So I finally got around to getting the components together, following a recipe, and made 50 shells of #1 buck with my Lee Load All 2. Specifically the recipe came from The Complete Reloading Manual for the 12 Gauge Shotshell, from the Lyman data section:
Federal Plastic Hunting Cases, Paper Basewad, Fold Crimp
Federal 209A primer
SR 4756 powder, 28.5 grains
One Win. WAA12R
16 pellets of #1 buck
I may not have gotten the right shells for this. I don't really know how to tell the difference in basewads, but I'm pretty sure that crimp isn't how it's supposed to be. (I should have probably stopped after the first one and asked...hmmm....)
I ordered pre-primed federal hulls and I got an off-brand that is supposed to replace the Win. WAA12R, but it's the hull (especially the crimp) I'm worried about.
So my first question is, did I do something wrong? Or is this how these are supposed to look? Nothing moves inside the shell, but I'm still worried that maybe these shells were designed for a roll crimp or something.
I have a couple other questions as well...
2) Is it safe to leave the powder in the load all, or should I clean it out every time? I have it actually bolted to my pseudo-workbench instead of a board and clamp system like everyone else uses.
3) When the powder got low, I noticed it wasn't feeding very well, but there are probably a few shells that got very little powder. Is there any danger to having an extremely low-power load in a shotgun?
I'm starting to think maybe I should just stick to using factory ammunition. I'm not much of a do-it-yourselfer.
Federal Plastic Hunting Cases, Paper Basewad, Fold Crimp
Federal 209A primer
SR 4756 powder, 28.5 grains
One Win. WAA12R
16 pellets of #1 buck
I may not have gotten the right shells for this. I don't really know how to tell the difference in basewads, but I'm pretty sure that crimp isn't how it's supposed to be. (I should have probably stopped after the first one and asked...hmmm....)
I ordered pre-primed federal hulls and I got an off-brand that is supposed to replace the Win. WAA12R, but it's the hull (especially the crimp) I'm worried about.
So my first question is, did I do something wrong? Or is this how these are supposed to look? Nothing moves inside the shell, but I'm still worried that maybe these shells were designed for a roll crimp or something.
I have a couple other questions as well...
2) Is it safe to leave the powder in the load all, or should I clean it out every time? I have it actually bolted to my pseudo-workbench instead of a board and clamp system like everyone else uses.
3) When the powder got low, I noticed it wasn't feeding very well, but there are probably a few shells that got very little powder. Is there any danger to having an extremely low-power load in a shotgun?
I'm starting to think maybe I should just stick to using factory ammunition. I'm not much of a do-it-yourselfer.