Okay, brass shotshell reloading question

[DeaconKC]

Okay, gonna try the brass shotshells in a 16 Gauge. How much will the brass swell? Will a Lee Loadall be enough to resize brass shells and how do you seat the primers in this? Thanks!

[Abilene]

No, you can't size them with the Loadall.  But if you are shooting black powder in them you shouldn't need to.  For my 12ga shells, I have a custom made steel bar about a half inch thick with  a hole that I can drive the lubed shell in/out of.  But I rarely need to.  Mostly mine need it occasionally because they are really old (Rem-UMC mostly) and need annealing as the mouths on some go out of round after firing.  Anyway, if you shoot them in the same shotgun, using BP or sub, you should be good to go.  Shooting in multiple guns would be a "maybe".  Do you have a Loadall already?  I use mine to seat the primers.  I push the hull over a primer on the bench to get it started then move it to the Lee to seat it.  Before that I put a socket driver inside the hull while on the bench and tapped it down over the primer with a hammer.  Never had one go off that way.

[DeaconKC]

Thanks, these take the Large Pistol Primers [Magtech brass]. I will try the deepwell socket idea on a board to seat the primers.

[Coffinmaker]

Hey Deacon 

PLUS ONE for Abilene.  I have been shooting All Brass Magtech hulls in 12Ga for a long time.  NEVER had to resize one.  BP and Subs just don't expand the brass hulls.  Only time I've had to resize, was cause some Ham Hock stepped on one.

Seating primers can be finicky.  When I was seating on a flat surface (Drill Press Table) I had lots of fail to fire.  I invested in a inexpensive Lee Classic single stage press with an RCBS die and shell holder to de-Prime and re-Prime.  NO fail to fire.  I don't know about the Load All but Abilene's method is well worth a try.

Play Safe Out There

[Abilene]

Yes, I do recall Coffinmaker mentioning before that primers needed to be seated below flush for his Magtechs.  Did those fire on a second strike?  However you do it, fire some empty primed hulls to test before loading them.

[DeaconKC]

Appreciate the input folks. Are these the cards I need for the top of the shell, over the shot?
https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/75271
If not, can you shoot me the right card I need. And also what exactly king of RCBS seater are you using? I have an ancient Spartan press that is idle right now.

[Abilene]

The Nitro card goes over the powder and under whatever wad you are using.  Over-shot card is what you need to go over the shot.  I didn't see any of those shown on Graf's site.  They are very thin, like business card sorta.

[Cap'n Redneck]

If you are shooting clays or hunting it is recommended to use as thin & light an over-shot card as possible, so that it won't disrupt the shot pattern.  These need to be crimped or glued inplace, especially if fired in doubleguns or magazineguns.

However, if you are shooting CAS you can use the GRAF 14ga. nitro card on top of the shot also.  I think this will be large enough to stay put without any crimp or glue.  You might have to enter it into the case-mouth standing on end, and then spin it around inside the case and seat it.

For comparison: I load MagTech 12ga. brass shells for CAS, and use 11ga cards and wads down in the shell, but on top of the shot I use a 10ga. nitro card from Track-of-the-Wolf, and it stays put just from friction fit.

[Blackpowder Burn]

I'm not sure about 16 gauge, but RCBS makes a shell holder to fit the 12 gauge brass hulls.  I use that in my Rockchucker press to prime the brass.  I use an over powder card (thin nitro card) and 1/2" fiber wad over the powder.  Then the shot charge and an overshot card and seal it with a hot glue gun.  You can get all the necessary items at Ballistic Products (www.ballisticproducts.com).

I also never resize the hulls since I use black powder.

[DeaconKC]

I'm not sure about 16 gauge, but RCBS makes a shell holder to fit the 12 gauge brass hulls.  I use that in my Rockchucker press to prime the brass.  I use an over powder card (thin nitro card) and 1/2" fiber wad over the powder.  Then the shot charge and an overshot card and seal it with a hot glue gun.  You can get all the necessary items at Ballistic Products (www.ballisticproducts.com).

I also never resize the hulls since I use black powder.

Thanks! Great site!

[Tequila Shooter]

Deacon - here's the link to TOW's page with wad/card size. https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/171/1

Other places to find wads/cards are Ballistic Products, RMC-OX YOKE, Circle Fly (they don't sell to the public, but has a list of vendors).

As others have said 1. Powder
                             2. Nitro Card
                             3. Wad
                             4. Shot
                             5. Overshot Card
Seal it all up with hot glue, water glass, or my favorite Duco-Cement.

[wildman1]

All of that work is then undone with a primer. Just like last weekend in Wartrace.

wM1