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ОглавлениеChapter 1 WHAT IS RELOADING… AND WHY SHOULD YOU BOTHER?
Reloading is nothing more than filling shotshells so that they can be fired again. But that is way too simple a definition and you know that much already or you would not be reading this. So, obviously, reloading is … and means … a lot more than the simple act of putting powder and shot together, in the proper sequence, at the proper weights, and so on. See, reloading has already become more complicated and we have hardly begun to give it the thorough consideration it requires.
More complicated perhaps, but not rocket science by any means.
Successful reloading requires that you pay attention, that you proceed with caution – not that you compute exotic equations or decipher arcane hieroglyphs. Building shotshells means following recipes, just like in the kitchen. One-and-a-quarter hours at 425-degrees Fahrenheit means exactly that. If you err and turn the oven to 400, your dish will be undercooked. Turn it to 450 and it will scorch. In the same vein, if you underload the powder, the shot will not achieve its most effective velocity. Over-load and you can damage your shotgun; and even worse, a blown breech can hurt you. This book will explain the ingredients and supply the recipes. All you have to do is follow instructions.
Reloading and handloading are two ways to speak about the same thing, refilling shotshell hulls with new components so that you can shoot them again. If you shoot more than a few boxes of shells a year, you must explore this fascinating hobby. Scott Richardson of Gainesville, Fla., has built a temperature- and humidity-controlled room for his reloading presses.
While possibly seeming daunting at first, especially if you learn on your own, reloading is actually quite easy. (It may seem like you are feeling your way blindly, but that is where this book will help.) Expect to reload and then shoot your shells successfully, with excellent results, because you can. Every individual and every company active in the shooting sports industry wants you to be successful, to have fun and to reach your shooting and your reloading goals.
The last dozen years has seen a proliferation in three types of loads that have made reloading more relevant than ever. First, there has been a proliferation of inexpensive shells from Spain and elsewhere. Today, it is not only the “Big Three” of Winchester, Remington and Federal who provide a diverse line-up of shotshells. You occasionally find boxes of Clay, B&P, Eley and Wolf shotshells at gun clubs or on the shelves of local retailers.
Second, manufacturers recognize the growing interest in lighter, but still effective, loads. It is relatively easy now to locate shells that are loaded with less powder and less shot, rather than more: minis rather than magnums. There was an era in the ‘70s and ‘80s when every shell strained for maximum power and greatest possible impact. Of course that meant maximum physical punishment from blast and recoil. This is no longer the case.
Third, there has been an explosion in the development of non-toxic loads. Offerings of bismuth, tungsten-compounds and even steel have greatly refined the selections in green shooting. Even components such as the humble wad are evolving toward complete biodegradability.
The Sizemaster by Mayville Engineering Company or MEC is a single stage reloader that sells for less than $180. This inexpensive press will build all gauges. Begin learning about reloading with a single stage press like this one. Then, if you decide that reloading is a valuable skill and saves you time and money, gives you control over your loads and promotes precision shooting, it is time to step up to a faster and more expensive progressive press which cycles shells automatically, building one complete shell with each pull and release of the handle.
The difficulty with the above scenarios – proliferation on one hand of less expensive shells and, on the other hand, of more diverse loads including non-toxic shot and shell components – is availability. As diverse as the shotshell market now is, can you find the exact load you want exactly when you want it? Unfortunately for shell manufacturers and retailers, the answer is “no,” but that leaves a grand reason to reload your own shells.
Muzzleloaders required every shooter to load his own. In those old days, people learned to load from pa and ma and they stuffed their patches, powder and shot right down the barrel from the muzzle to the chamber. Once breechloading guns became available, things changed. Soon shooters could purchase ready-made cartridges that would fit their guns. Muzzleloaders and reloading declined rapidly in popularity.
This book does not give reloading data for “primitive weapons.” We are concerned with modern shotguns, the guns you use, expensive or not, to shoot dove or take to the sporting clays course. We are concerned with the guns you may use rather than demonstrating our knowledge of exotic weaponry or the history of hunting and shooting. We are not particularly interested in how the lords and ladies of deeply class-stratified old Europe spent their days in the field. This book is a practical handbook that you can use as a guide to load shells today for shooting at the range or from your duck blind tomorrow.
