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Thread: Federal hulls

  1. #21
    Boolit Grand Master


    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Aberdeen, South Dakota
    Posts
    7,136
    To be honest, I think you are over thinking the hull. It is a Federal plastic base, and it does not appear to be much different than all the other Federal plastic base hulls except the color. In the grand scheme of things, a tiny bit of variation here is not going to set the world on fire. Unless they were grossly different, I would gladly load those with Federal plastic base data myself.

    The wads on the other hand are a problem. Shotguns, especially with shot, are far more dynamic than any handgun or rifle. The wad you use matters because #1 friction can be different, #2 the plastic hardness can be different, and #3 the cushion section (or lack of) can be different. There are more factors than that, but those are the big ones. The plastic hardness matters because when you fire, that shot sets back in the wad, not only to the bottom, but to the sides as well. A hard plastic wad will not allow shot to set back as much. The theory I subscribe to is that this lack of set back raises pressures because it effectively reduces the volume in the case before the shot itself starts moving forward. It is for this same reason that the cushion section matters. Now the textbook answer is to never swap any wad ever. Me personally, I don't get bent out of shape swapping very similar wads. For example, I have no problem swapping a Winchester AA12F114 with a Federal 12S4. They are so close, it doesn't really matter. I would not, however, swap a Federal 12S4 in place of a BPI TPS wad. They are totally different.

    Primers are another area you have to be careful, but you have a Federal 209A in yours, so you won't be doing any swapping there. Again the textbook answer is to never swap primers. This is a much more gray area, but I do use CCI 209M data with Federal 209A primers. Do not use CCI 209 data, or any other primer data. Federal 209A primers are about the strongest, meaning they cause the highest chamber pressures of any primer, except a CCI 209M is usually very close.

    Again, if you expect to see anything remotely close to your Winchester Longbeard ammo, when loading without buffer, you will be disappointed. Buffer is the key to getting tight patterns with lead shot. You also have to use buffer specific load data, as the pressure differences are huge, likely again due to the setback issue. On the other hand, if you are simply looking for a load that will kill a turkey to 35 maybe 40 yards, then by all means, go ahead without buffer. I'm kind of out of the turkey load shotshell game now, as I've embraced muzzleloading shotguns so much for turkeys. I don't use buffer, and I accept the limit in range. There is an alternate way of thinking that has a lot of merit, and that is the reduced recoil turkey load. A #7.5 shot is plenty lethal to a turkey in that limited range. You need a 1 3/4 oz or similar payload to get enough pellet count with #5 shot to be lethal at 35 or 40 yards. By going to a #7.5 shot, you are still lethal to 40 yards, but even with a 1 1/4 oz load, you have about 60% MORE pellets than 1 3/4 oz of #5. Generally a #5 will pattern tighter % wise, but not enough to overcome that great of a difference in pellet count. I do prefer #5 as the best choice for maximizing range with buffer. In a muzzleloader, I've come to really like #6 as a goldilocks for turkeys too.

    I've been giving this some more thought myself, as I have a young hunter coming up who I hope to take out for turkeys next year. I could use a 20 gauge, but I think a light loaded 12 gauge single shot will be a better choice for me. He's still learning gun safety, and I like to be able to see the hammer and trigger
    Last edited by megasupermagnum; 05-28-2021 at 03:07 PM.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check