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