Many commercial shells available at your local retailer these days or on line via the Internet are built outside the US. Wolf shells, for example, are built in Spain. While I have found the Wolf clay target loads (1-1/8-ounce of #8) to be excellent, the consumer has very little history of these companies to use in evaluating possible purchases. Reloading your own shells gives you much greater control over your shooting.
COST
Many reloaders will tell you that they save money by building and re-building their own shells. Obviously, considering the cost in components and the time and effort, they cannot save money if they are only shooting a few boxes of shells a year. From this perspective, if you do not shoot often, you should probably not bother to reload because you may never recoup the initial investment. For instance, a MEC 600 Jr. Mark 5 single stage reloader is about $120. After that, you can expect to pay about $11 for a bag of 100 Fiocchi 12-gauge 2-3/4-inch hulls and 14 ounces of Hodgdon’s Clays powder is another $15. A 25-pound bag of #7-1/2, #8 or #9 Olin chilled shot (2 percent antimony) from Ballistic Products is $18 per bag; a bag of 200 G/BP Wads is about $5; a box of Fiocchi 616 primers is $20 per thousand. Add a few knickknacks that your local dealer or a reloading buddy recommend, and you are going to spend a minimum of $200, and that is for absolutely minimal reloading.
In early November 2004, you could purchase a box of 25 12-gauge 2-3/4-inch Kent Multi-Sport Game & Clay shells for $3.95 from Ballistic Products. For $200, you can buy 50 boxes (less shipping) of these Kent shells for the about the same price that you can begin reloading! And how long will it take you to shoot 50 boxes of shells? Economically, the decision to begin reloading may not make sense for you at this time, if ever.
The infrequent shooter would be better off saving his money and either ordering from the internet or picking up a box of shells at his local dealer on his way to the range. Sleuthing through the aisles of a Box-Mart, you may turn up an occasional, miscellaneous $2.95 box of #7-1/2 or #8, often of foreign or unknown manufacture. There will be no telling in advance where it will have been produced or how it will perform. Some brands do not list velocities or give much specific information about components on their boxes.
When you shoot a muzzleloader, every shot is handloaded. The advent of breechloading guns in the nineteenth century allowed for factory production of complete shells.
One reason many shotgunners give for reloading shotshells is to save money. You can save money by reloading. Perhaps a better reason however is so that you can take personal charge of the loading process. You can customize loads and build shells to suit your gun’s mechanical preferences, and for the weather conditions.
I have never been certain that low cost is a good reason to buy something, although until I win the lottery, it remains a factor in most of my buying decisions. The saying caveat emptor applies with shotshells just like it does with automobiles or hunting dogs. On the other hand, if you shoot often – and “often” means once or twice a week, I suppose, firing half-a-dozen boxes of shells – you can certainly save money by reloading. You will soon bring the cost of your average load down to $2 or even less as you locate cost-effective vendors for buying raw materials in bulk, re-use your own hulls and perhaps even reload for a couple of friends. All of this amortizes the cost of your gear rapidly, even though most reloaders find that he or she soon buys more complex gear, experiments with more diverse loads, shoots more frequently and perhaps even builds a reloading room off the carport or in the basement.
Practically speaking, the people who shoot often enough to get the best value out of their reloading gear are usually target shooters: trap, skeet and sporting clays enthusiasts. To become good at these games, to consistently break 90 percent or more of thrown clays, often takes years of practice, lessons and continuous shooting. In the process, enthusiasts shove a whole lot of shells into the chamber, a minimum of several boxes every trip to the range. A day of sporting clays shooting can be 100 birds and many shooters like to warm up with a quick, 25-round of 5-Stand or even a game of wobble trap. Outings like this empty six boxes of shells in a hurry, perhaps twice that if the shooter is addicted to multiple gauges!
Personally, I think that the people who enjoy shooting most and who stick with it the longest, making it a lifetime sport, are those who have a diverse range of interests. They are clay shooters and they are hunters, too. Reloading is ideal (for many reasons) for these committed gunners.
