sure about that sentence).

[Hogtamer]

Taylor, Over the years I have narrowed my choice of hulls. It used to be the old style AAs, but the new HS AAs have a rim of plastic in the bottom that will grab the lip of a wad powder seal and not allow proper seating. Now for all shot loads I prefer the Remington hulls which are tapered but accept a variety of wads much more reliably. Even the cheap Top Gun Rem hulls work well. For slugs and buck the new Federal primed staright-wall clear hulls are my go-to. You can see your components fit and take a six point crimp easily if you are slow about it. The cheap Federal hulls not so much. I'm wondering if the Fed hulls you are using are really gold medals. The plastic on Cheddites is so soft they are easily disfigured and not as economical as they seem. Plus you wind up buying BPI data for load info. Fed and Rem info are widely available free with more component combos. I've loaded thousands and if I had to pick one today it would be these....
http://www.ballisticproducts.com/Federal-12ga-2-3_4-new_primed_clear-hull-100_bag/productinfo/0621275/
beezapilot on this site has excellent once fired Rem top gun hulls available from time to time, perfectly packed and reasonably priced shipped and there is much info using Fed 209a primers.

[toallmy]

After checking the books for compatibility and safety , you will have to work out the component fit . I have been playing with a slug load in win AA hulls but due to fit I will be reworking it into Remington hulls to get a good crimp . I need to use a little longer hull or choose a different powder . Lots of experiments will show you what not to do be safe .

[Taylor]

If the headstamp reads "Gold Medal",then should it not be gold medal?

[GhostHawk]

I cheated, I found a sale for Rio primed hulls at BPI for 7 to 9 cents each in 100 count bags. I stacked. Then I found wads that would work for 1 oz shot loads, buckshot, and slugs, and I stacked again. And I have an 8 lb jug of promo that is just for reloading 12 ga.

Shrug.

I could not see the point of trying to scavenge and pay for used hulls when I could buy new primed hulls that reasonable.

At the time that worked for me. YMMV.

I see price is up to 9.99. You can get clear for 2$ more per bag.
http://www.ballisticproducts.com/Rio-Valu-Hull-12ga-2-3_4-new_primed-blue-10mm-brass-bag_100/productinfo/RIO127010/

[rancher1913]

I roll crimp slugs so I cut down used hulls to fit my recipe/stack. I get several different lengths but they all work fine in my pump actions.

[copdills]

I use federal straight wall with the 7/8 lee slug and they work great

[MusicMan]

Those clear Federals look nice but I can't get primed shipped to Alaska. They have to go ground and that then involves hasmat fees. So the end cost is way to much!

[FullTang]

I would back it up a bit and ask what wad is best for your slugs and your gun. For Lee slugs, I have had amazing results with PT wads in clear Fiocchi range pick-up hulls in my smooth-bore tactical gun, but it's a bit over-bored and seems to appreciate the tighter fit of the PT wads. In my H&R rifled slug guns, either genuine Federal 12S0 wads in Federal hulls (several kinds) or genuine Winchester wads (used white, gray, pink and orange with success) in AA hulls, give me the best fit and accuracy. The Federal wads certainly seem to survive the experience in the best shape, and they are very consistent in all guns; if I had to pick just one wad for all slug loading, it would definitely be the Fed 12S0. In all cases, I think the fit of the wad to the barrel is the most important factor, and the hull is just a way of holding things together 'til it all blows up. So, the hull you choose will depend on what wad works best (and don't even think about Claybuster---they just don't work.) Federal or a thicker-walled Euro hull for the 12S0, any Euro hull with PT wads, and Win AA or Rem Gun Clubs for the Win wads.

[Taylor]

Right now I use gold medal hulls and have on hand trap commander,12s0,12s3,and 12s4 wads.I have some fairly accurate loads worked up.But roll or fold crimp,I still get torn petals.That's when I get a flyer.If I'm deer hunting,will that be the flyer or the good one?Never know.

[megasupermagnum]

I love those gold medals, they are fantastic if you want a fold crimp. For a roll crimp, you are best off finding 3" federal's and trimming to 2 3/4". I often wonder if shooting 2 3/4" in a 3" (or worse, a 3 1/2") allows a slug to cant slightly. I would try some 3" hulls and see if the fliers go away.

[Taylor]

I had given thought to that as well.If you have a roll crimp,which,in my case is a trimmed 2 3/4,which ends up about 2 1/2 before the roll.Is the wad snagging and tearing the petals on the chamber,which for me is 3".That's quite some travel time.Finding 3" Gold Medals so far has been futile.Gave thought to that too.

[runfiverun]

there are no 3" gold medal hulls.
the old purple gold medal hulls of old are gone and are being replaced with a steel Base white colored hull of similar volume.
the ones you get in the value packs for like 20$ at wal-mart are purple 8 point crimp Rio hulls and take the Rio primer, they are also .750 internally which is where they give the most problems.
the largest diameter American wad I can find is .730 and that is where your tipping would come from.
I have been shooting a lot of them lately.
but I'm using a 1oz wad to fill in the space for a good crimp.

the HS/AA's also need a different wad, there is a gold colored wad available now that has the base tapered in to avoid that little step in the HS hull.
the blue windjammer will also slide past that step.

if you use the gun club hull stay away from the orange Winchester wad it is too big at the base and will stop before getting down on a dense powder [leaving an air gap] and will raise pressure because of that tightness of the seal.

[megasupermagnum]

You won't find any in a big amount, but plenty of people shoot 3" federal loads at clays. Usually they are the plastic base, steel shot shells, and right now is when you will find them.

