Issues with Steel Based Hulls

[Ed Blake]

I was shooting a new to me DH and had a terrible time with the empty steel based hulls not extracting properly. They were Remington Gun Clubs. Are my chambers too tight? I measured chamber rim diameter on this and other guns and noticed no real differences. The gun would not close on some Gun Clubs hulls that had not been resized. Brass based hulls did not seem to have the same problem.

[charlie cleveland]

i have a lc smith that dont like steel hulls...i just buy the brass hull for it...your probably rite about the tight chambers... charlie

[Double Lab]

Ed;
I had the same problem with my 1892 Hammer gun with both the gun clubs and AA's. The steel bases expand upon firing and unlike the old brass rims don't contract. Are factory shells and those that have been resized still causing an extraction problem too?

[AmarilloMike]

At the gun club one of my friends talked about the extraction trouble he had with steel base hulls in his subgauge Kolar tubes. All he shoots in them now are brass base hulls.

[Richard Flanders]

Just for grins try sticking a steel shell into the gun backwards and rotating it to see if the extractor rim is tight and/or out of round in the rim recess in the breech. I've had that issue with AA's in my DH12 and can only shoot Rem STS or old papers in it. If I shoot AA's of any kind I'll be having to break it open over my knee within 10 shots or less. The newer ammo is just sloppy made and the metal bases are very thin. Some that look like brass are actually plated steel. I sure do love the old green ribbed Remintons and the red Super-X paper shells. They ALWAYS work.

[Craig Larter]

I had the same problem with my 1904 BHE, the rims are large on Gun Club Shells which causes the sticking, I switched to RST's which measure about .010 smaller and no problems with ejection. So I just shoot RST's in the BHE and Gun club reloads in everything else. Craig

[Ed Blake]

The problem seems fixed with the use of 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper wrapped around my finger and lubricating oil. About 10 minutes working on the chamber smoothed it right up. Hulls come out with minimal effort.

[David Hamilton]

I bought some 10 gage Remington cases to load and Jent Mitchel who instructs me said that those shells were so out of round that he doubted I could load them in my old gun. They were shootable but not reloadable as the metal is too thin. David

[Jeff Christie]

I have shot a lot of Gun Club and Federal steel base shells, both new and reloads, and have never had a problem in the Parkers I shoot them in. I use them for trap in a SBT SC and in a VH. They size OK, crimp well, and seem to work just fine. The reloader is a very old and almost worn out Mec 600 jr. I'm sure with a newer loader they would size even better.