Let’s be honest. Unless someone has a great deal of time and hunts every game bird at every possible opportunity, from turkey to dove and ducks, with a few trips to the deer woods thrown in with slugs or buckshot, the average legal and ethical hunter will not shoot half-a-dozen boxes of shells a year. Therefore, unless a shotgun hunter is a really lousy shot, the best economic decision is to NOT reload.
The hunter-only gunner should study game loads, pattern his shotguns, and then buy the very best shells he can find because, by pulling the trigger so few times a year, relatively speaking, he can afford to pay almost any price for a box of high quality shells. In this case, $18 for a box of 10 magnum buffered 2-3/4-inch Bismuth No-Tox shells is not an economic hardship. You will not shoot enough times during a year to make a recognizable dent in your family budget.
A 12-gauge shotgun is the standard in North America and perhaps around the world as well. There are still plenty of 10 gauges and millions of sub-gauge 16-, 20-, 28- and 410-bore guns in the hands of shooters, though. Folks who shoot sub-gauges – because they enjoy the challenge, prefer the softer recoil, or perhaps because they’re training a spouse or youngster usually find that shell costs are higher than for their 12-gauge. For instance, for Winchester AA 2-3/4-inch #9 target loads from CheaperThanDirt.com, 12- and 20-gauge boxes of 25 shells cost $5.51 whereas 25-shell boxes of 28-gauge and 410 bore are $6.53. That’s a difference of $1.02 per box or 4¢ a shell. Shoot the day of sporting clays with a practice event that we mentioned earlier and the difference per gun can be as much as $6.12. Depending upon how much you and your family shoot, this difference can quickly become significant and can be an influential factor in deciding whether to reload.
Since his retirement as an official of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, biologist Don Friberg has had more time to hunt. For cornfield shooting where long shots are customary, #5 shot makes a good knock-down load. For hunting with dogs in open grassland, #6 is fine and if your dog hunts close, perhaps even #7-1/2.
Even though you would logically think that bigger shells containing more powder and more shot would cost more, this is not the case. Does a bikini cost more than a one-piece bathing suit, even though it requires far less cloth? All things being equal (same manufacturer and similar quality of cloth and production methods), the bikini costs more. The laws of supply and demand inform us that because many more 12-gauge shells are purchased than sub-gauge shells, manufacturers gear up their primary production for the 12-gauge. Although sub-gauge shells are not necessarily be an afterthought – they are still commercially important – they will be secondary on the assembly line and sold in smaller volume. Hence, sub-gauge shells cost more.
As far as savings are concerned, you can reasonably argue that reloading shells saves time and effort. Consider going to the store for a $10 box of Federal #4 turkey loads. Depending on your home set-up and reloading accessories, you may be able to punch out half-a-dozen turkey shells and then re-set the bar for your #7-1/2 or #8 league trap loads in 10 minutes. That’s convenience!
Clay target shooters have a reputation for shooting many more shells than hunters. On a good day of deer hunting you may shoot one or two times. A dove hunter could use two boxes of shells to take his limit if there is a breeze. A sporting clays shooter, however, will burn up five boxes of shells on a normal day!
CONTROL, CONVENIENCE AND EXPERIMENTATION
I believe that a much better reason to reload than making a decision solely on the cost of a box of shells is that manufacturing your own gives you greater control over your shooting. If you are a careful reloader – and you should not approach a reloading press in any other manner – you can produce loads that are completely consistent from one shell to another. Consistency is important to groove your shooting and to give you the confidence that when you pull the trigger, you know exactly where your shot will go (how it will pattern) and how quickly it will arrive where you have pointed it.
