i will back off on the powder werei will not tempt fate..... isuspect it is the hulls sicne others have had trouble with the brass like i have. i will trw to load a few more of them but i will slack up on powder charge.what kind ofhulls would some of you 10 ga reloaders reccomend.does any body out thier that reloads use them in a automatic shotgun.i hope my next reloads sheds some light on these hulls coming apart. charlie

I use the Federal hulls, buy them at Ballistic Products.

Probably no related but...I use the federal hulls and have had odd things happen in really cold or really hot weather with a hot steel shot load. Cold weather sometimes the hull cracks, and I have had the brass crack. In hot temps(80 F) the pressure is high and the primers pop and the head will sometimes end up as a dome... Shooting out of a Browning auto 10. Using Alliant Steel powder. I don't shoot them on hot days anymore.

Kurt

What went wrong
 

Charlie: I shoot and reloasd lots of 10 Ga. Shells. Friends shoot many of the rattle guns in Northern Alberta, and also in my neighborhood. Two Rem SP 10 blew the barrels out the side this fall here where I hunt. 10 years ago local gunners bought a pallet of 10s from Federal (steel shot), all the shells seperated and Federal had to take them back. so this has been a common problem for some time.

Things to know
Winchester cases are brass "load at your own risk".
Remington and Federal are steel, inspect good before loading.
avoid hot primmers.
Do not load Blue dot in any case that has shot steel shot.
After a session with the cronograph I give up on Blue Dot.
Most serious 10 Ga. shooters load and shoot Ball powders or 4756 IMR
Lots of Data for the ball powders and 4756.
Do not rule out shooting card wads. They still work well.
Give that double gun some serious thought, they still work well to.

I have shot 10 Ga. Alcan brass cases with card wads for over 50 Yrs. in a number of double guns with never a problem.

The two guns that blew here this fall blew on the third shot, and like you said, "no way to look down the barrel".

I am pointed toward the Vegas gun Show in the morning I will send you a PM next week when I get home. good Luck
David

I would not shoot any loads, factory or reload, in a repeating shotgun if I had experienced any hull or base wad separation. End of story. My greatest fear in bad shells is to have a case separate from the brass in a high condition Skeet Grade Model 42. Even good .410 cases sometimes separate, but 99 times out of 100, the plastic goes out the muzzle. I would be shooting only factory shells in a ten gauge auto.

thanks fellas for all the info. i think i will buy me some new hulls get me a 3 1/2 inch doublegun. and only shoot factory loads in my auto ten.i sure liked that old ithica it did not kicknear as hard as a double gun does.that old auto has killed more turkeys thanthan even my parker 10 ga and thats a fact. ha thanks again charlie

One advantage with a ten gauge double for turkeys is that you can pull both barrels if the bird is a bit out of normal head shot range. With an auto, the second shot is always a body shot, not good.

thanks bill i will remember your advice when i get that old3 1/2 inch gun and that old turkeys hung up and wont come in any closer i will give him both barrels.will report the outcome if im able. charlie

it was definally the hulls that were the problem. i will definally use only new shells in my ithaca 10 ga. i reload a lot of the short 10s and never no problems with any kind of hullin my double barrels. have any of you fellas ever loaded the 3 ounce load in the 3 1/2 .i seen and ad some company sells this load.was wondering about recoil that kinda thing.. charlie

The three ounce load was marketed by Nitro Ammunition Company in lead especially for turkeys. It was not neccesarily a punishing load because it was fairly slow, like 1100 fps or less.