reloading

[charlie cleveland]

to me it seems there is no better feeling than bring down game with your own ready rolls....from the mighty 8 down to the 410 hunters have been getting the enjoyment of reloading there own loads...even the target shooters like myself enjoy this hobby....the art of hand loading has been around a long time and it has reached a point that a handloader ammo can even surpass factory loads...but own the shotgunners side most of us just want a good looking crimp and a safe enough bang for our beloved doubles...you fellas out there that reload know the enjoyment they get when dropping that crow or big gobbler with that special load.... so if your not reloading you are missing a whole lot of enjoyment in your shooting...plus you can save a few bucks too........charlie

[Autumn Daze]

Yup, I agree. Reloading for me adds another level of enjoyment.

[Roundsworth]

I just bought a real nice Lee Loader for the 2-7/8" 10 gauge. Now I can assemble my own cartridges for my 1879 Lifter! I have loaded scores of rifle and handgun cartridges, but this will be my first attempt at shotshells. I loaded ammo for many antique Marlins and a few milsurps, to name a couple. My Marlin loads were usually hardcast bullets with Unique powder. they made wonderful plinking loads that were enjoyable to shoot and easy on the guns. I had five 45-70s that digested different loads. I used them for target shooting. Yes, I have to agree that loading your own adds a whole new dimension to the shooting or hunting experience. Cheers!

[Paul Harm]

Mark, get a roll crimper from Graf or Balistic Products. You may not want to roll crimp if you shoot a lot at clays, but it's lots of fun to roll crimp and they look great, just like the shells of yester year. The 10ga one will work for 12 or 10ga if the 12ga hulls are trimmed to remove the previos crimp. I just cut down 200 10ga 3 1/2" paper shells to 2 5/8. The papers roll crimp nice and return to open. The plastic shells are better star crimped because when rolled they tend to stay deformed and make it hard to reload. It's fun when shooting sporting clays or skeet to show off the roll crimp shells - see the paper wads fly- and even better when a bird breaks. You can't buy that in a store. Paul

[Paul Harm]

For anyones information that doesn't already know, here's a couple of places to get reloading stuff.
www.grafs.com
www.ballisticproducts.com
www.circlefly.com
www.PrecisionReloading.com
Graf has their own black powder that's cheaper than anywhere else and Circle Fly has the paper wads cheaper- think that's where Ballistic and Graf get theirs from. Hope this may help some of you. Paul

[StubTwist]

I agree with Charlie. I loaded some pheasant low pressure loads tailored for my LC Smith grade 3 for a hunt a few weeks ago with 1 1/8” of #5 shot, IMR 7625 and WW hulls. A few people commented before the hunt, “So you are going to shoot with Chain Damascus barrels huh?” I just nodded and noticed a few eyebrows as they walked away. Anyhow, I had a great time and at the end of the day I ended up bagging five roosters and I still have all my fingers!

Having been reloading smokeless for a while, I recently just starting reloading black powder. I got all my supplies from Ballistics Products which Paul has for a link in the previous post. Now….if you really want to get a huge reaction on the skeet or trap field, you have to try shooting black powder. Skeet field, station one, high house, open breach and load, pull back the hammers, and yell pull! The look on the faces and the reaction of the unsuspecting that a black powder cartridge is going to touch off is priceless. The big BOOM and SMOKE never gets old… It is a lot of fun!

Time to end this post because now I’m off to the big bore range to dial in and test accuracy the different bullet seating depths of my 30-06 hand loads for a deer hunt in November….

Best,

Frank

[Paul Harm]

I've been shooting BP loads at the skeet, 5-stand and SC's off and on for years - yes it's fun. Frank, you need to get some round balls to load and use your shotgun to deer hunt. Maybe even use some BP loads. I finaly after 2 years of trying got a deer with my self made Match Lock 12ga smooth bore. 715 round ball and 65grs of 3F put it down in its tracks. Paul

[Paul Harm]

I'll have to correct myself - a little of misinformation. The 10ga roll crimper will work on 12ga hulls if they've been trimed short enough to get the old crimp. I was reloading 2 1/2" shells to save on cushion wads [ cheap me ]. This morning I was trying to reload full length 2 3/4" once fired paper and plastic shells and useing the 10ga roll crimper was getting bad crimps. Looking through my reloading catalogs I found a 12ga nylon [ not steel ] roll crimping tool for $11.99 and only $4 shipping. I ordered it and will be trying it out by the end of the week - let you guys know how it works. I'll add this company, Precision Reloading, to my previous post. The part number is RCT12. Paul

[Roundsworth]

Do all of the available roll crimpers require reverse rotation of the drill? I have a drill press with a 1/2" chuck that does not have a 'reverse' option.

[Big D]

Easy. Turn the drill press up side down