Once you identify your needs and shooting interests, you can easily program your reloading gear to produce the exact shells you need. Reloading gives you both consistency and versatility. It is quick and easy to make changes and to build, for instance, a dozen shells to experiment with a new load recipe or put together a dozen shells for an unexpected afternoon of pheasant hunting where a limit of birds is two. If you are shooting a course of sporting clays and find it irritating to change screw-in chokes between stations, you can load up different batches of #7-1/2, #8, #8-1/2 and even #9s. Knowing the course, you know the diversity of clay presentations you will face and can load accordingly. Reloaders do not have to get in the car, drive to a local retailer, stand in line and then buy a whole box when they know they may only need a half-dozen shells to pattern a new gun or load.
The reloading experience allows you to experiment with different components. If you have never shot some of the spreader wads, for example, it should be easy to buy a small batch from an internet site or a friend or your local dealer and load a half-a-dozen shells. It should be interesting to see how they pattern with an eye to those fall days of woodcock hunting. When you begin reloading, your shooting opportunities bring whole new horizons.
Working at the reloading bench will introduce its own hazards into your life, so always wear a good pair of impact-resistant safety glasses in case a primer should explode or some other accident occur.
Everyone who shoots experiences recoil. The first place to begin taming the recoil of a shotgun is probably a good-quality shooting vest with a padded shoulder patch. Relatively inexpensive, the vest is virtually mandatory for carrying extra shells and utility items for a day of shooting.
Some shooting sports writers make a big deal about every shotgun being unique. Oh yeah? Take your 12-gauge Remington 1100 Sporting 12 gas gun with a 28-inch barrel and full choke. Unless you have modified it, unless it is damaged or has become excessively dirty, the difference between the way it shoots and patterns and the way any other current model 12-gauge Remington 1100 Sporting 12 gas gun with a 28-inch barrel and full choke shoots and patterns will be negligible. Where meaningful differences arise is with similar shotguns with different chokes or different length barrels or, of course, with different gauges. Then time at the patterning board will teach you about your specific gun and the loads it shoots best.
Having a reloading station at home can help you overcome the recoil dilemma, too. Recoil is a serious issue among shotgunners, from professionals to novices. All shooters, regardless of their weapon, are sensitive to and are eventually affected by recoil. It is only a matter of time before you must deal with it because recoil causes flinching, sometimes called “target panic,” and flinching causes you to miss what you are shooting at, whether it is a clay disk or a grouse thundering out of the quakies.
Recoil is a special problem for shooters whose body types are not heavy and muscular. Recoil is punishing. You can remove your conscious mind from the physical effects of a shot if you try, but your body remembers … and compensates. Older shooters and many younger shooters, especially those with slender physiques, are especially sensitive to recoil. A padded vest, a thick buttstock, a cushioned comb and perhaps even shooting with gloves will help.
Reloading can help tame recoil and blast by letting you find shell recipes that will accomplish your objectives with lighter or different types of loads. Many shotgunners discover that lighter loads accomplish the same killing results on birds or clays as the standard heavy loads, and that lighter loads punish their body less. As a build-your-own specialist, you can create literally dozens of loads, experimenting with different primer, powder and wad types, and different weights (and sizes) of shot, from powerful 1-3/4-ounce loads down to the relatively small (for the 12-gauge) 7/8-ounce. Reloading gives you the opportunity to experiment with a few shells in many sizes, rather than searching for a complete box of any one particular load recipe. You can try before you buy!
Here is the commercial way to accomplish that same result. Estate Cartridge (by Federal) produces a Super Sport Target (SS12XH) 12-gauge, 2-3/4-inch shell with 1-1/8-ounce of “extra-hard” #7-1/2, #8 or #9 shot. With what Estate calls its “max” dram equivalent of powder, firing this relatively standard shell will almost certainly give your shoulder a very solid, although not damaging, blow when you pull the trigger. After a box or two, you are increasingly going to notice that bump.
But shotshell manufacturers like Estate have become increasingly aware that gunners require relief from blast and recoil. Consequently, Estate offers a comparable shell in a Competition Target and Flyer – Mighty Light Load (ML12). This recipe uses the same 2-3/4-inch shell and achieves the same 1,250 fps shot velocity with only 7/8-ounce of “magnum” shot, a full quarter-ounce reduction, and a reduction in powder charge. This lighter load is going to prove much easier on your ears and your shoulder. Because you will anticipate and flinch less, you will score more. It is a fact.
