Shotgun Shell legnth and shucking

[Flinch Morningwood]

I have been having trouble getting my 16 guage SxS shotgun to shuck shells with out me tearing off a fingernail ripping them out.  I shoot FC Duellist and want to save some time in this area...not that I am that competitive - it just galls me that other folks can shuck and I can't...LOL

I have been shooting them with 1 oz Pyrodex RS, 1/8 nitro card, 1/2" fider wad, 1 1/8 oz #7 shot and an over shot card.

I have been using a roll crimp on 2 3/4 inch plastic hull.  Lou Graham lent me two of her shells and they came out pretty easy and they were crimped...so I bought a Lee Load-All (very cool toy by the way) and crimped some of mine...no luck.  I also tried some paper shells which came out a bit easier but didn't just fall out like I am looking for.

After looking at hers again, I noticed the hulls were 1/4" shorter than mine and am wondering if that could make the difference?   Or is it just a factor of shooting pseudo-black powder in them?

I have had the chamber professionally polished and, since Lou's shucked, I assume the challenge is in finding a shell this beast likes...

Any one think I am correct in thinking it is the legnth? 

I kind of like the paper hulls so if it is the length, I might get one of those Hull trimmers from Midway and cut 'em myself...

BTW - I only use Pyrodex in the shotgun shells 'cause the "Load-All" makes it so darn easy...use true black in everything thing else.

[Noz]

I have discovered that the age of the shotgun is a factor. The newer shotguns with the longer forcing cone do not like the old fiber wad shells. My experience is with the newer shot guns and the fiberwads that blow back is excessive and tends to paint every shell with a layer of crud which makes for a difficult shuck.
If you are shooting an older gun with the short forcing cones,....... I don't have a solution?
Try loading a few with plastic wads and see?

[Pettifogger]

Unless I missed it, you left out the single most important fact.  What kind of hull are you using?  The best are Remington STS.  Next is Winchester AA.  Everything else pretty much sucks out of a BP double barrel.

[Roosterman]

The only shotguns I have ever shot have been old damascus barreled guns. I've owned and shot dozens of them shooting sporting clays and skeet and have never had even the slightest bit of trouble with shells sticking. I've shot both paper and plastic shells, some with roll crimps and others with a standard crimp. I've shot both black powder and smokeless. I've shot several; hundred BP loads in a single day and no shell problems. I've never had a chamber polished either, and some of them where probably less than perfect. I wonder if you've polished out your chambers over sized so you get alot of blow back.....beats me. Must be something they're doing different on the new made guns in chamber sizing.

[hellgate]

Try using the cut off bottom of a one piece wad under your fiber wad so the over powder wad is a cupped plastic gas seal. That will prevent blowby and leakage that could be scorching the hulls. Dittos on the STS hulls and AAs. I also have good luck with any of the compression formed Remington hulls of any color (blue, black, or green).

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

My old TULA Baikal TOZ66 wouldnt shuck shells until I went Green.  I'll qualify that.  Anything from R-P shucks like from the proverbial Canada Goose, from old blue Peters to RTS.  My favorite is the gold NITRO 27, 'cause they look cool in my shell loops, asif they was brass.

[litl rooster]

are your hulls expanding after you shoot them? measure some you have shot and some you have sized and reloaded.  All of them do expand, but these in question may not  be returning to size when they cool down some.


You might also try using some cheap furinture polish on them,

[Dick Dastardly]

What kind of SxS are ya shootn'?  My 311s all work pretty well but I never got the hang of shakin' empties out so I flick 'em out with my fingers.  I've polished up the chambers with a brake cylinder hone and that helped some.  A final finish with jewelers rouge on a mop stuck in a drill will give the final touch.

I have 20ga, 16ga and  12ga 311s.  My 10ga is a spaniard.  They all let go of the empties better after polishing the chambers.

FWIW, I don't use plastic in any of my BP loads.  I hate the plastic crud in my barrels.

DD-DLoS

[Flinch Morningwood]

It's an ENDERS SPECIAL SERVICE  - 16 GA...basically a Crescent Davis from the 30's if my vauge on-line research is correct.

I have shot brass (hammer double) in them but they don't shuck either...I get the plastics from GRAF and I think they are Italian...I am not happy with the plastic in the bore either so I may be switching to paper from Graf...

I wonder if there is a way to shorten the brass shells???  That might be interesting....

[Paladin UK]

Like its already been mentioned polishing the chambers is the sensible first step. FWIW.. Iffn you dont fancy using brake hone,etc, try Solvol Autosol...



I found it works Brill!!

Paladin (Whos chambers Gleam ) UK

[Dick Dastardly]

The Ballistic Products hull trimmer works just fine, but I find it a bit slow.  If I want to shorten hulls I use my band saw.  Simply set the guide to the length you want and saw off the rest.

DD-DLoS

[Greeenriver]

First off, Rem STS and Win AA hulls are NOT available in 16ga anywhere I've ever shoped. And I've tried ordering them from both Rem and Win with NO luck.

I've found in my old 1900's era SxS that after having the chambers lengthened for modern 2&3/4 in hulls, that the fiber wads allowed way too much blow-by and gumed up the chambers a lot. I went to the Black Rem hulls and use Rem plastic wads and now the hulls will normaly fall  right out OK for a couple stages before they start to stick. I cary a Bore Mop on a pistol cleaning rod sprayed with WD40 and swab the chambers between stages, and it works decent now.  The melted plastic residue in the barrels cleans out every bit as easy as the rest of the BP residue and other than looking like snot, really causes NO problems from using the plastic wads.

Short of  using paper hulls, I know of no place that makes a non ribed hull for the 16ga that's available localy here in MI.  I sure wish Rem or Win would do a few  runs of the STS or AA hulls, or even loaded shells for us that like the BEST  GENTLEMAN'S (And Ladies) GAUGE ever made in a shotgun!!!

Carying a rag in your gun cart sprayes with WD40 or spray silicone and wiping down your hulles before each stage will also help the empties to falll out.

Greeenriver