Shot shell reloading question.

Many moons ago, 25-30 years ago. I reloaded Federal gold medal shot shells. The place I shot trap sold Federal GM so the hulls were plentiful. AGC you get all manufacturers hulls besides your own.

Stupid question.

If I used the same reloading recipe, powder, wadding, shot, primer,,, why would the hull matter if it was all plastic? Now that I do rifle and pistol, the recipe doesn't change for the empty brass,, why are shot shells so seemingly specific on using x hull with x wad with x primer?

Thinking of starting to reloading shot shells.

Thanks,
Tom

The internal dimensions/internal volume of the hulls are different. That will affect pressures generated. Especially between straight walled hulls and compression formed hulls. The only compression formed hulls currently being made are Remington STS’s. It’s always safest to follow the powder manufacturer’s websites regarding loads. Hodgdon (which includes Winchester and IMR powders) and Alliant are the 2 big manufacturers. You should be able to find something that works for your needs. I can recommend specific powders if you tell me what type of load you’re looking for.

Aamdskeetshooter said:

The internal dimensions/internal volume of the hulls are different. That will affect pressures generated. Especially between straight walled hulls and compression formed hulls. The only compression formed hulls currently being made are Remington STS’s. It’s always safest to follow the powder manufacturer’s websites regarding loads. Hodgdon (which includes Winchester and IMR powders) and Alliant are the 2 big manufacturers. You should be able to find something that works for your needs. I can recommend specific powders if you tell me what type of load you’re looking for.

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Ahhh, that makes sense, I found a bunch of data, just never thought of wall thickness.
THANKS!

Good points by Aamdskeetshooter.

Another unique aspect of handloading shotshells is that there is no way to "read" pressure gradients. There are no indicators like primer flattening, primer cratering, brass extrusion and hard extraction that often document increasing higher pressures in metallic cartridge reloading.

This means that when/if you reach a critical point of component failure in a shotshell due to excess pressures, it will be a surprise, perhaps even a shock.

Because it is not possible to tell exactly where you are on a scale of 'just fine' to 'blew my gun up', your safest approach is to follow those very specific recipes. Sure, some minor variations on a listed recipe will be safe enough, but which ones and, other than being handed a proven, working recipe by a more experienced handloader, how will YOU tell?

Not only do the shotshell hulls have variations in wall taper that can affect pressures, but also base wad height and crimp characteristics. This fact requires that most shells be segregated by brand and style and loaded accordingly.

While Aamdskeetshooter points out there are certain 'standard loads' used for target work, unless you plan to load one hull with one recipe for one purpose, your best approach is to get a manual on shotshell reloading that provides varying recipes for various hulls and illustrates the differences. The biggest variables will be the height of the internal base wad and the rate of internal taper, which will set the pace for your wad cup type and wad seating pressure for any given shot charge weight, but powder charges can also vary substantially.

As an aside, not only are we concerned with safety, but also performance. Patterns are dependent on several factors, including actual choke restriction. High speeds and pressures tend to spread the shot out rapidly and can result on 'blown patterns' and 'donuts', hindering performance and success.

Also European hills will have a larger primer pocket. If you use a Remington , Winchester , Federal , CCI in them the primer will fall out.
I use Fiocchi primers in except Federals everything which works fine but you have to stick with them.

I have just experienced an example of what the previous posters have told you. I recently shot a couple of boxes of 28ga that were given to me by a friend who moved. I should have looked at them before I went to the range. It appears his main case was Remington, and he loaded Fiocchi, Rio, WW and Federal with the same load as well.

I am amazed that I managed to do as good as I did. Some of the straight wall case loads could be seen flying towards the target and the report sounded like a weak .22.

Luckily I had a dozen extra rounds in my kit to replace some of those in the second box which was dumping shot all over because of poor crimps.

Now, I have been known to load a case well past its optimum life but I have never loaded any kind of case I found. Luckily, he gave up reloading years ago.