BP loads for all brass shot shells

[omgb]

I've got a large supply of all brass 12 GA shot shells my dad brought back from Korea. I shot all of these over the years but hung onto the brass. Yesterday I decided to try reloading them.

I deprimed the hulls using a Lee tool. Then I tumbled them for a few hours. I reprimed them using large rifle primers (pistol might have been better as they are softer and pop easier) and a 12 GA shell holder I bought from RCBS. I just used the priming arm on my press.

I loaded them with 95 grains by volume of GOEX 2F. On top of this I used a 1/8" Circle Fly nitro wad. I actually used 11/2 of these to get the right wad height. Then I added two Cricle Fly 11 GA fiber wads. Using an old Mec, I compressed them with 60 lbs wad pressure. Then I added 11/8 oz. 71/2 shot. I capped this off with a 10 GA circle Fly over-shot wad. I added three drops of super glue to the edge of the wad and let it all dry.

What I would really like is someone to turn me a small tool that I could insert into the case mouth that would radius the over shot wad slightly. Ideally it would be something I could chuck in a drill press and lower down onto the wad. That would give me a nice smooth finished look to the hull.

If I get a chance this weekend I'm going to try them. Tests with just primed hulls indicate that not all of the primers fire on the first hit. I cleaned the pockets, reemed them and set the primers snuggly in place. However, it seems they sit just a tad low in the case. All fire on the second hit however.

Any takers on the tool? I'm willing to work out a trade or cash.

R J Talley

[omgb]

I just got back from the skeet range..a night shoot. Only two of twenty failed to fire on the first try. Lots of smoke, loud noise and sparks ahoy! I loved it! We broke a lot of birds with them too. The recoil is much different, more of a shove than a slap. Heavier, but yet softer. The barrel looks like a coal mine but the fouling didn't seem to harden or cake up. Of course, we are on the verge of a rain storm too so maybe the increased humidity was a factor. I'm going to load up another box of these. I'm still interested in making a tool if any machinest out there would like to work out a deal.

R J Talley

[BluesBear]

Remington (and to my knowledge all of the other US companies) used large pistol primers in their all brass shotshells.


I have a copy of an article published in the October 1964 American Rifleman than confirms that Remington brass shotshells used Remington 2½ primers.
It seems that everything else available at that time was foreign produced and used Berdan primers.

[Buckshot]

"..................What I would really like is someone to turn me a small tool that I could insert into the case mouth that would radius the over shot wad slightly. Ideally it would be something I could chuck in a drill press and lower down onto the wad. That would give me a nice smooth finished look to the hull."

You mean to turn the mouth of the hull in over the wad? You can PM me if no one else has contacted you yet.

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

[omgb]

Here is a look at some assembled rounds and the wad columns that go into them.

[Greg5278]

I think Ponsness Warrren used to make a die with an inverted funnel design for that purpose. It would roll the edge ever so slightly to hold the overshot card. I don't know what angle was bored in the die, but it apparently worked for 20-10Gauge shells, you just ran the smaller gauges in farther. I imagine one could be made from a piece of scrap round bar, and fitted to a reloading press. I have a custom sizing die that fits in an RCBS press, when the 7/8-14 thread insert is removed. Perhaps Steve at www.victorymolds.com might be able to help.
Good luck Greg S

[Buckshot]

..............Heh, those are big ole dudes, aren't they:-) Shouldn't be a problem.

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