Tmcfarland Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 Came across a good deal on a Dillon SL900 with some supplies. I have been looking and man there is a lot more choices in loading shotgun over pistol. Very familiar with the Dillon progressive XL650 and since the SL900 is built on the same frame hopefully the learning curve is short. Anyway, going to be loading for 3gun and practice so any proven recipes would be appreciated for those two activities. Have not settled on a shotgun as of yet but and I know I will need to test fire the loads from it so my choices that I am looking at are; 1. Mossberg JM-930 2. Remington Versa-Max 3. Stoeger M3K Not looking to shoot against the pro's just yet, only local matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangeman711 Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 What about Benelli? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPatton Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Loading for shotgun is hardly cost effective these days IF you find shotgun ammo on sale. That being said you need a book of download some data and then decide upon a recipe. A 1oz load will work on close steel but a 11/8oz is better at getting enough energy on the target at longer ranges. It would be helpful to know what hull and load the previous owner had been producing. What you load will depend upon what hulls you have available. If I were starting from scratch I would go with a hull that is going to be plentiful so I wouldn't have to start over when the existing supply ran out. Sometimes changing hull brands will require an adjustment and some crimp better than others. Gun Club hull crimp best for me. Remington Gun Club, Premier, and Nitro-27 are all the same hull. They are all steel and one piece plastic. No one makes brass bases anymore, now they are just brass plated. As for the brand of shotgun, go out and test drive a few, then decide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Any recipe that gives you 1-1/8 oz of lead shot @ 1200 fps should be GTG. Lots of options there so I'd suggest finding the powder first. Green Dot, WST, WSF and Win Superhandicap are all good powders. 700X, Intl Clays & Titegroup work well too. There are a lot of powders that will get you there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmcfarland Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 UPDATE; The loader is set up and just about ready. I have about 3000 mixed hulls; AA, gun club, handi-cap, light load target, etc... some I can't read but the hull looks to be in good shape. No visible cracks or brittleness that I can see. So, can you load mixed hulls like you can mixed brass? In the load recipes that I have been looking at they call for specific combinations of wads and hulls, can you substitute? There is way more to look at then loading for pistol for sure. Powders are plentiful around here at the gun club. Looks like I can get any of the dots, titewad, titegroup, 700x, american standard, clays, universal, etc... I already have a 4lb of 700x so I think i will try that since I have never cracked the seal. Probably going to go with a 1-1/8oz load just so to sure i can knock them all down. Still looking for a good used shotgun to start with, Would love a Benelli M2 with all the bells and whistles but that will come later. Still searching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPatton Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 (edited) UPDATE; The loader is set up and just about ready. I have about 3000 mixed hulls; AA, gun club, handi-cap, light load target, etc... some I can't read but the hull looks to be in good shape. No visible cracks or brittleness that I can see. So, can you load mixed hulls like you can mixed brass? In the load recipes that I have been looking at they call for specific combinations of wads and hulls, can you substitute? There is way more to look at then loading for pistol for sure. Powders are plentiful around here at the gun club. Looks like I can get any of the dots, titewad, titegroup, 700x, american standard, clays, universal, etc... I already have a 4lb of 700x so I think i will try that since I have never cracked the seal. Probably going to go with a 1-1/8oz load just so to sure i can knock them all down. Still looking for a good used shotgun to start with, Would love a Benelli M2 with all the bells and whistles but that will come later. Still searching. "So, can you load mixed hulls like you can mixed brass?" That question tells me a lot. Mostly that you have embarked on this journey without a map and I suggest you get one in the form of the Lyman Shotshell Reloading Manual 5th edition. Since Lyman doesn't make powder they seem to list a wider variety of loads than manuals produced by powder makers. While you may find a panacea load that will do everything you want, meaning you can pick up any hull at random and load it with the same powder charge, wad, wad pressure, primer, shot load and crimp. I believe it would be easier(and safer) to sort your hulls and go from there. Hull internal dimensions and wall thickness determine what will and will not work and the published data in the book has done that for you. Mixing components that aren't listed in published load data can be dangerous and unlike rifle or pistol there may be no tell-tale signs of over pressure. All primers and wads are NOT the same and can produce significantly different pressures with the same load. Get the book. Edited October 22, 2015 by RPatton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sschultz Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 I would separate your hulls. Different hulls have different amount of star crimps and different base wad height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolton916 Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Think of different hulls as almost different calibers. Shotshell loading is more technical than metallic, you have hull differences, powder difference, wad difference, primer differences, shot volume and weight, stack height to consider as it changes your crimps. You can save a lot of money if you shoot premium factory loads now but compared to promo loads you can't. The advantage comes from tailoring loads to your needs. All the info you need is available from components manufacturers online. