Harold,
I load 2 ½” 12 gauge shells using RST hulls that I scrounge from the hull buckets at the NE Shoot at Ernie’s in Friendsville PA in June plus from the guys I shoot with. They are straight walled hulls with 6 point crimp and I think they may be Cheditte’s (sp?).
I use Clay Buster CB6100-12 wads that are for 7/8 and 1 ounce lead loads and use Alliant Extra Lite Powder. I only load ½ and ¾ ounce loads.
My load data:
½ ounce: RST 2 ½” hulls; Winchester 209 primer; 14.0 grains of Alliant Extra Lite powder (MEC #26 bushing); CB6100-12 wad; 0.125” card wad in bottom and ½ ounce lead shot.
3/4 ounce: RST 2 ½” hulls; Winchester 209 primer; 14.3 grains of XL powder (MEC #27 bushing); CB6100-12 wad; no card wad in bottom and 0.72 ounce lead shot from a MEC 302 75 Charge Bar.
I use a MEC Sizemaster for my loading and for the crimp start and final crimp stations, all that I did was use a 1/4" thick wood spacer at those stations to raise the hull to the 2 3/4" height. (In the pictures below, note that I have my MEC Sizemaster sitting in a low walled box to contain those inevitable lead shot spills.)
I get those 1/8” thick card wads from Craig Smith who operates Circle Fly wads in PA. Cost is about $15.00 per 1000 including postage but Craig sometimes shoots at the NE and if you pre-order, you can pick them up from him there and save the postage.
Those CB6100 wads are just a little long for 2 ½” hulls so I trim a little bit off the end of the petals. Probably not necessary tho.
I have not tested these but I load basically the same load in 2 ¾” hulls and had Tom Armbrust test them. For both ½ and ¾ ounce lead loads, they run around 5000 – 6000 psi at about 1300 fps.
Sorry about this long winded response but I hope you find it helpful. And if you have any questions, just let me know.
Happy New Year.
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