thefish Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 I'm using a Dillon 900 for reloading shotshells. Does anyone have any experience with a simple, fast and effective way to get the dirt, grease and carbon deposits off shotshell hulls before reloading them? Thanks in advance, RIF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 Will a normal case tumbler not work for shotgun hulls? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 I used to use a Laundry bag, the net kind. Grease? I don't remember grease being a probelm. If you wipe them off after you reload they will be eazyer to handel, you can just roll them in a big towel. My (900) has not had a round through it in three years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 Net bag, like Alamo said. Put in the washing machine, just a LITTLE soap, run a short cycle. Shake the bag out as well as you can, put them in the dryer for about 10 minutes on LOW heat. Check to make sure the hulls aren't getting hot enough to get too soft. Best to do when the boss isn't home, they get pissy about things like this sometimes and the hulls in the dryer are incredibly loud..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 Tumbler works too, but in the washer will be faster as you can do more. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargenv Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 I tumbled some hulls one time and found that it just wasn't worth the hassle. For the most part I shoot my shotshell hulls (read as reload and shoot) until I blow the crimp off. I never bother tumbling or otherwise clean them as it tells you how many times you've shot them and what condition they are in by how bad they look. If you load with something like clays or red dot and load light, you can get about 10 loadings out of them, mayber a few more. If you load heavy, you might get 5 or 6 loads out of them. High pressure and heavy loads tend to wear them out quicker. Though I've been known to load them beyond the point that they should be retired. Overshot cards can extend the life one or two extra loadings. Vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Vince, I'm with you ('cept Dad does all my shotgun reloading). He loads 'em until they split then he says, alright, last round with these. It's amazing how long they last. He's got some Blue Magics (if you know what those are you're OLD), but we are mostly reloading AA's and the green ones from Remington (can't remember their name). We just buy wads by the gross and shot comes about every other month from the local trap/skeet club. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishlad Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 (edited) The only time I have ever cleaned a shotgun hull is when it had dried mud on it from a bag of "pickups". I lasted about 4 hulls and then tossed them. So, barring that condition...thankfully, no need to clean them. I'm "waiting" for plastic handgun casings so I don't have to clean them either. Edited October 30, 2006 by Irishlad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Clean shotgun hulls???? Now that sounds anal! I never have, never will. Rich, those are Peters Blue Magics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefish Posted October 30, 2006 Author Share Posted October 30, 2006 Well, thanks for the tips. I know they don't have to be clean, but I paid so much coinage for my SL900 that I don't want to introduce dirt/debris into the die and then later wonder why I'm having a problem. I never cleaned hulls with my MEC 600Jr, but I was a bit concerned with this new fancy-shmancy Dillon. Anyway, I tried what you guyz said and put them in one of those netted bags when Mommy wasn't around with some old towels just to make them agitate a bit better. Then into the dryer for a bit. They came out essentially pristine inside and outside. But...I was worried that there might be some water hidden away in the recesses (I'm using Win AA's) especially around the little plastic sleeve @the base. So, I popped the primer out and it was perfectly dry and then I cut the shell in half along its long axis to see if any water remained in the base or between the sleeve and the base. It also was perfectly dry. So...what do you guyz think? Am I overly concerned about getting dirt in the die, in the shell plate, in the rather finicky primer feeder? Thanks again for your responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargenv Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 (edited) He's got some Blue Magics (if you know what those are you're OLD), I not only know what they are, but I have about 500 of them in varying states of oldness. I not only have those, but I still have some of the old composition basewad Remingtons that take the old #57 primer! I also have a brick of #57 open flash hole primers manufactured by Remington from years ago. Another thing I have is 100 primed Alcan 3" unfired hulls from probably the 60's or 70's. Ask my wife, she'll tell you how much "junk" I have lol.Some poor unknowing soul left several very old boxes of 16 gauge ammo at the gate at Richmond. I picked up some very old paper and original Mark V Winchester AA's in 16 gauge. Something more to add to my collection. Ask your dad about Federal plastic Champion II's, I still have a few of those also. The Remngtons you refer to are the STS's. Remington finally got it right with those hulls, they are everything the AA was and more. Real AA's are hard to find anymore as they have redesigned the process since the original AA making machine broke some time ago. I wouldn't really worry too much about grime in the dies. We aren't talking about metallic and shotshells are a tad looser in that regard. How does the SL900 size the brass plated steel bases of the shotshells? Is it a collet type like the Sizemaster or Grabber or is it like the 600 jr? I load most of my target stuff on a Grabber, and I don't worry too much about grime on it. If there is stuff on the shells like mud, dirt, rocks inside then I'd be concerned, if it's just soot, then I wouldn't be overly concerned with it. If you scratch a plastic hull, unless you gouge the heck out of it or cut it in some way, you really need not worry too much about them. I've picked up stepped on cases, reloaded them and had no firing issues at all. Now if the brass plated steel portion at thebase is damaged, I don't use it, but if the plastic can be made round again, it's going into the loader for me to use again and again. Vince Edited October 30, 2006 by sargenv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefish Posted October 30, 2006 Author Share Posted October 30, 2006 Okay, Okay. It sounds like I just need to lighten up my act a little. If the hull has mud or dirt globs/grasss on it, I'll give it a quick wipe. If just soot/carbon, etc., into the press it goes with my typical care-free, devil-may-care atitutude which has gotten me so far in life. (In answer to the resizing question, it is different than the MEC 600, it must be of the collett type you mentioned) Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargenv Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 I can remember being very dilligent about shotshells. Heck I read through 3 different manuals, read all the warnings and did all kinds of research before loading one shell. After the fact it was like, "Ok I was paranoid why? This is so easy!". I find it less involved than Metallic since you don't need to check for length, no need for trimming, primers are self contained, and a few other things. Though the first time you spill several pounds of lead shot, you will likely scream.. that stuff goes all over the damn place! You'll be likely finding pellets for a long time, and you don't ever want to drop shot onto carpet.. every time you vacuum you'll hear another one get sucked into it.. rattle rattle.. lol Vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefish Posted November 2, 2006 Author Share Posted November 2, 2006 (edited) Yes, I know you are right, but we are dealing with substances that release a tremendous amount of energy. Isn't it better to start out as you (and certainly I) did, a bit on the paranoid side and then back off as you learn more and obtain the confidence that only experience can give as opposed to being reckless and wind up with shrapnel in your frontal lobe or worse, in your shooting friend's frontal lobe? Thanks again, RIF ps: you sure are right about the shot on the carpet! Edited November 2, 2006 by thefish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Freeman Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Dump them in a big trash can about half full of water and a little soap. Stir them around a bit with something and take them out and let them air dry in the sun. But thats just for really dirty hulls. Otherwise, just load 'em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AH6IP Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 If they really need to be washed, put 'em in a low flat basket then in the dishwasher, no heat dry cycle. Works great, and they don't get knocked around as in Mom's washing machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishlad Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Remember, there is lead residue in shotgun shells. I'm not sure you want that in a dishwasher where your eating "stuff" goes. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AH6IP Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 It all gets rinsed away. Besides, probably more lead and crap in our drinking water out of the tap than what resides on those shells! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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