Reloading for Shotgunners. Rick Sapp

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СКАЧАТЬ off a roll-crimped load. The crimp rolled the hull firmly back on itself and down to the card, thus holding the powder and shot in place.

      With the advent of more efficient smokeless powders, less length of hull was needed to contain the powder because less powder volume could accomplish the same or better results than black powder. Therefore, more hull was available for sealing the shell. The over-shot card could be dispensed with and the final quarter-inch of standardized paper or plastic shells was simply folded over toward the middle. Today’s final crimp depth is about 1/16-inch with either a six- or an eight-segment fold. Hevi-Shot shells were originally marketed with a roll-crimp, but with Remington’s partnership they have since switched to the more conventional eight-fold.

      Is there a difference between the six- and eight-segment folds? Except for the number of leaves or folds, no, but it is believed that the eight-segment fold holds a little tighter and is therefore a little better for smaller shot, #7-1/2, #8 and #9 in target and small game loads. There is a tendency for the six-fold to be used with larger shot in hunting and field loads. The small shells used in the 28-gauge and the 410 use a six-fold. Although it seems counter-intuitive, the large shells of a 10-gauge also use a six-fold crimp, perhaps because they are heavy hunting loads.

      The memory of a former crimp is not embedded in the plastic of a new hull, so it must develop a memory. Working this hull carefully into the crimp starter of your reloading press several times will introduce folds properly into the material. Often during handloading, you will be tempted to only tap the new hull into the crimp starter and move through this station rapidly. This is the wrong approach because crimp starting is vitally important to effective shooting. Impatient handloaders, after finishing such a load, occasionally discover that the closure in the center of the hull mouth is incomplete and that they have left a hole in the center where the crimp does not meet. Pellets can dribble out and this renders the ugly load functionally useless. This is a result of rushing through the crimping process.

      Many experienced reloaders recommend that when you work with a new hull, consider using a six-point fold starter rather than an eight-point if you have a choice. The six-fold is easier to work and usually realigns easier.

      INSPECT EVERY HULL

      Because hulls are so important to successful shooting, you must inspect them carefully before you begin reloading. Sorting and inspecting hulls while you are sitting at the reloading bench can seem unnecessarily tedious, though: you are perched in front of your machine with your components and the power is on, but before you can load a single hull, you have to check the type, its integrity and cleanliness every time you set one up. Perhaps the best time to sort and inspect is while you are watching television. A golf, baseball or football game on the tube where action is intermittent, gives you the time and opportunity to check each shell. Then, when you sit down at your reloading bench, you can confidently pound out the reloads.

      Initial sorting separates gauges and lengths. After that, you can sort for brand and type. Just because you are holding a 12-gauge hull does not mean that you can load it with just any 12-gauge recipe. Seemingly small but ballistically significant differences in hull material, design, capacity and wear affect loads profoundly.

       Only factory loads are approved for competition at the highest levels, such as the FITASC World Championships. (FITASC is the international organization that governs sporting competition.) For utmost shooting consistency, reloaders will want to find a commercial load that is most comparable to the load they are pressing. Of course, if and when you reach the very highest levels of competition, gun and ammo manufacturers will stand in line to sponsor your shooting … and your reloading press will begin to gather dust.

      Winchester advertises that its AA hull will “become the new benchmark of reloadability.” In the same ad, the Illinois company suggests that you can achieve at least 15 reloads from a single shell. Fifteen is a lot of reloading. Not only is the hull subjected to violent extremes of heat and pressure, but also the crimp must fold and hold precisely all of those times. One of the biggest problems in reloading is forcing yourself to discard hulls that may not be in the best shape. Winchester AA hulls have an excellent reputation among reloaders.

      Nothing is going to work better for you – either in your reloading press or in your shotgun – than perfect shells. Many writers recommend that you begin reloading with a bag of new or even once-fired and pre-sorted shells that can be purchased from your local dealer or via a known internet vendor like Cabela’s. Unfortunately, it is well known that most shotshell reloaders use hulls well past their prime and wind up trading performance for economy. No one would consciously choose to make this trade, but we reload in part to make our money and our components last longer than one shot and there is always that push-pull dilemma of getting “just one more shot” from a hull.

       Petals on G/BP wads are designed to snap-away from the flying shot after it leaves your muzzle. According to Ballistic Products, this allows the pattern to expand evenly out to the fringes.

      Fortunately, hulls occasionally give you easily discoverable clues about their readiness for retirement. Worn-out shells destroy shot-to-shot consistency. As hulls age, patterns and velocities can be affected by pressure fluctuations, so it is crucial that you quickly identify and dispose of flawed hulls. Inspect the base and walls of hulls for cracks and corrosion. Hulls with compromised structures will leak gas and cause the loss of pressure and velocity.

      Hulls begin to fatigue with their first loading. Repeated reloading and firing eventually causes the seal between the base of the paper or plastic hull and its brass base, or the seal with the base wad, to deteriorate. In some hull types, the process of base degradation can be rapid and extreme, and therefore more noticeable than in others. Other symptoms of hull fatigue include plastic walls becoming brittle near the top or at the crimp and finally, developing hairline cracks that leak gas. You must toss these hulls immediately.

       THE PRIMER

      Beginning at the bottom of the hull, after re-sizing, your reloading press next extracts the spent primer and inserts a new one. Former editors of this book compared a loaded shotshell to an automobile engine; both required only a spark to begin the transformation from inertia to explosive power.

      Struck by your gun’s firing pin, instantly super-heated, the tiny amount of chemical inside the primer in the base of a shell explodes. This supplies sudden, intense heat to the propellant by driving tiny white-hot particles upwards into it. The burning particles launch the propellant on the brief but glorious arc of its burn.

      For maximum efficiency and effectiveness, a primer must offer the precise heat that a particular propellant load needs. Bulky, slow-burning powders for instance require a specific type of flame to ignite and burn properly. Too much heat and flame unnecessarily raise early chamber pressure, thereby “pushing the cycle.” Insufficient heat and flame do not ignite a large enough portion of the propellant for pressure to rise sufficiently before the chamber is decompressed by the load’s movement and the decreasing confinement.

      The story of the primer began in about 1807 when Scottish hunter and inventor A. J. Forsyth discovered that a particular mixture of chemicals produced an explosion when it was struck. He realized that if the reaction was contained and channeled, it could be used to ignite powder charges and he eventually used his knowledge to create what was called a “pill lock” ignition system. His was the first step along the way to today’s modern primers and the path wound through England and America for more than a hundred years.

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