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Shotgun reloading

Lots of good advice above. I would add, at least in my experience loading 12, 20 and 28, that which wad to use mostly dependent on what weight of shot you want to use AND if your hull is tapered or straight wall. Wads are designed around these two factors more than anything. Then you can determine appropriate powder and amount for 'stack height' and the velocity you re after.

I try to use one brand of hull in each gauge to keep wad selection simple. As with rifle loading though, components are what you can find now a days!

Good Luck.
 
There is no generic wad to use with every type hull or different loads. I've reloaded shotgun shells for 62 yrs. I learned early to make a measure out of a dowel rod to use in measuring the inside depth of each hull. I keep all hulls with the same depth, regardless of brand, in separate boxes. I then keep a chart of which wads to use, with which load, using that box of hulls. Since I shoot light, medium, & heavy loads & pick up all types of empty range hulls, there is no way around buying & keeping a lot of different wads on hand. I always roll crimp my tungsten loads, since tungsten is so heavy, & I use a shell trimmer to shorten each hull to fit the wad & load. Of course, tungsten reloads have to use an entirely different type of wad, & I always use a Mylar or Teflon wrap around the shot to protect my barrel from the extremely hard & heavy tungsten.
 
Dear LRH

I was wondering if there's a wad that generally works well with most hulls. I'll be reloading 12 gauge.

Thanks John
Some people make loading shotgun shells too complicated. Wads are designed for straight wall cases like Federal and wads designed for tapered cases like Win. AA. Then buy the wad designed for the amount of shot that you want to load. A wad is basically used for 2 things.1- As a seal to separate the powder from the shot both while in the shell itself and as the powder is burning while it is travelling down the barrel. And 2- as a spacer between powder and shot. You will need a longer wad for 1 oz. of shot than for 1 1/8 or more of shot. The more shot, the more space that the shot takes in the shell. The shell needs to be filled to the correct height so that the crimp is level, not dished in or bulged out. So for the proper crimp, a longer wad for less shot and a shorter wad for more shot. easy peasy.
 
Be careful. Some shotshell hulls have tapered walls; some have straight walls. Some wads fit in tapered walled hulls; some fit in straight walled hulls. Using a wad that is not designed for a specific type hull may lead to poor performance or dangerously high pressure. Always use the wads recommended by the hull manufacturer.
 
There are generic power piston that will work. I don't have the material to tell which one they are. I load for 12, 20, & 28 gauge shotguns. I load for heavy shot loads in all gauges, unless I am at the trap and Sheet range. I used an 1-3/8oz load in my 12gauge and only changed the shot size, depending on what I was after. The steel shot kind of took me out of duck hunting. I have several barrel for the 870 I used in 12 gauge, from 24" I.P. Choke to a 34" trap barrel. I set my boys with same system. If the birds especially dove were flying high I would move my 34" barrel, and reach out there. Some places I hunted around people using and thinking there 7/8 or 1oz loads were anti aircraft guns, and are sky busters. with the 1-3/8oz loads I could easy reach 50yds on most birds. With the 34" I could reach somewhere around 80+yds on dove. You should have watch them trying to reach out there wondering why I was taking my birds and they weren't.
Back to reloading. Look at several manuals to see what does work. Graf & Son and Ballistic Products have a fair amount of info and charts. I used deep cup piston to hold the shot in them. The deeper the cup the tighter the shot column out to longer distances. The heaver shot loads, the denser the pattern is for longer ranges. Shot sizes also extends ranges too. I have several P/W presses. They make a pressure that you can get the plates from 410 2 1/2 to 10 gauge 3 1/2 gauge, and all the stops in between.
The only thing is primers: The reloading manuals call out the primer for each manufactures hull. I don't know it they are inter chainable. Now I have cross Fed 209 into Winchester, Federal cases and a few others, with on problem. I don't recommend others doing that. I feel that the overall shots shell primers may vary in length some, and that were the problem maybe at. The internal length of base height is what you have to watch for.
Don't switch primers. Primers will greatly affect your pressures. Fed primers generally = higher pressures than Win. using the same amount of powder. Then there are slight variances in the diameters of primers so I use Fiocchi primers for European hulls and Win 209 for US hulls. Generally there are wads for straight hulls like Fiocchi, Federal, Victory etc. and there are tapered hulls like Win AA and Rem Nitro/SST. A wad for a tapered hull will work but fit loose in a straight wall and the opposite should be obvious. Also, wads are specific for the volume of powder and shot to be used. So I regularly reload and shoot 12 gage powder loads at 1-1/2 oz, 1-1/8, 1, 7/8, 3/4. Most all take different wads unless I also switch powders between fluffy and fine. Your round needs to be finished with some resistance at the top or it won't crimp properly and your shot will leak out if it puckers in or out. I also reload for 16 gage, 20 gage and 28 gage.
 
Don't switch primers. Primers will greatly affect your pressures. Fed primers generally = higher pressures than Win. using the same amount of powder. Then there are slight variances in the diameters of primers so I use Fiocchi primers for European hulls and Win 209 for US hulls. Generally there are wads for straight hulls like Fiocchi, Federal, Victory etc. and there are tapered hulls like Win AA and Rem Nitro/SST. A wad for a tapered hull will work but fit loose in a straight wall and the opposite should be obvious. Also, wads are specific for the volume of powder and shot to be used. So I regularly reload and shoot 12 gage powder loads at 1-1/2 oz, 1-1/8, 1, 7/8, 3/4. Most all take different wads unless I also switch powders between fluffy and fine. Your round needs to be finished with some resistance at the top or it won't crimp properly and your shot will leak out if it puckers in or out. I also reload for 16 gage, 20 gage and 28 gage.
If you are loading target loads ( less pressure than hunting loads) you don't have to worry about using different primers.
 
Winchester AA and Remington STS ,Nitro 27's,and Gun Clubs are tapered hulls. AA have a cup in the bottom of the hull and the side wall is thicker than the Remingtons and can be tricky to load compared to the Remington hulls. You can use either brand of wads in both hulls. I tend to use TGT and Figure 8 wads more than the AA wad, just my choice. Federals and others are straight wall hulls and should use the proper wad to get the proper seal. MY advice is to get the Hodgdon loading pamphlet that has rifle pistol and shotgun data. There's lots of recipes with different components.
 
My answer is no. If you are going to load mixed hulls you will need a mixed variety of wads. Some hulls have straight walls and some are tapered. I would suggest that you buy Lymans shotshell reloading manual.
 
AA hulls and AA wads I like the pink 1oz ones.I shot Sporting Clays for years I won my class at the Ohio Cup up at Mad River.
shooting a fast 1oz load! Clays or Red Dot work well. Cheap wads are just that! Cheaply made. Silver hulls=7.5 shot Red hulls=8.5 shot
Off you go...
 
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