Home Forums Reloading Shotshells Anybody know a good source for AA Hulls?

I need to buy some 12-gauge once fired AA's and Cabela's seems a bit too steep. I'm pretty new to this shotshell reloading game, so I need a good contact.<P>Can anybody help?<P>jackman

I've got a bunch of them that I don't really need, but it is not worth it to pack them up and ship them. I would suggest that you go to your local trap/skeet club and see if they, or some member has some he will sell you for a reasonable price. Last time I checked the going rate was about a nickel or 6 cents each for once fired.

jackman and all others:<P>I sell a ton of these on ebay.<P>I usually sell 525-plus for $25. Shipping is usually $15 or so, depending on your zip code, so 525+ usually goes for right around $40.<P>I have a ton of the reds right now.<P>Email me if you're interested, or follow, If It Flies' advice.<P>Rick

Find a good public range, If I need hulls I just go to a public range about an hour before dark on a nice sunday afternoon. Very few people reload shot shells and they are either laying on the ground or in the garbage bin. I've been reloading for 25 years and have never bought hulls, and very little brass for that matter.<P>D<P>PS, Rick, not trying to rain on your parade, just an alternative.

A little info that you may or may not want--think twice about using Win. AA hulls. For many years they were rightly considered the very best case for reloading. Couple or three years ago this changed. The hulls look the same, but are vastly inferior. (They are made in Korea, nothing against the country). Unless there is some strange reason that you feel you must have AA's, you are much better off nowadays with the new (well, they've been around 3 years or so) Remington STS hulls, either green or gold. They are the same, just different colors. Cost of these hulls is generally the same or less than AA's. Unless you can get AA's that are 4-5 years old, the Remingtons are vastly superior. Win. AA's are riding on a past reputation that is no longer justified. The plastic has changed and the result is quite a short life. You would be amazed at the number that split on the initial factory firing.

I'm not trying to start an argument, and I don't know, but it is really hard for me to believe that the current AA hulls are made in Korea, and shipped over here to be loaded.<BR>What is your source for this information?

It is pretty common knowledge, I've known it for well over 2 years, don't recall where I first heard it. It is immaterial where they are made, anyway. The point is that when they changed manufacturerers, or source, the AA's dropped in quality immensly. Personally, I don't care. Buy what you want. I have about 25,000 of them, of the older quality, but no longer bother to pick them up, even once fired, and sure wouldn't buy them, because I know how long (or short) they will last. Hopefully, by the time my supply of AA's is worn out, I'll have enough STS's to suffice.

I have more once fired AA hulls then I will probably ever use. When I shot registered skeet I was reloading and shooting about 35,000 rounds a year, now I just shoot every now and then and for my own enjoyment - not in competitions. I don't know about the AA Hulls being made someplace in Asia but I do know that the "silver" AA hulls last longer then the "red" ones - as to the number of reloads you get. I used to use the "red" ones only, but I have switched to the silver ones some years back and have better luck with them. If memory serves me correctly the silver ones are handicap trap rounds.
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<br>What a lot of reloaders do around here is buy the handicap trap loads (Silver AA) and use them for dove hunting (7 1/2 shot) then reload them for skeet, trap or sporting clays.
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<br>Just another option.
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<br>Don

Don - sounds like you do about what I have been doing. I shot skeet for a lot of years and have more AA hulls than I will ever use. I buy the silver trap loads in # 8 shot for dove hunting. When I reload I load # 9's in the red hulls (for skeet and quail) and # 8's in the silver hulls. I have a good supply of the old blue peters hulls ( Oshmans sold dove loads in these for a while) they get # 7 1/2 shot. No confusion about which load I have in my pocket that way and I don't have to change anything but the hull and shot size in my loading.

I've been reloading and shooting trap for a number of years. When I started the only thing I'd reload was red and silver AA's. Now, I wouldn't touch the red ones. Like the above posts state, the silver AA's are pretty good, but the better hulls are the Remington STS. You just can't believe how much nicer they are to load and how long they last. I've had the newer red AA hull split at the crip after the first reload.

I've been reloading AA's for quite a number of years and agree completely with the above posts re quality of their hulls and the silver being better than the red and the Remington STS being a better hull. That said, there are quite a few AA & STS hulls for sale right now on ebay. Bid on whatever you decide.

Sometimes we don't see the forest for the trees, I suppose.
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<br>If you are willing to buy AA's for a nickel, that's 25 nickels for a box. You can buy a box of AA's for $4.50, which puts it at $3.25 if you allow yourself a nickel for the spent hull.
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<br>I've seen lots of hulls go for over 10 c/ea (more if you included shipping) on ebay. At that rate, a box of AA's, allowing for hull revenue, is $2.00. Not too awful bad.....
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<br>One more thing --- It seems that the latest AA's are back to being very good. Even better, the Federal Gold Medal has recently improved a great deal, too. There is an interesting article in the Sept-Oct. edition of Shooting Sportsman, where the new versions of all three shells are tested for reloadability. Interestingly, all three were reloaded using the same recipe, on a Grabber, without changing any of the settings! All three were still serviceable after 15 reloads...... FWIW, Dutch.

New AA's are two piece and supposed to not be as good as the older 1 piece Red/Silver AA's.
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<br>I have loaded a bunch of the old 1 piece AA's and while they load OK, I really prefer the Remington STS/Nitro 27 in 12 Ga. and most certainly the STS in 20 Ga.
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<br>None work well (in my opinion) to reload in 28 Ga.
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<br>John

hello, do you still have your excess of AA hulls?? I see your in Tx, so that means we are in the same state. If you will let me know, maybe I can come and pick them up. I live in Houston. I hope to hear from you soon, Tks. Rlr

Longshot,

I'm too far from you to make the trip worthwhile. It would be cheaper to buy them in Houston, even if you paid more. And, to be frank, I've got them scattered around 3 different places and don't really want to gather a bunch up.

As someone posted above, you can buy AA factory loads and shoot them, counting hull value, almost as cheap as you can buy the hulls and reload them. Possibly cheaper, depending on your reloader and how you value your time.