FED. PURPLE 12GA HULLS

[Keith Parrish]

Last weekend I salvaged acouple 3 dozen of the purple federal 12ga hulls. I have heard these are great to reload. I have also heard that the paper basewad could become loose and get lodged in my barrel. The 2 that I cut to check out this basewad looked tight and no chance of becoming a problem.

Anyone ever reload these hulls?

Should these be ok to put a 7/8 oz to 1 oz load in??

[Steve Havener]

Keith the Federal purple shells are usually 16 gauge while the 12 gauge promotional loads are maroon and some of the higher end target loads are maroon, gold or silver. Yes Federal hulls are great for reloading and the paper base wad should not be feared unless they become brittle form age or water soaked. I have gotten as many as six reloading from Federal 16 gauge hulls without any signs of splitting or base wad separation, however, after 6 reloads I start check the bore for any base wads that may have come loose after each shot on all of my reloads. Several years ago in response to a dust up on another forum over the quality of Federal shells I contacted the Ballisticians at Federal and inquired if they had ever had any damage reported due to a dislodged base wad and while affirming that shells that had been water soaked should not be re-loaded they had never received any customer feedback pertaining to dislodged base wads causing damage to guns

[Fred Preston]

All else being equal, paper base wads will yield lower peak pressure.

[Keith Parrish]

YEA I'M GOING TO WATCH THEM CLOSELY AFTER THE 3RD ROLL...

AFTER ONE ROLL THEY FEEL GREAT JUST LIKE I WOULD ASK FOR

[John Farrell]

I have reloaded the same bunch of Fed 16 hulls for the past 6-7 years with 1 and 1 1/8 ounce and they work like a dream. Cut some short to use in my 0 frame Parker, too. Never had one crack, show seam tears or crimp tears. Go ahead and use them. It's a good idea to look down the barrel(s) between loadings if you're using a SxS . Auto's present a different problem. JF

[Keith Parrish]

I use my reloads in various shotguns, no load is for one particular gun. I may choose to reconsider using these hulls for reloading for I have heard this dislodged basewad happening before now. I would hate to damage a barrel on my Parker or for that matter my Rem 870 Wingmaster. It sure doesn't sit well with me that these are an inconsistent hull being as though they make beautiful crimps on my BGI roll crimper.

[Bruce Day]

I have had problems with Fed hulls, 16ga , sticking in the chamber after firing due to expanded brass. This is after several reloads and I have not have the same issue with Remingtons. I wonder if the brass is softer. Anybody else?

[charlie cleveland]

bruce ive had trouble with the 12 ga sticking in a single barrel h r gun also had trouble with the 20 ga sticking in a lc smith double...i like youthink it is the swelling of the hull... but i have a old american double that the same shells sticking in the single barrel will not stick in the old double...i think maybe the chambers on the two sticking guns may be a little tight...what do you think.... charlie

[Bruce Day]

I maybe should mic the shells that stick and compare them to new shells. Haven't done that yet. I really like the plastic in the Fed hulls, stays supple unlike Rems that get hard and crusty, but get several reloads before sticky shells and that is about it. I get 10 or so reloads off the Rems and Wins, all with light loads, so I am not reloading heavy.

[Steve Havener]

Thats strange Bruce. What type of gun are you having problems with and what type of resizer are you using. I use a MEC Sizemaster and have never had a problem with any hull sticking in the chamber of any of my Parker, Fox or Syracuse Lefever's and believe me I have shot some pretty ragged looking reloads through all of my 16s.

[Bruce Day]

Steve, I have a MEC Grabber with the fingers type resizer. Don't have a separate resizer. I also have a 12ga Grabber.

Gun is a P 16ga, bores and chambers original, and also a C 16, same sticking.

[Keith Parrish]

I have a Mec 650 and 600 with the ring resizers on them. I have had many hulls get stuck in my pumps. But never in my Parkers.

With this said for the future hulls that I might use in my pumps I am currently looking for one of those MEC super sizers. I here these are the best resizer to get...

[Steve Havener]

Bruce the only thing I can think of that you might try is to adjust the re-sizer collet down until the shells stop sticking and the second is to polish the chambers with some steel wool wrapped around a bore brush and dipped in very fine grit polishing compound to knock down any corrosion, burnt powder or plastic case residue that may have accumulated over the years.

[Bruce Day]

The chamber is clean but I will adjust the collet. I didn't know it was adjustable!!

Now where did i put that manual? You mean I was supposed to read that?

[Pete Lester]

I have a Mec 650 and 600 with the ring resizers on them. I have had many hulls get stuck in my pumps. But never in my Parkers.

With this said for the future hulls that I might use in my pumps I am currently looking for one of those MEC super sizers. I here these are the best resizer to get...

The MEC 650 is a progressive reloader and it does NOT have a resizing collet on the deprime station, therefore shells are not resized using that reloader.

A MEC 600 does have a resizing collet. Your problem may be using shells that were reloaded on the 650. Trying depriming your hulls on the 600 and then loading them on the 650 that may solve the problem of hulls sticking in any of your guns.

[Pete Lester]

A MEC case conditioner is nothing more than a stand alone deprime station used on MEC single stage reloaders. If you already have a single stage MEC in the same gauge as a MEC 650 it would seem to be a needless expenditure.

PS. I have had a stand alone super sizer (fingers/collet) in 12ga since the 70's. Aside from a couple of handle return springs it has required no maintence. It is much easier for use on shells using steel heads instead of brass compared to a resizing collet. Maybe I have just been lucky.

[John Farrell]

When my 20 gauge hulls were sticking in a SxS some years ago I solved it by using a 28 gauge bronze brush with a piece of white Scotchbrite pad wrapped around it. Using a section of the small diameter cleaning rod in my hand drill I ran the SB in and out of the chamber cleaning all the powder and plastic residues. I made sure when I cleaned and oiled the barrels thereafter some of the oil or barrel lube coated the chamber, too.

The green and black Scotchbrite pads will actually remove metal, so that is not an alternative. White SB pads are usually available in restaurant, body shop and auto supply stores. JF

[Keith Parrish]

I have the seperate attachment for my MEC 650 that came with a stand to set the hulls on while resizing. It is the same as on my 600 just need the stand (riser) to keep the shells above the carrier. I use these before each reload.

I am still going to purchase a Super Sizer and learning today that they are adjustable will surely confirm that my shells are resized to the correct dimensions.