Shotgun Shell Loading

Shotgun Shell Loading

I have loaded Rifle and Pistol Cartridges for over 20 years. As a matter of fact some of my Rifles have never seen a factory Cartridge. But until now I have not seen the need to load Shotgun Shells, they have always been readily available and inexpensive. 

Well, with new Legislation in California that has changed. Two pieces of legislation made me decide to load my own Shotgun Shells. First, California is going to be Lead free next year. The problem is that the commercially available lead free ammunition for upland hunting (Quail and Dove) is Steel. From the few boxes that I have been able to get my hands on they pattern very poorly. 

Second, California now makes you buy ammunition from a State Licensed Ammunition Vendor, eliminating internet sales. Due to the rural nature of where I live this makes it very difficult to find good quality ammunition and makes it almost impossible to get Bismuth or Tungsten Ammunition. 

So I got this equipment with the intent of eventually loading my own Bismuth or Tungsten upland loads. 

 I decided to get a Single Stage Press. I don't see myself loading high volumes of Cartridges so a Single Stage Press is a good option for me. I chose the MEC Sizemaster, it seemed to have all the features that I wanted (Collet Sizer & Primer Feed). 

I spent the last few weeks researching loads and buying my components. I decided to load some Lead Cartridges first to get the hang of things before I made a mess of expensive Bismuth or Tungsten. 

 After I selected my load from the reloading manual I had to select a bushing for the shot and check the powder weight with a scale. MEC provides a bushing table that will tell you what bushing you need for a particular powder weight in a specific powder. I was looking for 18.2 grains of Clays. Sure enough their powder busing recommendation was spot on.

So at this point I am all set to start loading. I decided to use some spent Federal hulls for my first go around knowing that I would screw a few up and have to do some adjusting.

 Here is my first shell in the 1 position, the sizer collet. In this position is gets sized and the old primer gets knocked out. 

 From there it goes to the 2 position, Priming. In this position a new primer is pressed in.

 Then it goes to the 3 position, where it gets Powder. 

 Then a Wad

 And finally Shot

 From there it goes to the 4 position, pre-crimp. In this position the crimp is started. 

 Then on to the 5 position, final crimp. At this point the Cartridge is complete, 

 It did not take long for me to complete 25 Cartridges. So it was time to go shoot them and see how they would do. 

 I decided to pattern them first, Here is a shot of my homemade pattern board. I put a piece of paper on it and set it at 30 yards and fire a shot. 

Here is the pattern from the first shot. 20 pellets are in the 5" center circle and 344 are in a 30" circle. The pattern has a few holes in it but in general I am very happy with the results. 

From there I went to shoot some clay pigeons. I ended up breaking 22 out of 25. Overall I am really happy with how this turned out. I may play with powders and wads a little then I will start working on some Bismuth loads. More to come in the future.