Reloading lets you make this kind of reduction on your own. By letting you fiddle and tinker with components, you can find just the right recipe for the task at hand.
THE INTANGIBLES
Reloading shotshells puts you in touch with an exotic hobby and thousands of others who share it. For some practitioners, reloading is merely a means to an end, only the simple act of creating shootable shells.
For others, reloading (and patterning) become a quiet passion. It deepens their interest in all facets of shotgunning; involves them in a wider community of shared interest; and promotes an understanding of and ability to negotiate an interesting and unusual technical field. The path to reloading shotshells becomes a path of deepening commitment to shooting, like archers cresting arrows. Hunters find themselves shooting a little trap and skeet, while sporting clays enthusiasts begin tinkering with and patterning turkey loads … just for fun of course … they have not bought a license … yet!
Let’s talk price. A case of Target Load Sporting TLS32 Rio shotshells from www.ableammo.com for Christmas 2004 cost $38.60. These 12-gauge, 2-3/4-inch shells are filled with 1-1/8-ounce of #7-1/2 or #8. Your choice, of course. The rated muzzle velocity is 1,200 fps. Adding a 3 percent handling fee makes the cost $39.76. (If you live in Texas, add 8 percent sales tax.) A case weighs 25 pounds and, from Huntsville, Texas, to Gainesville, Fla., where I live, the UPS Ground shipping charge is $9.67. Total charge is $49.43 per case or $4.94 per box of 25 or 19.77¢ per shot. These are good shells, but even a casual reloader can cut this cost in half.
Some writers suggest that reloading gives you a sense of craftsmanship. For hunters, this may not be as important an idea to grasp as for clay shooters. After all, unless you are wealthy enough to hire guides and hunt at lodges or “plantations” where someone else does the real work, successful hunting is a do-it-yourself operation.
For clay competitors, however, a sense of mastery means – in simplest terms – learning to lead a flying target. Nothing about your tools, the shotgun or your shooting accessories (vest or cap or safety glasses, for instance) gives you a sense of personal investment and involvement beyond pulling the trigger (unless perhaps you build your own shooting cart). I would argue that craftsmanship is a thing of the hands that separates humankind from all other creatures, and that reloading for clay shooters allows one to enter that realm.
Close-up of the MEC adjustable rammer tube on 9000-series reloaders. The gradations help you apply specific amounts of force to a load. When you begin reloading, you will learn a new technology and add the virtually lost element of individual craftsmanship to your shooting resume.
Some writers have suggested that reloading gives you an advantage, allows you to “do better” in the field, perhaps because you can precisely tailor your set-up to the situation. In a general sense, I support this concept, but do not believe that it is true in any specific sense of killing a sharp-tail grouse or making any specific sporting shot. There is no study that suggests that reloaders are better hunters or competitors than individuals who are well supported by commercial loads. The proliferation of commercial loads today matches the ability of reloaders to create their own loads, but as I have suggested, finding those commercial loads when you need them and in the quantities you want at the time is the challenge.
SAFETY AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
There is no question that reloading involves some dangers and requires more than a passing nod at keeping yourself and your family safe. Nevertheless, reloading is an activity that can involve other members of the family and there is no age or size limit to loading shotshells. Any person who is large enough to control a gun and capable of shooting or hunting can load successfully with supervision.
Use Hodgdon’s Longshot for 12-, 20-and 28-gauge target loads, and for heavy field use (not recommended for the 410, however). Hodgdon reports that Longshot is “the most versatile heavy field propellant Hodgdon has ever produced . . . In addition, Longshot is the best choice for those competitors shooting race games such as Buddy shoots and Annie Oakleys at their home trap and skeet clubs.” Expect magnum velocities with superb patterns.
The big, obvious, classic reloading mistake is misreading or misapplying load data. In an extreme case, such a mistake can kill you or someone standing nearby when the pressures ignited in the chamber are too great for your gun’s barrel. I have never personally seen anything like this, but I do believe that it is possible.
