Reloading 12g

Reloading equipment, methods, load data, powder and projectile information.

Reloading 12g

Post by Downunder » 27 Jul 2021, 4:37 am

Does anyone do it anymore?
As I don’t use a shotty at all really (but still keep a couple dry) I thought I might break them out and take a break from brass and load some plastic only to find that consumables are non existent it seems.
Rifle components are a bit hit and miss but popular 12g specific powder and wads are nada......

Regards,

Tony
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by flashman » 27 Jul 2021, 7:12 am

Hi Downunder i reload 12g for trap DTL and skeet on a MEC 600 jr with a auto prime ,works well , got a good supply of all components ,7.5 hard chilled shot ,wads and primers ,got a s..t load of empty hulls to ,plus i enjoy reloading them half the fun,,,,,,,,,,,,, :thumbsup:
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by boingk » 27 Jul 2021, 9:00 am

Hi Downunder, a lot of people dont reload 12G because its not cost efficient for trap loads - my local sells a box of 250x #7 Winchester Super Target for $120. The gun club does them under $100.

If you're thinking of reloading for different loads like 00 buckshot, foster slugs, that sort of thing then it is very much worth it to reload your own.

In fact... if thats mainly what you are after then I would look into reloading commercial cartridges. I know several people who tip out the #7 shot or whatever from their cheap club shells and then melt it down and pour into a slug or buck mould. Now just reload the shell and go hunting.

I'm on a project at the moment with a 410 using 303 British cases to form brass 410-gauge shells.

- boingk
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by Bello » 27 Jul 2021, 9:28 am

Hi Mate

I looked into reloading 12 gauge, and found that it was not worth my time and effort for the amount of shotgun work I do.
The kids reloaded some for fun with peppercorn seeds etc, just for sh1ts and giggles.

I think it depends on how much shot gun you use.

My 2c
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by bladeracer » 27 Jul 2021, 10:02 am

Downunder wrote:Does anyone do it anymore?
As I don’t use a shotty at all really (but still keep a couple dry) I thought I might break them out and take a break from brass and load some plastic only to find that consumables are non existent it seems.
Rifle components are a bit hit and miss but popular 12g specific powder and wads are nada......

Regards,

Tony


ADI have stopped production of their pistol/shotgun powders for two years, but there are other manufacturer's powders available.
Rebel Gun Works can supply wads, hulls, shot, and such, and I've also bought these from Cleaver. If you've already been shooting though you probably have hulls. Or just buy cheap field loads on special. I saw a deal of $92/250 last week for example, but they'd run out. I ended up paying $118. Shot is around $10/kg, and 250 1oz. loads gives you 7kg of shot, so when ammo is on special it can be cheaper than buying the components separately. Just the shot and primers cost around $100/250.

Until this year, I only bought field loads and modified the payload as required, swapping in BB's or slugs and saving the hard shot for casting bullets. But this year I decided to experiment with reduced-recoil loads due to injury, and also try to replace the wads with something less harmful to our cattle.
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by bigpete » 27 Jul 2021, 11:02 am

I do, with blackpowder anyway
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by JohnV » 27 Jul 2021, 11:03 am

bladeracer wrote:
Downunder wrote:Does anyone do it anymore?
As I don’t use a shotty at all really (but still keep a couple dry) I thought I might break them out and take a break from brass and load some plastic only to find that consumables are non existent it seems.
Rifle components are a bit hit and miss but popular 12g specific powder and wads are nada......

Regards,

Tony


ADI have stopped production of their pistol/shotgun powders for two years, but there are other manufacturer's powders available.
Rebel Gun Works can supply wads, hulls, shot, and such, and I've also bought these from Cleaver. If you've already been shooting though you probably have hulls. Or just buy cheap field loads on special. I saw a deal of $92/250 last week for example, but they'd run out. I ended up paying $118. Shot is around $10/kg, and 250 1oz. loads gives you 7kg of shot, so when ammo is on special it can be cheaper than buying the components separately. Just the shot and primers cost around $100/250.

Until this year, I only bought field loads and modified the payload as required, swapping in BB's or slugs and saving the hard shot for casting bullets. But this year I decided to experiment with reduced-recoil loads due to injury, and also try to replace the wads with something less harmful to our cattle.

