Reloading Brass Shotgun Shells.....My Way

[rbertalotto]

So I was looking through Buffalo Arms catalog (An absolute must have BTW!) and saw Brass 12ga shotgun shells. I ordered up a couple boxes and the associated wads needed to load them with black powder.

The shells arrived and I realized that I didn't have any dies or a case holder to seat primers and load them. So I had to make a few devices if I was going to shoot black powder shotgun at tomorrows meet.

First was the issue of primers. I didn't have a 12g shell holder, but I realized that the brass 12g shell will fit perfectly unto the threaded insert of the RCBS rockchucker press.



So now I just needed a way to seat the primer. I found a spring loaded primer seater from some old priming tool and I went out into the garage an made a holder on the lathe.





It snaps into the Rock-Chucker just like a case holder



So Priming was accomplished!



Next I needed some way to compress the charge and seat the wads.

Back to the lathe and I turned an aluminum insert that fits into an old 6mmRemington die I had laying around.



I made it a tight fit and used the press to force it together



Now I had a way to compress the components



No shell plate/holder is needed for this operation



Once everything is compressed, a bit of nail polish...........Shhhh...Don't tell the wife!



And we're done!



More pictures here:
http://public.fotki.com/Rbertalotto/gun ... gun-shell/

[Lefty Dude]

I use an RCBS 12 ga. shell holder for priming. MEC makes a Brass loading conversion for the 600 Jr. RCBS also makes the loading dies for 12 ga.
For wad seating a 3/4" hardwood dowel works for me.

You made some nice tools, ya done good.

I reload both 12's & 16's for use in CAS/SASS. The 12 I load BP. For the 16's I load both BP & Smokless. The Smokless Brass I shoot in my Winchester 97. The 12's in my SXS.

[Griff]

I just got the RCBS Cowboy Shotshell set. IIRC, it was $75 from Midway. Don't have your machining skills or even any tools/tooling! Good adaptation of available materials.

[M. M. Wright]

My brass uses large pistol primers. I made a deprimer punch that just fits inside the case and I use a hammer to knock the old primer out. I made a holder with recess for the case head and a hole for the spent primer. Then I made a plug to support the primer pocket inside while pushing the shell down on a new primer which I just rest on a flat aluminum plate under a small arbor press. I never resize and push the wads down with a piece of wooden dowel. I still use water glass, (stop leak from Wal-Mart), to hold the over-shot card in.
I have used Elmers glue and the nail polish but either one is still partly there after firing. The water glass is just gone. Besides, it's what the old-timers used.

[Rusty]

I went on Ebay and won a few auctions for some antique reloading tools. I got priming tools for 20 and 12 ga, along with some dowels with fancy turned handles on top.

What I really need is a tool for cutting wads.

[rbertalotto]

I would have simply bought the RCBS tools, but I wanted to shoot some shells today........plus I saved about $100 total.

Today I'll make a decapping die for the press.

What department do you find that Stop Leak at Walmart?

[rbertalotto]

Fired up the lathe and made a decapper and a new compression die.

Tried em out and they work great!

[hayabusa]

What department do you find that Stop Leak at Walmart?

I find it in the automotive dept.

Busa

[Nath]

EXCELLENT

I am impressed

N.

[Chuck 100 yd]

COOL! Nice job!

[Hawkeye2]

I can't seem to find the original mention for Stop Leak in this thread. Are you using it to hold the overshot card in place?

[Ysabel Kid]

Fired up the lathe and made a decapper and a new compression die.

Tried em out and they work great!

Very cool! You ought to make and sell those!

[Blaine]

Brilliant!

[mergus]

Hi Roy. I have a question for you about the height of the wad column and shot. I see that on your shells the over shot card appears to be about 3/8" below the mouth of the hull. Is that because that where top of the shot happened to be or did you choose to use a total wad height that would terminate that deep in the hull?

I ask as I have ordered brass hulls for my 10 ga Remington and as a total novice on these things, I am trying to understand why things are the way they are.

Mergus

[44-40 Willy]

What I really need is a tool for cutting wads.

I've got a 12 gauge muzzleloading shotgun that I've hunted with for over 30 years. I use a 3/4" hole punch for making wads from cardboard. Thin cardboard like cereal boxes for the overshot and thick cardboard boxes (with the corrugated inner layer) for overpowder wads (I use two of those for light loads and three for heavy loads). The .750" wads are a nice tight fit in the 12 gauge barrels. Seems to me like they would also work in a brass 12 gauge shotshell.

[rbertalotto]

Hi Roy. I have a question for you about the height of the wad column and shot. I see that on your shells the over shot card appears to be about 3/8" below the mouth of the hull. Is that because that where top of the shot happened to be or did you choose to use a total wad height that would terminate that deep in the hull?

Here is what I gleaned from the internet on loading these brass 12ga shells for Cowboy Action Shooting where you don't want a lot of recoil and you don't need a lot of shot......

I used a 45-70 case with a piece of heavy wire attached to it as a measure/scoop....

Primed with Large Pistol Primers
1 "Scoop" of FFg powder
Circle Fly 11 Gauge, .135" Nitro Shotgun Wad
Ox-Yoke 1/2" Prelubed 12 gauge Shotgun wad
Another Circle Fly 11 Gauge, .135" Nitro Shotgun Wad
1 Scoop of #9 Shot
Circle Fly 10 Gauge, .025" over shot wad

With the above component I have roughly 3/8 of space.

I took them to the range to day to try them out. The berm had a dusting of snow which was GREAT for seeing the shot pattern.........Perfect for Cowboy action.

Lots of "boom"...lots of smoke!

Hope this helps!

[Rusty]

Where's a good place to buy a .75" punch.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Harbor Freight has punches used in making Gaskets.
Gasket material also is good for making shotgun wads.
Cork sheeting found at most any home center makes great filler
wads to bring that stack height up.

[Hagler]

Rusty,

You can buy a "gasket" punch, a "cobbler's" punch, a "shoemaker's" punch, a "leather" punch, a "craft" punch, a "saddlemaker's" punch, or an "arch" punch. ebay has them:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ankorite-7-Pc-P ... 4ac0de1c45

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Ankorite-7-Pc-Pu ... ~~60_3.JPG

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/Leather-Vinyl-H ... 19d835f406

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Leather-Vinyl-Ho ... ~60_57.JPG

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Tandy Leather Factory should also have them.

Shawn

[rogn]

Long ago and far away I had a Lee hammer and tong shotshell loader. This was in 20 ga and it worked quite well for dealing with the 20g a. If I recall the wads I used were Herter's, and eventually I made or modified a punch to suit. These were used w/ smokeless powder and worked vey well, in both an Ithaca pump and a O/U. Keep them shiny and you dont loose them, the Ithica put the empties at your feet.

[mergus]

Hi Roy. Yes, that does help, thanks much.

Mergus