Home Forums Reloading Shotshells - TSS and Unleaded School me on a shot shell loading set up - please .

I'm not a shotgun clay shooter - probably won't shoot 30 rounds per year - predators and maybe turkey loads .

Loads will be TSS .

Have reloaded rifle/pistol for 17-18 years .

I’m interested also. I ordered a new Browning 16 ga hunter and also have a Turkish mossberg 20 ga. I hunt quail and rarely pigeon, and will be shooting skeet in the near future. I won’t be shooting more than 200 shells per month.

Online getting primers or lead looks difficult. I have some powder.

For reloading does anyone use a single stage, or are progressives the way to go.

I see the MEC looks like the most popular, but how are the other brands of shotshell reloaded like Hornsby?

Guess no one knows how to load shotgun shells - I'll try youtube

Good luck Old Ornery

I'll do my best to answer both of your questions with what knowledge I have. I have reloaded shotgun shells for several years. I only have single stage presses. a LEE Load All II, one in 12ga and another in 20ga and a MEC 600JR. in 12ga. Both units work very well, and I would recommend buying a LEE for the beginner, it's nice that it comes with everything you'd need to load just about any powder/shot combo whereas with the MEC, you have you buy all the different charge bars and bushings. I would suggest checking at pawn shops if you want a MEC, as I see them quite regularly for very reasonable prices. It seems shotshell reloading isn't very popular anymore. Shot I can usually find in SCHEELS or smaller local reloading/gun stores, it comes in 25lb bags for around $50 usually. I'm guessing online most places don't list it, as shipping would be difficult for packaging to prevent it breaking the box wide open during transit, and very expensive unless doing FLAT RATE, but USPS isn't doing very well with shipments right now. Several of my local stores had ONLY shotgun 209 primers, when everything else is gone, and this was just 3 days ago. Most had several bricks available. I have never loaded TSS, nor have I seen any TSS shot in the stores, so not sure on availability. WADS are dependent on what hull and weight of shot you'll be using, ie: 7/8oz, and 1 3/4oz would need different wads, most wads I've used are CLAYBUSTER, and have some wiggle room to vary your loadings some. Loading 200 a month you might feel the desire to upgrade to a progressive, but you can usually crank out a box of shells in 15 minutes or so, so it's not like it would be an issue to use a single stage press. I've primarily used IMR/HODGDON powders and their online load data or printed booklets are really good.

Let me know if you have any questions, but youtube would be a good resource to see it in action. I would definitely check out the LEE Load All II, not sure what they cost now, but 10-15 years ago, they were only about $50 and have all the different bushings included to get you started and load pretty much any powder or shot charges.

JJ,

Thanks. It appears that the shotshell presses are made for one gauge, so if you need to reload for a different gauge you will have to get a different press, unlike bullet presses where you change dies, shell holders, etc. Is this how shotshell presses are set up?

Yes, mostly correct, with the LEE Load All, yes, it's a new press, but at $50-$60, not a big issue. MEC on the other hand sells a conversion "DIE SET" which you basically keep the main press frame and replace all the parts to change the gauge, for about half the price of a new press (still $100+ and a new press is $200-$250 for the single stage). I have seen several MEC 600 JR.s in pawn shops locally for $25-$50 for older well used ones to $100 for ones that looked to be new in the box.

And don't get me wrong, I think the MEC is a fantastic press, very well build and durable, all metal. The LEE is a good press for the hobbyist re-loader, or occasional re-loader, a lot of plastic on it, but good quality, and I've loaded several thousand shells with mine and never had a hiccup.

Find a mec 600 jr at gunshows or other places at +$50 . Buy 1 in each gauge you wish to reload. You can buy a whole press used for less than what the dies cost. Buy a Lyman shotshell manual and get as many powder catalogs as you can find they are usually free. The reason people quit loading is simple up till recently promo target loads were availible cheaper than buying all the components and loading your own and for most folks hunting only requires 2-3 boxes a year. I load my own and allways have what I need when I want it without getting screwed on the price. The chinks drove up the price of lead and now there are no smelters of virgin mined lead in the usa most comes from Mexico now. Mb

I must be hitting the wrong gun shows . . . lucky to find a 600Jr for even $100 in this neck of the woods. Lucked out a month or so ago and found an early Grabber 12ga at a tucked away gun shop for $138. Yes, $138 ! I asked the guy how they came about $138 and he just shrugged.

Wifo not uncommon around here to buy 12 or 20 ga 600 jr for $50 -75 bucks. Hardly anyone shooting clays reloads except the serious old guys who like loading. Components damned scarce as a lot of shotshell powders work in cf pistol ammo. Me I like loading ammo. Mb

If you're going to load TSS only you don't need a shotgun loading press at all. You need a drill press and a roll crimp die. The best roll crimp is made by GAEP from Italy and is available here in the USA. It's just like loading rifle ammo. Weigh the powder, insert the wad with fillers as called for, put in a milar sleeve in the wad, weigh and add the shot, add the buffer, vibrate the buffer into the shot, add an overshot card and roll crimp the hull. It really is simple as dirt. The only two things that take some tuning is cutting the hull to the correct length to get the perfect roll crimp and setting the drill press speed to make the right amount of heat to do the roll. About 1100 RPM is about right. You can load some awesome ammo with very little equipment.

Thanks folks ! ! !

Yep, I paid $40.00 for mine when I loaded on a single stage. Great loaders and you can, surprisingly, pump out a lot of ammo on one, with some practice. I'd suggest going to a trap club and asking around to see if any of the old timers have one they aren't using. A lot of guys started out on one and then progressed to a progressive...

I made this video several years ago about loading TSS. You’ll need to get the load data from who you buy the shot from.

https://youtu.be/Vp7_CNcIAZE

If you are only shooting about 30 shot shells a year, it probably wouldn't be worth while to get set up with a shotshell reloading press.

I'm probably one of the old timers mentioned above. I started reloading shotshells in the early '70s with a 12 gauge Honey Bair single stage press. I still have it set up on my reloading bench for hunting loads. I didn't get my first shotgun until 1970 when I got out of the Army, and I started shooting at our local Trap club to learn how to shoot a shotgun. I started with Trap League shooting, then the shotgun bug really bit me and I moved up to ATA Trap competitions and then into NSSA Skeet competitions. At the height of my shooting I was loading and shooting 10-15,000 shotshells per year for almost 20 years.

I don't compete any more, but I still have 4 Hornady 366 progressive shotshell presses (12, 20, 28 ga, and .410) on my bench, and now I only load and shoot about 5,000 shotshells per year. I buy my primers and wads in lots of 5,000 and powder in 8# kegs, and I make my own shot.

When the US got out of the lead business, the price of shot skyrocketed, and many shotshell reloaders quit reloading. There are several makers of progressive shotshell presses, but Hornady quit marketing their 366 presses. And now with the reloading component shortages, many stores don't have any powder or primers. .

Good informative post. I also wouldn't waste my time handloading if I only shot 30 rounds per year. OP, just buy over the counter stuff. I also quit shooting competitively right before shot started to skyrocket. I believe around '08. I remember shooting at 3 different trap clubs per week, just for practice and then money shoots on the weekends. A lot of long bomb stuff. 27+ yards and beyond.. Back then you needed to load your own and "run what you brung" to be competitive. A good guy I shot with said he used to load his with a dump truck. Some shoots from 80 yards behind the trap house, a lot of guys used copper plated stuff. Made the sky red under lights.. If you ever shot that kind of competition, you know what I'm talking about.. Back in those days I loaded thousands of rounds per month. Burning up 500 rounds/day at some shoots...