some answers on reloading ...please

[stubby 175]

have been toying with the idea of reloading, mainly for the 20 gauge, now I gather that unless Im making 1000's then it may not be cost effective, but what the heck

 

anyway, couple of questions as I know nothing

 

what would be the difference in loading a cart for game or sport, as reading price lists, they can both have same amount of powder/shot, yet clay carts are normally cheaper

 

how much powder/shot would be needed to make up a 1000 carts, so I can approximate an £'s amount

 

do they do a book "reloading for dummies"

 

where do you store your powder, thinking the missus may not want it under the bed with my carts

but in the shed, Id be worried about dampness

 

looking at the lee loadall's, should I go for new, or secondhand

[Sidelock 10]

Hello, I used a LeeLoadall for many years in my clay busting days,, It loaded many thousands of rounds for both clay and game all to factory spec. Its been a long time but i think i used to get around 300 loads from a tin of Nobel but its easy to work out you know the weight of powder in the tin just divid by the weight of the load you use ,, in my case it was 24,5g of Nobel for a 1 1/8 load ,,, you can do the same with shot. the only difference i made between clay loads and game loads was i used Nobel 82 for game slower powder and easier on the shoulder.

 

The difference with clay loads ( bought) first most use a plastic wad so making each cartridge a little cheaper,ie, no over powder card no over shot card and the plastic wad is easier to use,,, shot size is different to for clay the biggest you ever go is 7. most popular sizes are 7 1/2 trap and sporting and 9 shot for skeet. The clay loads are lighter to 1oz so less shot and less powder.

 

As i say it has been many years since i loaded for 12bore so i cant realy quote prices and savings ( if any) but its nice to load your own and see them perform just as well as the factory stuff.

One tip , you say your going to load for 20bore,, well if you can get them use 8 point crimped cases they work much better and last a lot longer than 6 point, i used Remington RXP and Peters Blue Magic and some of those cases were loaded 40/50 times.

 

Something i forgot,,,, be sure what type of case your using there are 2 common one ,,, the base wad type ie, Eley Grand Prix and the compression formed ( no base wad) they need different powder loads for the same shot load.

If you buy a NEW Lee press it will come with all the info you need except loads using Noble powders but all the yanky powders are covered, there will also be an extra bit with it its a spacer so you can load felt wads ( with a 20b press you can load 16bore too )

Edited April 28, 2010 by Sidelock