It's amazing what you can find inside a cows gut if you are game to cut it open and sort through the contents . Shotgun wads do end up inside some cows but they are not that toxic and don't cut anything as far as I could see . Brass is more toxic . One of the reasons I never hunted with anyone who threw ring pulls from beer cans on the ground or left shell casings in the paddock . I pick up as much as humanely possible because I have seen where it can end up . Country towners are just as guilty as city shooters at leaving garbage in the paddocks . I hate littering and one time a farmer said to me that he liked the way I operated because he could not see any evidence I was there except wheel tracks and dead game . I was quite proud of that . My mother was a woman ahead of her time and back in the 1950's was an ardent no littering person and that was passed on to me .
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by Oldbloke » 27 Jul 2021, 2:18 pm

JohnV wrote:
bladeracer wrote:
Downunder wrote:Does anyone do it anymore?
As I don’t use a shotty at all really (but still keep a couple dry) I thought I might break them out and take a break from brass and load some plastic only to find that consumables are non existent it seems.
Rifle components are a bit hit and miss but popular 12g specific powder and wads are nada......

Regards,

Tony


ADI have stopped production of their pistol/shotgun powders for two years, but there are other manufacturer's powders available.
Rebel Gun Works can supply wads, hulls, shot, and such, and I've also bought these from Cleaver. If you've already been shooting though you probably have hulls. Or just buy cheap field loads on special. I saw a deal of $92/250 last week for example, but they'd run out. I ended up paying $118. Shot is around $10/kg, and 250 1oz. loads gives you 7kg of shot, so when ammo is on special it can be cheaper than buying the components separately. Just the shot and primers cost around $100/250.

Until this year, I only bought field loads and modified the payload as required, swapping in BB's or slugs and saving the hard shot for casting bullets. But this year I decided to experiment with reduced-recoil loads due to injury, and also try to replace the wads with something less harmful to our cattle.

It's amazing what you can find inside a cows gut if you are game to cut it open and sort through the contents . Shotgun wads do end up inside some cows but they are not that toxic and don't cut anything as far as I could see . Brass is more toxic . One of the reasons I never hunted with anyone who threw ring pulls from beer cans on the ground or left shell casings in the paddock . I pick up as much as humanely possible because I have seen where it can end up . Country towners are just as guilty as city shooters at leaving garbage in the paddocks . I hate littering and one time a farmer said to me that he liked the way I operated because he could not see any evidence I was there except wheel tracks and dead game . I was quite proud of that . My mother was a woman ahead of her time and back in the 1950's was an ardent no littering person and that was passed on to me .



I'm the same. Always pick up my empties and if camping usually come home with a small bag of rubbish.
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by bigpete » 27 Jul 2021, 2:22 pm

Me too. I used to get extremely pissed off with my late mate,a smoker,when he'd leave his butts laying around. No need for it. And I do try very hard not to leave empties
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by bladeracer » 27 Jul 2021, 2:55 pm

Oldbloke wrote:I'm the same. Always pick up my empties and if camping usually come home with a small bag of rubbish.



I usually get snide comments when I tell people I police up all my .22 rimfire brass :-)
I had the metal detector out yesterday searching the grass around where I've been shooting last week, just to find all the empties that got away from me. I try to recover my shotgun wads too, but they're often invisible in the grass and don't respond to the metal detector. It would just be a whole lot better for everybody to use cardboard, paper, felt and such rather than plastic.

I keep a dump pouch on my belt for collecting other people's crap when I'm out and about.
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by bladeracer » 27 Jul 2021, 3:01 pm

JohnV wrote:It's amazing what you can find inside a cows gut if you are game to cut it open and sort through the contents . Shotgun wads do end up inside some cows but they are not that toxic and don't cut anything as far as I could see . Brass is more toxic . One of the reasons I never hunted with anyone who threw ring pulls from beer cans on the ground or left shell casings in the paddock . I pick up as much as humanely possible because I have seen where it can end up . Country towners are just as guilty as city shooters at leaving garbage in the paddocks . I hate littering and one time a farmer said to me that he liked the way I operated because he could not see any evidence I was there except wheel tracks and dead game . I was quite proud of that . My mother was a woman ahead of her time and back in the 1950's was an ardent no littering person and that was passed on to me .