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmcfarland Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 (edited) Ended up going with this recipe;Win AA hullFederal 209A PrimerCB-1118-12 Wad1-1/8oz of #7.5 shot15grs of Hi-Skor 700xShould give me about 1100fps according to the load data. Purchased a Remington Versamax with the full Benny Hill custom package from Triangle Shooting sports. I haven't received it yet but will report back how everything went after the first test fire. Edited October 30, 2015 by Tmcfarland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mscott Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 That might be a little bit light of a load to run an auto loading shotgun. I wouldn't load too many ahead of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 That load should run a VersaMax just fine. After break in, most will run even lower powered loads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolton916 Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Question is where did you find 700X? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPatton Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 700X smokes a lot but it does work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmcfarland Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 UPDATE: loaded and shot the first batch at 1100fps. They ran about 95%, had 2 of 40 not cycle correctly. Tried some federal factory at 1200fps and ran 100%. Went back and bumped up the powder to get 1150fps. Shot 20 and ran 100%. Found my load and groups good (12" @ 15yds) with the extended probore skeet choke. Still want to do some more grouping work with the chokes but just ran out of time. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmcfarland Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 Question is where did you find 700X? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk they have loads of it at the gun range here at Corpus Christi pistol and rifle clubThanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmcfarland Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 700X smokes a lot but it does work didn't notice much smoke at all even after reviewing the head camera footage. It shot good and the gun is pretty clean after 100 roundsThanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPatton Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I never noticed the gun getting dirty. I really noticed the smoke when shooting into the early morning or late afternoon sun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDA1 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I just started with my Dillon this week. I am using AA hulls with 1 oz of #8 shot and 17.5grs of 700x with the CB-1111 wad. The crimps look good but I do have the occasional one with a slight hole in the middle. I went out and shot the first 25 I made and they seemed to pattern and break birds well on the clays course. There is a slight learning curve with this press but all in all I'm fairly pleased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZ Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 I just started with my Dillon this week. I am using AA hulls with 1 oz of #8 shot and 17.5grs of 700x with the CB-1111 wad. The crimps look good but I do have the occasional one with a slight hole in the middle. I went out and shot the first 25 I made and they seemed to pattern and break birds well on the clays course. There is a slight learning curve with this press but all in all I'm fairly pleased. Try the Cb1100 (aka waa12sl) pink wad. It should work better and provide a taller component stack up and result in a better crimp. The CB-1118 is intended for 1 1/8oz loads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novock Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 just starting the same thing. Why do so many people seem to say it isn't worth doing? I got a shotmaker and am making 1000lbs of shot before i start loading. Should save me a ton of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddKS Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Because most people are buying shot for north of $40 a bag. That puts your cost per box at around $5.50. By watching Cabelas for sales and combining that with the coupons they send me constantly I am able to buy shells for between $4.00 and $5.50 a box. Pretty easy math for me. I only load special field loads in 12 gauge. The real advantage to reloading shotgun shells is the ability to tailor loads. I load some slow, 3/4 oz 20 gauge loads for my son to reduce recoil for example. I own a set of 4 MEC 9000's but they don't get much use anymore. Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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