Home Forums Reloading Shotshells Can I reload the cheap, "promotion" type of Federal shells?

Although I've been reloading metallic cartridges off and on for about 20 years, I have never reloaded shotgun shells. Recently, I thought I'd remedy this, so I bought a Lee Load-All II in 12 ga. to test the waters.

Then, reality set in.

Naturally, based on my previous loading experience, I just assumed components for shotguns were all interchangeable. After really looking at the reloading info., though, I found out I was way off base. The pile of once-fired Federal Game-Shok hulls I have aren't listed as reloadable hulls in my manuals.

What to do?

I have a few once-fired Winchester AA hulls on hand, which I'll eventually use, but I really wanted to use the cheapies first, even if I only get one or two loadings out of them. But since I don't see any reloading data on the cheapies, I am at a loss as to how to proceed.

Which wad to use, which powder? I hate to chuck all of the hulls into the trash without using them at least one more time. A simple, decent-patterning 1 oz. rabbit load is all I'm looking for.

Please advise.
DAL

Sure, you can reload them-- I wouldn't bother, but you can. Alliant will send you data if you ask, for example.

There are three Fed hulls, IIRC. The one-piece Gold Medal, the Steel/buckshot hull, and the "Federal with Paper Basewad", which is their do-all hull. Also the same as the Estate hulls. Cut one open, and if it has a cardboard/ wound paper basewad, and it has never gotten wet, load it.

Downrange just came out with a 1-oz wad for straightwalled hulls (Call Kevin for specific information), and you can use any powder suitable for 1 oz loads. E3 is a good one (call Alliant for load information or look it up on line), but Tightwad, Promo, Red Dot, Clay Dot, 700X, Clays, to name some of the most available.

Note that the AA's are a tapered one piece hull, and take a different wad than the straightwalled Feds. HTH, Dutch.

i have one heavy field load i load with the cases you have, works great. it is out of the 12ga book with all powder brands listed. 1 3/8 oz using blue dot powder. the cases i use are fedral low base paper base wad 3 dram 1 1/8 oz is printed on the case.

Back in the days before steel shot, I used to do alot of waterfowling and reloaded all of my own shells. I used a Lee Loadall for this and it worked ok but the hulls that worked the very best were winchesters and of those the AA's were the ones that reinged supreme.

All other hulls, and this includes Federal premiums, Remingtons and Peters, would give me fits with the crimp. They would pop open spilling the bb's out.

I wrote to Lee and asked them for a sizer for 1 3/8 oz. of shot and they had me take one, I believe it was the 1 1/4 oz sizer and just cut a certain amount off of it. It has been so long that I don't remember what powder or charge I was using. The old Load all loaded up a lot of shot gun shells for me back in those days. When I went to 3 inch shells, I used hulls from the winchester super x 3 inchers. I had an Ithaca side x side with 32 inch barresl choked full and full and it was a great gun for pass shooting. I went to a 3 inch 1 3/8 oz load in it that was a little stouter than I had been loading in the AA's.

Unless they have made some improvements in the crimping part of the operation in the last 30 years, you will be better off to buy AA hulls and use them. At least that is my experience.

I just recently dug the thing out and gave it to friend who reloads black powder shotgun shells but he won't use it to measure the powder with. He'll use it for everything else.
Good luck.

I often load cheap hulls for "disposable brass"

IE used it often for short steel loads hunting in the water on the river. I try to get all my empties, but really didn't want the AAs floating away....

I never did have great luck with federal crimps either. I'm wondering (its been 20 years or more since I did a shotgun shell- the Mecs sit idle due to shell costs) if you could dab hot melt glue on them to hold em shut?

OTOH you can usually buy once fired good hulls cheap. That would be the less headache way to go. I've bought bags of them off skeet/trap ranges before really reasonable.

Jeff