There is not much down our road, other a stone quarry, other farms, and some 5-acre home blocks that have been cut off the farms. But it disgusts me to see all the garbage that our neighbours toss out of their vehicles along their own road.

When I go bush around here I invariably find shotgun hulls scattered on the tracks, the last place anybody should be shooting from or near.
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by JohnV » 27 Jul 2021, 4:59 pm

I once went to a property north of the Macquarie Marshes in NSW . The manger was a nice old guy but sat around in his pyjamas all day drinking grog . The paddocks were filthy with garbage , just everything , wire , beer cans , bottles , you name it .
It was a good pig property but the garbage around was annoying the hell out of me and affecting my shooting . I laid awake most of the night contemplating going home but in the end I said F it I am going to clean this sh*t hole up . So I talked the old manager into using a farm ute they had and set about loading it up and taking it to their dump site . 5 days later I hade made a good dent in it but the task was humongous because it was spread out all through the paddocks . I had to stop because I was getting tired . Got in a few days more shooting then went home . A year or so later I heard that the old manager had hung himself . Very unsettling tragic news . The property was eventually sold and I lost permission but the paddocks looked a lot cleaner .
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by Downunder » 28 Jul 2021, 6:58 am

boingk wrote:Hi Downunder, a lot of people dont reload 12G because its not cost efficient for trap loads - my local sells a box of 250x #7 Winchester Super Target for $120. The gun club does them under $100.

If you're thinking of reloading for different loads like 00 buckshot, foster slugs, that sort of thing then it is very much worth it to reload your own.

In fact... if thats mainly what you are after then I would look into reloading commercial cartridges. I know several people who tip out the #7 shot or whatever from their cheap club shells and then melt it down and pour into a slug or buck mould. Now just reload the shell and go hunting.

I'm on a project at the moment with a 410 using 303 British cases to form brass 410-gauge shells.

- boingk


Load 00 and 1’s for feral’s.

That brass 30 to 410 is an interesting project! As a kid I has a nice Miroku .410 to defend the orchard from starling attacks, I don’t know what Dad ever did with that gun......
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by bigpete » 28 Jul 2021, 8:21 am

9.3x74r make good 3" .410 brass
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by gunnnie » 28 Jul 2021, 11:07 pm

I reload 12ga for use in Single Action comps. Out of a 20" SxS where you only have to hit plates at under 15m, you don't need full power factory ammo.
Especially for my wife, as even light factory loads belt her around too much. I run a 28gm load of #2 over 18gn of AS50. It's a great load that does exactly what I need.
I reuse the hulls as long as they hold up. I was experiencing issues with the brass base swelling just fwd of the rim, which led to loading issues. Not a good thing when you are running a timed shoot. I recently bought a sizing die from a Canadian maker & this has solved my brass base issues.
For a press I currently use a Lee Load-All 2 but am looking to get an old Texan R/T press working and run that instead.
Wads are really available, as too are primers with powder available at times. Lead shot is the most expensive part, but I can also source that easy enough.
Is a whole other world of reloading, which adds to my enjoyment of my sport.
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Re: Reloading 12g

Post by JohnV » 30 Jul 2021, 10:00 am

I found the best savings in loading shot shells was in moulding your own slugs and buckshot and any kind of more custom load .
Small shot sizes like 7 clay target stuff etc. you can buy it nearly as cheap as reloading it and if you buy in bulk it's cheaper again .
I sold all my gear to get money to buy a house and I have never gone back to shot shell reloading , just rifle stuff .
I did a lot of experimenting with 12g and it is very interesting . Mainly Nobels powders back then and Winchester and Vitavourie primers . You can get a bit creative with shot shells and it's amazing what you can fire from a smooth barrel.
When firing the Lyman slug I found the best choke was not cylinder . In my gun the most accurate choke was medium where the slug just jammed in the last 25 mm or so of the choke tube , slide down on it's own . Under pressure it might expand a bit .
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