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reloading "throw away" hulls

5K views 17 replies 16 participants last post by  Blueraven81 
#1 ·
I have been a fan of STS and Nitro hulls, still am. However, there are buckets of Rio, Kemen, Estates, few gun clubs and other hulls that are once fired at my club. Does anyone load these up, and just let them fly after one reload? Is there a downside or issues with base wads coming loose in these cheapies? Assuming there is decent reloading info, I am very interested in reloading these one time and not saving hulls.

Is there damage or excessive wear to P/W or Spolar reloaders since the bases are steel and not brass?

Thanks in advance for any input you could share.
 
#3 ·
reloading

I load Estates and Top Guns for my auto. Usually only load them one time but I have loaded Top Guns up to 4 times with no problems. They fail at the crimp. The base stays in tact and the primer pocket stays tight.

Gualandi makes wads that fit these thin wall cases very well. The Gualandi wads are bigger (larger diameter) than Federal wads. I have used the GU-1222, GU-1225, GU-1227 and Trap Commander Gualandi wads.

I use Federal Gold Medal loading data for the Top Guns and Estates.

Jim Skeel
 
#4 ·
reloading

I've loaded the Gun Clubs also like Stonewall. Reload them the same as my STS's and Nitros. If I can't get them back or they are too hard to chase around no loss to me.

Yes, I've experienced the hull and base seperating on a few Gun Clubs. Found this to happen when shooting my sporting auto. I'm not overly concerned at this time.

Of the cheap hulls I would say the Remingtons are by far the only ones worth reloading.
 
#5 ·
reloading

I have no issues with Gun Clubs. I use the same recipes for STS\Nitro hulls, primers seat firm and I have loaded them up to 8 times. Not all of them survive for 8 reloads, once I get to the point where I am tossing 5% I load what I have left and toss them at that point. All in all a durable, perfectly good hull.
 
#6 ·
reloading

I have just recently become a fan of the Estate hulls for reloading. They are extremely easy to come by, and reload great. I am loading 17.8gr. promo, Cheddite primer, with 11/8oz. of shot over a 1oz. Downrange XL-1 wad. Great load for singles and doubles. I have also loaded them for 27yd handicap with Cheddite primers, 22gr. REX-II, 11/8oz. shot with the XL-1 wad. Load them one time and toss them. They work just fine.... Dan Thome (Trap2)
 
#7 ·
reloading

Didreckson:

I've had great success with junk hull reloads. I load them all on MEC progressives so I can't comment about loading them on a Ponsness or Spolar.

As for brands, Cheddite makes a gaggle including Rio, Kemen, Diana, and Centurion to name several. Those all use the same data. They're omnipresent but loading them is more trouble than it's worth so IMO, these hulls are truly throw aways.

Estates and Top Guns are made by Federal. I've loaded ten of thousands of Top Guns over the years starting in the mid 80's. I added Estates several years ago when Federal confirmed they were ballistic equivalents to Top Guns. As others have mentioned, Gun Clubs are also very good.

All of the steel headed hulls can be loaded more than once but they're so readily available I choose not to do so.

sissy
 
#8 ·
reloading

I probably reload more Remington Gun Club hulls than anything else. Most people just leave them on the ground, so there is a good supply.

Even the 6-point Remington ShurShot dove loads reload and crimp perfectly in my 366.
 
#9 ·
reloading

Gun Clubs are fine, as are some of the Federal paper base types, provided they haven't gotten wet. The base wads will swell and distort if they have. I would strongly caution anyone about reloading the UEE manufactured hulls (Rio, Kemen, etc.) I have seen a large amount of basewad migrations in these hulls, as have many others. Some people load them, but I won't waste my time or components using a hull that I believe to be unsafe. The Fiocchi plastic hulls have worked well for me in the past. There is a lot of data out there for all of these.

You might want to look at these threads in reference to the UEE hulls:

Click Here!

Click Here Too!
 
#11 ·
reloading

As my Remington STS and Nitros reach the end of their reloading cycles - reloaded 6 times - they go into the "reload once more and let 'em fly" pile. I know how many times each hull has been reloaded by me by making a black tick mark on the base of the hull with a Sharpie pen. I find this easier - and less worrisome for my loader and me - than trying to reload steel based or different types of hulls that others don't bother to pick up. But, I can see it may not be everyone's choice. Best Regards, Ed
 
#14 ·
reloading

I don't mess with too many of the Gun Clubs but they are a decent steel base worth reloading. I've given away 100:1 to guys that really wanted them. One of the guys I shoot with reloads them exclusivly. My STS's and Nitros get about 6 reloads max????? I don't count how many times, just guessing. The Gun Clubs seem to reload a bit longer by what I've seen. I get ready to toss them right before they get too charred or and split. Some powders are easier on the plastic than others. I find Red Dot to do a number on a hull worse than say clays but this is just my experience. I reload with both Alliant and Hodgdons, I'm lucky to have alot of once fired hull and don't reload them to death because I never felt the need to. Reload them as often as you can. Just be safe.
 
#15 ·
reloading

I suspect that faster powders like 700x, red dot Nitro 100 are less dependent on crimp quality (comments Neil or Dr AC?). My chronograph tests showed small reductions is velo with mush mouth CF AA's vs 1x fired reloads

Also heavier shot loads are less dependent on crimp as well

The EOL (end of life) for tapered base hulls like Gun Clubs etc is when you get 2 adjacent axial tears in the mouth. This allows the wad to snag in loading.

Rifenhauser tubes (Estates Fed TG's etc) burn at the tube wall down low and can separate leaving the tube stuck in the barrel. Those get only 3 or 4 shots and go out. The mouths appear a bit dirty but thats all the sign you get.
Cut some down and look at the plastic, you can see it is eroded.

I have shot some papers till they perforated at the base but they had soft mouths so crimp resistance was low and didnt pull the paper off the base.

regards
 
#17 ·
reloading

<blockquote><I>"How do you know when the hulls have reached their end of life?
I reload exclusively Gun Clubs."</i></blockquote>

Blueraven,

Here's my standard:

These are Gun Club hulls. The one on the bottom is a once-fired while the one on the top has seen 7 reloads. Both are exactly as they came from the gun. When the crimp of the hull on the bottom looks like the one on the top, the hull has lost its flexibility and is retired... <center>

</center>

MK
 
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