Shot Shell reloading with vintage reloading gear

Here is a Youtube clip showing how it was done in the "olden" days.




Edit: And for those who don't have access to "oldey" type hand loading gear, here is a Youtube clip for those wanting to do some bush reloading using improvised tools

 

I take your point, and agree that it is not a high volume proposition, particularly for the keen trap and skeet shotgunner...

However, I look upon hand-loading shot-shells as the gateway drug to a rifle and pistol reloading addiction for newbies. It is also a worthwhile skill to have if bugging out on the road, and you don't have a 200 Kg multi turret speed reloading press and workbench in your knapsack!

 

The Lee Load-All is an excellent choice for the occasional/survivalist shotgunner IMO. Bought my first one for around 25 bux. I've seen them on auction sites numerous times. I picked up one for 20 ga with the conversion for .410 for under 100 bux last winter. Great bang for the buck!

 

For my shot gun needs, I have a dbl 12 gauge black powder shotgun. No shells to worry about and I can use a multitude of materials for wadding.

 

Cool! I think BP is very under estimated and often forgotten nowadays. There are "modern" BP rifles for sure, but I mean what I call true black powder weapons. I have a "3 band" in .68 cal and a hawkins in .58 along with a .45-120 sharps. Yes there is a bit more cleaning involved but it isn't all that much. Don't have any BP scatterguns. Honestly, I've never even shot one..

 

The only difference with black powder is a lot more smoke, and I still use modern shot cups along with either wool or cardboard wadding.

The thing about modern shot shells is that they still are loaded to pressures that are not much greater then black powder. So the velocities are still comparable to each other.

Don't get me wrong, I do own a Mossberg 410 pump and a variety of different gauge single shot shot guns, but I found that reloading for modern shot shells is just a major pain in the ass. You have a much smaller safety window over center fire metallic cartridge reloading. Just by changing a shot cup requires a published source for safety sake because just by reducing your powder charge by 10% still may be to much for the weapon to handle.

 

Vintage? I still have that in the gun room.