I usually shoot out of a lot of 250-300 shells. I only load AAs but in one box I put a few Remington Nitros, or some other odd shell. I shoot them in order and every time the Nitros come up I know I have added one more firing to the whole lot.

 

I reload a lot with my Spolar. I presently have 15 or so flats loaded, ready to stick in the Pathfinder and head for the Silver Dollar. I load AAs (old and new, red, silver and gray), Nitros, STSs and still have some loaded Federal Gold Medals, loaded once, that I will drop since I decided not to reload Federals any more.

I keep the hulls separated, either in tubs or boxes, or, in cases of once-fireds, in plastic garbage cans. When I load some, I note on the box (I use removable white labels-they are cheap) what the hull is, the number of loadings, the size and brand of shot and the weight and type of powder.

For example, a label might read like this: AA3 8L (for Lawrence #8s) 17.3 Clays for a hull being loaded for the third time. I always use Win 209s, and load 1 1/8 loads so I don't add that to the label.

Bob

 

Nope, when the side splits or the crimp petals out, that is the last time for that hull !!

 

What he said.

 

I have so many hulls that are once-fired, I don't think I will live long enough to use them up so I don't reload them quite as many times as timberfaller.

I keep track of the loadings as I said in my post above, then at 4-5 for AAHS hulls (sometimes less if the little buggers split sooner), 7-8 for AACFs, STSs, and Nitros, I let them drop. The old AAs, especially the Silver Bullets, will load more, but I still drop them at 7-8.

Bob

 

I make a slash with a Sharpie on the base. 4th slash means shoot and toss. I don't wear them out, so I don't have to inspect them before reloading them again. I only reload Remingtons.

 

I mark the same, but reload Gun Clubs 9 times and toss

 

When I reload metallic (5.56, 7.62, 30-06, etc.) I keep all my brass in 50 round batches in plastic boxes designed for that purpose. Each box has a label recording its vital statistics and I keep a notebook recording each batch. If I loose a piece of brass, I do not replace it in the batch. I reload each batch no more then 5 times and measure and trim after each firing and resizing.

I keep my shot shell hulls in batches of 250. i.e., a flat. I have a label on each box in the flat. I use reloaded, once fired hulls for ATA shoots. I use more than once fired hulls for practice.

I reload shot shell with only a few basic loads. Federal Papers are always 2 3/4 - 1 1/8 - 7 1/2. Federal Gold Medal Plastics are always 2 3/4 - 1 1/8 - 8. Remington STS are always 2 3/4 - 1 - 8.

I also reload a variety od "games" loads and I mark the base of these hulls with a felt tip marker using a variety of markings.

After shooting, I store the hulls in target boxes and keep these in the top of the garage. The heat in the top of the garage dries out any moisture, especially in paper hulls.

Before each reloading session, I get out the hulls I plan to reload and examine each hull. As I reload mostly Federal Paper, I look for weak case mouths and pin holes just above the brass.

I place all of my reloaded hulls from a reloading session in a five gallon plastic bucket. As I box the reloads, I look for bad crimps and splits along the side. I cull out imperfect shells for practice. I don't want to be distracted while shooting by an odd looking hull.

Funny thing about imperfect shells tossed into the "shoot one more time and toss" bucket. I often find a 25 straight in that bucket. Even an ugly looking reload often shoots good.

 

Yes I do and it is pretty easy to do.

Many years ago when a trap shooting friend of mine gave me about 15,000 once fired silver and red Win AA I decided I was going to keep track of how many times I reloaded the hulls.

I put masking tape on the shell boxes to show if they are 7/8 oz, 1 oz or 1-1/8 oz loads, the wad type and how many grains of powder. I also put a 1st or new on the tape for once fired, a 2nd for twice loaded and a 3rd for three times loaded and so on.

Then when I put the empties in a storage box the storage box is marked the same way. So my once fired storage boxes are marked 1st, the second fired storage boxes are marked 2nd and so on. I use printer paper boxes and each box holds right at 700 hulls.

When Wal-Mart was selling Win AAs, Rem STSs and Remington Gold Nitros for $3.97 a box it was pretty easy for us to pick up 5000 hulls or more at a sporting clays range as soon as their big benefit or charity shoots were over.

I have lots of hulls so it takes quite a while to cycle through each batch. I may reload 2000 to 3000 of one brand an color of hull and they will all be the same load and shot size and they will all be marked the same like 2nd or 3rd. If I start re-loading the empty 3rds I won't shoot any 3rds untill my 2nds are all shot.

The green Rem STS hulls I have have always had 1 oz of #8 shot reloaded in them the Gold Nitros are all reloaded with 1 oz of #7-1/2 shot.

Once the hulls have been reloaded 4 times I give them away to somebody that wants them.

 

I use the exact same steps as described by Oregunner above only I pitch them after the sixth tic Sharpie mark. Use only Remington STS green hulls for #8 shot (singles) and Nitro Gold for #7.5 shot (handicap). The Nitro's seem to load somewhat longer than the STS. Regards, Ed

 

I never count how many times I load them, if it amn't broke, I don't toss it.

When I shoot reloads, I check the shell before I put it in the camber, if it looks really old with splits, I don't put it back to my hull pouch after I shot.

 

I never count how many times I load them, if it amn't broke, I don't toss it.

When I shoot reloads, I check the shell before I put it in the camber, if it looks really old with splits, I don't put it back to my hull pouch after I shot.