KNOW YOUR GUN
You can reload for any shotgun and any gauge, but while there is an obvious difference in over/unders and gasoperated semi-autos, one of the hidden differences involves reloaded shells. Compared to a semi-auto that bleeds off some propellant gases, using them to cycle the mechanical action, an over/under or side-by-side is a relatively simple mechanical instrument. You pull the trigger and everything goes out the muzzle or is ejected when the action is broken over. You can shoot practically any shell through an over/under that the chamber will hold, and you know immediately if it will not for some reason fit in the chamber because you load each individual shell by hand.
A semi-auto can be much more deceitful, however, because after the first shell, subsequent shells are automatically loaded into a tubular magazine while the expended shell is mechanically ejected. The gun, in a sense, does all the thinking and is responsible for follow-through. Shells may fit in the magazine, but not in the chamber. This is especially true for hulls that have been fired more than a few times, although it is the first job of your reloading press to properly resize the hull. The brass can deform slightly and any irregularity may prevent a shell from cycling properly in your gas gun. It is something to be aware of, and it should inspire you to use only clean and undamaged components, but it’s not something that should prevent you from reloading.
Safety Notes and Tips
• Never leave powder where children have access to it. A locked and inaccessible cabinet or a safe for powder storage is always an excellent idea.
• Always wear safety glasses or goggles when reloading.
• Powders contain nitroglycerin. Therefore inhalation, ingestion or skin contact may cause severe headaches, nausea and a drop in blood pressure. In case of ingestion or inhalation, call a doctor immediately. Avoid contamination of food and beverages. Wash thoroughly after handling and do not carry powder in your clothing.
• Do not smoke, use spark-producing tools or work near an open fire such as a fireplace or a lantern when reloading. Smokeless powder is an explosive material and highly flammable. It should always be stored and handled in such a way to avoid impact, sparks, flame, friction and heat. You must have a fire extinguisher available and make sure your family knows how to telephone the local fire department.
• Pour only the amount of powder needed for your immediate work.
• Clean up any spilled powders with a brush and dustpan immediately. Do not use a vacuum cleaner, which can ignite powder through sparking.
• Check the powder measure each time it is used. Make sure the settings have not been accidentally changed. Check the weight of “thrown charges” often.
• Store powder only in its original container, not in old mayonnaise jars or empty milk cartons, for instance. Do not repackage powder. The original manufacturer’s container may look nondescript, but it was specially designed for storing powder. When you are ready to discard the carton or package, make certain that it is empty and clean; never use it for any other purpose.
• Never use lead shot with steel shot or other non-toxic shot data, or smokeless powders for black powder or black powder substitutes, or vice versa. Lead and steel pellets have drastically different ballistic properties and to mistakenly use one for the other can cause serious property damage and personal injury.
• Never mix types of powder, regardless of type, brand, style or source.
• Never use one powder manufacturer’s data to load shells with another’s powder, even if a description of the powder you are using says that it is “similar to” another’s powder. Follow load recipes exactly; do not substitute components, exceed listed maximums or load less than listed minimums.
• Discharging firearms in poorly ventilated areas, cleaning firearms, or handling ammunition may result in exposure to lead, an element known to cause birth defects, reproductive harm and other serious injuries. Have adequate ventilation at all times. Wash hands and face thoroughly after handling lead and before coming in contact with food, chewing materials and smoking materials.
• Find a place and time where you can focus on loading. Building safe and consistent loads requires your total attention.
• Most companies suggest that establishing a reloading routine at the bench will result in the uniform shells and minimize the chance of loading errors. Remember these two important elements to successful reloading:
• All primers are not equally powerful. Some produce more gas at a higher temperature. Use only the primers specified for a particular load.
• Shotshell wads differ in their sealing ability. Use only the wads specified for a particular load.
• Measure twice, cut once. We have done everything possible to ensure that the load “recipes” in this book are precise. Nevertheless, it is always a good idea to have multiple data sources available and the authors and publishers recommend checking each load carefully before loading and firing.
Load recipes must be followed completely and precisely, but because neither I nor K-P Books can control how the data in this book is used, we specifically disavow any responsibility for any of the data contained herein.
