Hulls worth reloading?

[Gearhead Jim]

I have heard that the AA hulls have had problems in recent years with splitting. Some folks say that the problem has been rectified, others say it still exists.

The 100 rd Value Packs are available locally in Winchester and Federal. These hulls are not really designed to be reloaded but I seem to recall that some folks have done it successfully. Is one brand better than the other for this?

Your comments, please!
Thanks.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Not worth it to me. Good hulls last longer, maintain consistent pressures, etc.

I recently bought 1K mixed AA and STS hulls from Duckman for a pittance. Others can be picked up off the range.

 

[enfield]

I reload Federal and Remington hulls, if I have them, once only. I load them for my son, and I tell him not to pick up the hulls again after firing. I load only AA for myself and I pick them up for re-use.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

So the current production AA hulls are good for reloading?

 

[Dave McCracken]

Yes, Jim. New AAs are worth reloading, though the STS hull is longer lasting. I go 7 reloads with the Remington, 5 with either new or old AAs. I could go more but why push it?

 

[Gearhead Jim]

Thanks!

 

[Abe]

Dave:

I found this thread on a search and in the interest of conserving resources I thought I'd ask a related question here as opposed to starting another thread...

In terms of hull re-use is it worth paying a roughly 50% premium per case for Remington STS Target loads as opposed to Remington Gun Club Target loads? Do the STS hulls last that much longer? Also, is there any really significant difference in performance between the two for the casual clay shooter?

Thanks,

Abe

 

[Dave McCracken]

Yes, the STS hull has a brass head, the steel head of the Gun Clubs is harder to resize and may indeed not do so. I've reloaded GCs a couple times, they use the same recipes as the better STS hull. After three reloads, the GC hulls are harder to cycle through my old 600 JR.

Some folks I shoot with reload the STS 10 times and more. Like I said before, why chance a prob?

The only really significant difference is case life,IMO. while the GC loads probably have softer shot, I doubt the difference is crucial inside 35 yards for most shot opps.

If you reload, use the STS hulls. If buying them is hard on the budget, watch for pickups on the range.

I know some folks who shoot the good stuff, sell the once fired hulls for 4 cents each, and defray the cost that way.

 

[Abe]

I was figuring on buying two cases of 12 and two cases of 20 to get my son and I thru the season and seed the reloading process with hulls. At the price for the group buy thru my club the difference per shell (STS vs. GC) comes out to a bit less than 6 cents. That's pretty close to your 4 cents a hull price for STS. I intend to reload both gauges. (I've got a MEC Sizemaster for 12 and a 600JR for 20, both off ebay.) While the less expensive GC looks better up front, based upon your input regarding the number of reloads, in the long run reloading the STS hulls works out much better. With the premise of starting from newly purchased shells, at a conservative 500 rounds per season, in the best case reloading the STS hulls seven times gets me 3.5 seasons as opposed to 1.5 for the GC hulls reloaded three times.

Thanks alot,

Abe

 

[ThreadKiller]

I don't know that I'd mess with AA's. Winchester's gone back to a two piece hull with a separate basewad. Cheaper to make and offers absolutely no technical/practical advantage.

The best hull on the market is the Remington STS. Bar none.

Tim