STS and AAs if they look good I reload them. HMB

 

STS and AAs if they look good I reload them. HMB

 

Red AAhs for 7/8, grey for 1oz. When the crimps won't hold or the side splits they are gone.

 

Yup, I sorry to say I do. Keep them in plastic bags, marked on the outside how many times they've loaded.

 

I don't keep up with how many times I load a hull but I guess I should.I just watch them as I reload and toss out the crispy looking ones.Seems to work for me.

 

Just load them till I pitch them. Don`t count them. I have thousands

 

I try my best to keep track, especially in the small gauges. I do have a bunch that are not kept separate, but they are 12 and 20 gauge Top Guns and Gun Clubs that have no monetary value if I chuck a few hundred before their time.

 

Same as straight shooter, I have so many 1X hulls in storage, not counting the ones I've yet to pick up, I'll never shoot a hull more than once. Don't have to worry about cracked or split case mouths. I load up about 50 or more flats at a time, then put the shotshell stuff away for the season. During the shooting season, I can pick up more than I shoot easily. They come in by the thousands at times, sacked up already, many times I turn them down. Only have so much room for hulls. And if I croak soon, my family is gonna be busy throwing away my stash, but I ain't no hoarder.

 

Some of this is toooo much effort.

My trap loads are all the same so I don't mark whats in the box, I Load in simple lots . Makes it easy.
Now if I lived up North again with long cold winters,, Sure I would load a bunch and would need a new system.

(If I miss a target that hull goes on the ground cause it did not work) Damn I go through a lot of hulls .

Just kidding

DGH

 

(If I miss a target that hull goes on the ground cause it did not work) Damn I go through a lot of hulls

I`ll have to try that when I miss !! Dam defective shell.........

 

MAH66:

Thanks for the information on storing plastic hulls in the top of the garage as the heat drives out the plasticizers out of plastic hulls and makes them brittle.

Most of my hulls are Federal Papers but I did store a number of the smooth plastic Gold Medals in the top of the garage for a couple of years. It did not seem to bother them when I did reload them. I reloaded them many times with 19.5 of Green Dot, Noble Sport 209, Clay Buster 12S3 clone and 1 1/8 oz. of 8's. This was my 16 yard load. I had no trouble with the hulls coming apart as other shooters on this forum who complained about them did. My 870 barrels loved them. However, after several reloads, they were prone to splitting so I got rid of the lot when the new ribbed Federal Gold Medal's came out.

I will store plastic hulls in plastic tubs at ground level from now on. I think that I have about 10 flats of new ribbed Plastic Gold Medal Extra Lite's. As I shoot up my reloaded plastic Gold Medals's I will probably toss them.

 

Sharpie marks on the bottom of the base. easy and no mistakes of mixing things up.

 

I do the same. I put a tick mark on the brass for each time it has been fired as a reload. The only problem with my method is that the first time I reload a hull it looks EXACTLY like a factory. I use OEM components and with the right settings on the machine they come out perfect. It would be smarter to put a tick on it each time it is reloaded but I am already too invested in my system to change now.

 

Thats like asking how many licks to the chocolate center of a tootsie pop.... each one is different.... i load till nothing much left then toss the stem in trash...

 

You all have heard of screw-in chokes, I take it. Well, I use screw-in ammo. When the mouth of the hull gets so crappy that I have to "screw" it into my O/U, I know it's time to discard. I think some of the depression-era frugality that my parents had must have rubbed off on me.

 

I always inspect my hulls after shooting. If they're crispy or split or something just doesn't look right they get tossed. I have no idea how many times they get reloaded. I just can't see where it makes a difference. I reload up to 20,000 a year and it seems to work for me. Seems like way to much hassle to try to keep track of the number of times the hulls have been fired,

 

I have used a system for at least 35 years or so.

I have a wooden container that will hold approximately 750 shells or so. It has an opening at the top to put the shells in, and another one at the bottom to take them out.

I always start with a batch of once fired shells. Once I shoot all of them, I will then put them back into the box. That way, without really keeping track, they all get shot, reloaded and used again at the same pace.

When they start to show that they are wearing out, I either reload them one last time and flick'em on the ground, or save them for winter shooting and then flick'em on the snow.

Works for me.

Hauxfan!

 

I have used a system for at least 35 years or so.

I have a wooden container that will hold approximately 750 shells or so. It has an opening at the top to put the shells in, and another one at the bottom to take them out.

I always start with a batch of once fired shells. Once I shoot all of them, I will then put them back into the box. That way, without really keeping track, they all get shot, reloaded and used again at the same pace.

When they start to show that they are wearing out, I either reload them one last time and flick'em on the ground, or save them for winter shooting and then flick'em on the snow.

Works for me.

Hauxfan!

So explain this to me. If the hulls are good you can put them in your pouch. If they are no good you can throw them on the ground for someone else to pickup. I never understood that.

 

It really doesn't take up much time to keep track of how many times my hulls have been reloaded. I write my load info on masking tape on each shell box that I put my reloads in so writing down 1st, 2nd 3rd and so on only takes about 3 seconds of more time per box of shells. Writing 1st, 2nd or 3rd on a storage box may take up 10 seconds more time than just writing Win AA Red or Rem STS on a storage box.

So to fill up a storage box that is labeled with 700 hulls that have been shot the same amount of times would cost me right at one minute and 34 seconds of additional time.

I am not counting shells, I am keeping track of where I store them.