A shell I'm currently trying for slugs is the 3 1/2" Remington (trimmed to 3"). I like to keep my 3" federal hulls for shot loads, and 3 1/2" versions are almost impossible to find in the trash. I prefer a roll crimp, and by trimming you have an un-skived hull. Skiving is just chamfering the mouth, which is how nearly all new hulls are sold. They roll crimp, but un-skived gives a much better hold. You can buy a bag of 100 3 1/2" Remington hulls from precision reloading for $14.

[Taylor]

What kind of data/loads are you using with these hulls(remington,or federal for that matter)? I took a quick peek at Hodgdon's,of course I couldn't find any slug loads for Federal 3".Lot's of different hulls!!

[megasupermagnum]

I don't see any 3" data for the lee slug. I'm looking through the BPI and Lyman manuals now. Lyman shows data for the 3" Remington with their 525 grain sabot slug. They show up to 49 grains Bluedot. What powders do you have? Something bulky like Bluedot, or 800x would be best. Looking at BPI data, if it is to be believed, shows 30 grains of 800x with their 1 ounce AQ slug, but at a lower pressure. The lyman has up to 34.5 gr 800x with their 525 gr slug, at higher pressures. Lee data has, sure enough, 49 grains Bluedot, but does not show 800x.

[Taylor]

Universal,Red,Blue and Green Dot.Plus Longshot.Plan on picking up some H-6.But Midsouth (they are 20 minutes away) is out of Winchester primers.

Also have plans to place an order with BP for some Winchester wads. Need some wad fingers for my Texan too.

[megasupermagnum]

Realize, I've never loaded the lee slug, but I have very good luck with Federal wads. Others will be able to give better advice as far as slug and wad fit. I would think best fit would be with the 12S0 wad with a 1/8" 16 gauge nitro card under the slug. If you want to roll crimp, its going to be best to use an overshot card. Without a lip on the slug for the roll crimp to hold onto, it's not going to work well. If I were to try, I would be using a Remington 3 1/2" trimmed to 3", and primed with a Federal 209A. Wad would be the 12S0 with 1/8" 16 gauge NC in the cup. The clear overshot card (also sold at precision reloading) works very well. If all is well, the roll crimp shouldn't be overly deep.

[toallmy]

Don't over look Herco powder .

[Taylor]

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Here is 2 of my best,but still the wads are coming apart.

[Hogtamer]

I don't recall what you 're shooting but IC will produce wads like that generally a true cylinder bore will not. And not all shotgun barrels are created equal no matter what 's stamped on the barrel. An old brake cylinder hone on a cut-off barrel woked pretty well for me on one gun and a wide open poly choke on another put 3 in a paper plate at 125 yds. Lots and lots of variables, not the least of which is what 10,000 lbs pressure does to soft plastic. Also I found that 1 - 20 ga then 1 - 16 ga wad did better. The 20 is just a bit smaller than the base of my slugs and the 16 on top (it won't fit in the base of the wad) centered the slug perfectly.

[Taylor]

Mossberg 500 with rifled slug barrel.

[megasupermagnum]

Ok, so just to follow up I decided to try some for fit. I don't have the Lee key drive slugs, but I did have some old BPI 16 gauge rifled slugs which seem to be about the same size. As was stated, a 16 gauge nitro card doesn't really fit. It does to a certain extent, but it might just be too tight. If you wanted, you could try some 18 gauge, but 20 gauge should work, the key drive of the lee slugs shouldn't allow the wad to be sucked into the slug. You do want something like a hard card under the slug, not just the slug in the plastic wad. A Federal 12S0 plus an 1/8" nitro card looks to give a very good fit. I loaded a couple up in both a 3" Fiocchi and 3" Remington hull with 49 grains of Bluedot. That is a very good fit in the hull, and with an overshot card, will provide a very good roll crimp. I would certainly try that at least, and use a Federal 209A or CCI 209M primer. That load is listed with the lyman 525 grain slug, so it should be rather low pressure with the 1 ounce lee.

[Blood Trail]

I could never get any tapered hull to work right with slugs or buckshot. I'm a huge fan of cheddite and Fiocchio hulls. So much so, I've got about 12,000 brand new primed hulls in both 12 and 20'ga.


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[Moonie]

I cheated, I found a sale for Rio primed hulls at BPI for 7 to 9 cents each in 100 count bags. I stacked. Then I found wads that would work for 1 oz shot loads, buckshot, and slugs, and I stacked again. And I have an 8 lb jug of promo that is just for reloading 12 ga.

Shrug.

I could not see the point of trying to scavenge and pay for used hulls when I could buy new primed hulls that reasonable.

At the time that worked for me. YMMV.

I see price is up to 9.99. You can get clear for 2$ more per bag.
http://www.ballisticproducts.com/Rio-Valu-Hull-12ga-2-3_4-new_primed-blue-10mm-brass-bag_100/productinfo/RIO127010/

I've also gone to the Rio or Chedite hulls (I have one in 3" and the other in 2 3/4") for slugs, buckshot and tri-ball loads. They are cheap and my 15 00 load and tri-ball load are rather hard on the hulls, single use only. The slug loaded shells can be reused if I want to.

[6pt-sika]

For 12's and 20's I suppose you can be somewhat picky . Personally I stick with WIN AA and REM STS period . And to a lesser degree you can say the same for 28's and 410's . But when it comes to 10's and 16's I take whatever I can get my hands on ������