What hulls do you reload?
I just threw away an empty carton of Winchester primers. Apparently, I have loaded at least a thousand shotshells, but who is counting?
It’s been a steep learning curve. Initially I used the Winchester Universal shells. After a few jokes during my discussion with some area clay shooters I have become aware that have hull preferences.
I started off with A.A’s. Then I discovered Gun Clubs and Federals crimp pretty wheel for me.
I haven’t tried any brands of hulls beyond what I’ve already mentioned.
I’m currently using Ramshot Competition and clay buster WAA12-like wads.
The Ramshot Competition leaks in my MEC press. I have used and liked, based on not leaking, Clays- Red Dot.
Can anyone offer new information now that I’m able to understand and have this conversation?
It’s been a steep learning curve. Initially I used the Winchester Universal shells. After a few jokes during my discussion with some area clay shooters I have become aware that have hull preferences.
I started off with A.A’s. Then I discovered Gun Clubs and Federals crimp pretty wheel for me.
I haven’t tried any brands of hulls beyond what I’ve already mentioned.
I’m currently using Ramshot Competition and clay buster WAA12-like wads.
The Ramshot Competition leaks in my MEC press. I have used and liked, based on not leaking, Clays- Red Dot.
Can anyone offer new information now that I’m able to understand and have this conversation?
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And your reasoning is?There is but one hull and it's name is Double A
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AA for me also. I have plenty of them and they seem to last longer than their counterparts (for me). I also use Nitro and STS but always default to AA.
That’s what I’ve been noticing. They crimp well on my MEC.
Has anyone tried the Winchester ribbed version? Not the Universal hulls . They don’t seem to hold a good crimp. At least not for me.
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Rio’s
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45 years of experience and experimentation
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If your going to the trouble to reload. You should really just pick a good Brass based hull!!! Remington's STS? Or Winchesters HS AA's? There is no reason to load the Federals IMO. Since they no longer make a brass based shell. Your wads will work with both hulls I've listed, but there is a stack issue with the AA HS hulls. There is less room inside there hulls!!! So you need a dense powder, or a shorter special made wad!!! I do not know how dense your powder is, and am too lazy to look it up.
Order a few new brass bushings and rubber washers from a Mec distributor. This will stop your powder leaking all over the table. Order whatever else you want in the same order. I like The Mec powder/shot funnel. I also like there EZ-pak for stacking shells to place in boxes. I'm sure you will see other items you want to include in your shipping order. Powder bushings come to mind.
You need a dense powder to load the AA HS hulls. Any powder that requires a bushing size over #30 will be hard to close on a AA HS hull. Unless you use a special wad. You will not be able to use this same wad if you load a STS hull as your crimps will be all dished in the center from a too short of a component column. Thus you see the reason I asked you to pick a hull to load. You will likely need two different powders? Or two different wads to load both hulls. Both hulls are hard to find right now. Winchester is not doing there rebate this year. So both shells will cost you big bucks. You can get by loading the Gun Clubs until you can find some better hulls to load. There are no stack issues when you load the Gun Clubs. So most any powder will work with your AA wads that you have. Good Luck to Ya and your reloading. Always follow published reloading data, and use a scale to weight your powder and shot drops. Break em all Jeff
Order a few new brass bushings and rubber washers from a Mec distributor. This will stop your powder leaking all over the table. Order whatever else you want in the same order. I like The Mec powder/shot funnel. I also like there EZ-pak for stacking shells to place in boxes. I'm sure you will see other items you want to include in your shipping order. Powder bushings come to mind.
You need a dense powder to load the AA HS hulls. Any powder that requires a bushing size over #30 will be hard to close on a AA HS hull. Unless you use a special wad. You will not be able to use this same wad if you load a STS hull as your crimps will be all dished in the center from a too short of a component column. Thus you see the reason I asked you to pick a hull to load. You will likely need two different powders? Or two different wads to load both hulls. Both hulls are hard to find right now. Winchester is not doing there rebate this year. So both shells will cost you big bucks. You can get by loading the Gun Clubs until you can find some better hulls to load. There are no stack issues when you load the Gun Clubs. So most any powder will work with your AA wads that you have. Good Luck to Ya and your reloading. Always follow published reloading data, and use a scale to weight your powder and shot drops. Break em all Jeff
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Jeff is giving you a lot of valuable info in one post. Notable since I did the stack-height dance to arrive at the same conclusion with a good helping of frustration to get there.
I load a lot of Ramshot Comp, it’s my second favorite powder for 1oz loads under 1200fps. First favorite is, has been and always will be Red Dot 🔴. Stack is perfect in AA/HS and crimps are solid and consistent. But I don’t use MEC equipment. I prefer Green Dot 🟢 for 9/8 but stack is a problem in AA/HS with the appropriate wad, so I harvest and use Top Gun hulls for my 9/8 loads. Straight wall CB6118-12 gives me the height I need and crimps are good. Those are my two bucket loads. I have no need for anything else. To repeat Jeff’s comment - always use published data and weigh your drops.
Never had dishing or tenting with either of my recipes and I get good patterns and consistency. Your mileage may vary. Good luck.
I load a lot of Ramshot Comp, it’s my second favorite powder for 1oz loads under 1200fps. First favorite is, has been and always will be Red Dot 🔴. Stack is perfect in AA/HS and crimps are solid and consistent. But I don’t use MEC equipment. I prefer Green Dot 🟢 for 9/8 but stack is a problem in AA/HS with the appropriate wad, so I harvest and use Top Gun hulls for my 9/8 loads. Straight wall CB6118-12 gives me the height I need and crimps are good. Those are my two bucket loads. I have no need for anything else. To repeat Jeff’s comment - always use published data and weigh your drops.
Never had dishing or tenting with either of my recipes and I get good patterns and consistency. Your mileage may vary. Good luck.
Im going off from my memory, but I replaced the brass bushing. The manual doesn’t say to use a rubber bushing and a brass bushing?
Or am I incorrect?
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For trap I load STS, Nitro, AA both old and new style and my favorite - the old style Federal Papers
I will also load the cheapo's, top guns, white box Winchester's, ect - for a 1oz trip to the sporting clays field, as I shoot an auto for that, and on the ground is a great place for them to end their life with a trip to the recycling bin..
I will also load the cheapo's, top guns, white box Winchester's, ect - for a 1oz trip to the sporting clays field, as I shoot an auto for that, and on the ground is a great place for them to end their life with a trip to the recycling bin..
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I always used both the brass washer and the rubber one when I used either. I use one of the red PC powder baffles now. They really work, if you can find one.
No, you are not correct. The rubber and the brass go together on the MEC bars.
Rubber next to the bottle. Brass next to the bar, dimples up.
That should stop the leakage of ball powder.
If you can find a PC Red baffle, all the brass and rubber come out.
The Red baffles really work well.
Rubber next to the bottle. Brass next to the bar, dimples up.
That should stop the leakage of ball powder.
If you can find a PC Red baffle, all the brass and rubber come out.
The Red baffles really work well.
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