Home Forums Reloading Shotshells question for the shotshell reloading pros

having problems seating primers on some shells.
2 same hulls(at least by outer appearance).
loader is MEC 700 if that matters at all.

insides are different.. one yellow, one white
the shells with yellow base wad are the problem, the shells with the white base wad work fine.



the thickness difference is causing primers to not seat correctly in the yellow base wad shell. are these shells not meant to be reloaded? maybe from different year manufactured.
any thoughts?

Im not familiar with the steel shot casings, but I dont think the primer pocket is any different than the standard hull dimensions. You don't specify what primer your using, so Ill just say that the Fiocchi primers are larger in diameter than a standard 209 of most manufactures. If that's a Fiocchi that's in the left case, it will be a problem

I know that standard cases that have loose pockets from multiple loadings will accept a Fiocchi and hold it firmly.

I thought that the size collet might be set to tight, then looked up the 700 and its a die not a collet style, so thats not going to be significant.

Can you force an old primer into the case with out caving in the base?

You mean other than the obvious of not fighting it, and just using hulls with the white base and tossing the yellow ones?

Another point..

It's hard to tell from your pictures, but this angle makes me wonder about internal volume.

How does the inner geometry compare? If a noticeable difference, your pressures are going to be different between the two if the powder charge isn't adjusted accordingly.

I still maintain that your simplest solution is to just toss the ones that don't work, and standardize on the ones that do.

Primers vary in there overall circumference length and design. I have difficulty seating Nobel Sport primers in once fired Rem hulls. After firing with the Nobel Sports, Subsequent loadings fit fine. They might how ever expand the pocket to the point that a Win 209, CCI, etc... will be too loose. So you must continue using the NS.

Also, some base wads leave a plastic gob in the primer pocket which hinders seating. Some find a phillips screw driver spun in the pocket removes the excess plastic. I learned on another sight that a #1 wire size drill bit fits perfectly and removes unwanted plastic.

Here is an excellent place for shotgun reloading information:
http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=262241&hilit=primer+size

Thanks for the responses.. primers are CCI 209 . the primer fits in the yellow base wad shells fine if I push them in manually. It doesn't seem to be a primer size issue. Yes I did plan to just discard the yellow ones. with the problem hulls in the loader and the handle at full cam position, I can move the hull up and down with my fingers about 1/16 th inch. There seems to be more internal capacity in the yellow base wad hulls(which is one reason I'll toss em).White base wad is physically taller. It seems as if the primer tube cant reach far enough down to properly seat the primer. I was just curious why the difference in 2 shells that otherwise appeared to be the same hull.
Since my original post, I've noticed the same issue with remington high base nitro's.
These are from a large batch of shells that I got on the cheap, so I have no issue with discarding some (or all).
The white base hulls load fine.

You need to be careful with field hulls. Remington is well known to adjust the basewad in their field loads to fit the rest of the components instead of having multiple components. Remington is the worst with this, but others will do it too. That's why most will reload only 2 3/4" Target Hulls.

Yep. Stick with the target hulls. They are consistent. Others won't necessarily be so.

You need to use the lift ring on the priming base. It is not a hull problem it is a press setup issue.

Good advice on target hulls. My favorite these days are Remington STS. Life is too short to fuss w/ crumby hulls.

TRUE!

However, if perhaps I had several hundred (or many) yellow-wad hulls, I would still try to use them too.

And while I too started my shotshell reloading (on a press) also on a VersaMEC 700. Before that I loaded shotshells with a Lee Loader hand kit.

I mention that last point because i'd be curious if the new primers could be fully seated by-hand. I would also guess the problem is a set-up issue.

Same here. I prefer the STS hulls to all others-- lots of wads fit this hull and lifespan is good. Plus they look good-- especially the gold ones. I also agree that the problem with using non-target hulls is that you will be frustrated to the point where reloading is no longer fun. Don't want to go there.

It sounds like you have different hulls- different base wad means it has a different volume, and components are NOT interchangeable. The component lists in the manuals should be followed religiously until you know for certain they are intmixed. Unless you enjoy interesting trips to the hospital and buying new shotguns...