Has anyone else notice shotgun shell prices have gone NUTS?

[Travis Morgan]

Has anyone else notice shotgun shell prices have gone completely NUTS? Even the cheap stuff is too expensive!

[stew71]

Oh yeah...just like everything that goes bang. Supply and demand...

I can still find some "reasonable" prices on those 100 round packs of Winchester shells at the Wally-worlds around here.

[Gun Smith]

Perfect time to start reloading. Used to be about 2 bucks a box depending on the load, probably a little more now. In my part of the country, shotshell primers are the only thing on my dealer's shelves. NO rifle or pistol yet!

[Mike D.]

Where are the high prices? I picked up a couple of 10 box cases of Federal 3" steel #4s for $65/per at Sportsmans. It won't be long before lead is completely outlawed in CA, and that's when you'll see prices shoot to the moon. Luckily, I'm sittin' on several hundred 20, 16 and 12 GA shells of various shot sizes.

[Lefty Dude]

I just bought 75 more 16 ga. all brass shells. Midway had them on sale for $14.75 per 25.

I now have 150 16's and 50 12's.

Hopeful they will last my lifetime.

I developed a smokless load using Unique powder. They are loaded by hand, no press necessary. I have a 16 ga. shell holder and use my Rockchucker for priming,

[dr walker]

The one thing that I did notice is when rifle and handgun ammo was no where to be found there was still all kinds of shot shells available.

[RKrodle]

I always used to pick up a case or two every year at dove season for about $35.00 dollars a case. Not now. And if you think 12gs is high check out prices for 28ga.

[Hobie]

We've noticed a slow-down in delivery of buckshot and some slug loads. Y'all might laugh but this was particularly true for the 2½" .410 bore. Why? Apparently because of the Judge. We sell the heck a lot of Taurus Judges and only one I know of has been traded in.

MikeD has a good point about steel shot loads. I'd better get me some!

[Travis Morgan]

The one thing that I did notice is when rifle and handgun ammo was no where to be found there was still all kinds of shot shells available.

.30-30 always seemed to be available here, and the prices stayed normal.

[Grizz]

I developed a smokless load using Unique powder. They are loaded by hand, no press necessary. I have a 16 ga. shell holder and use my Rockchucker for priming

that sounds like a good way to go. how's the crimp work in those brass cases?

[Buck Elliott]

I buy the 100-packs of Federal 12-ga. for plinking... They extract much better than the cheap Winchester stuff.

[Rusty]

Lefty Dude,


What are you using for wads and how do you seal them off?

[Gun Smith]

Many years ago the students in my gunsmithing class experimented with loading brass shotshells. We used the old style felt wads and a cardboard wad over the top held in place with waterglass as a sealer. A product used for ages to seal up egg shell cracks. Worked great.

[buckeyeshooter]

I just bought a box of 2 1/2 inch #4's in 410 and a box of 16 ga. #6's in winchester brand. They were the least expensive I could find. They were $13.99 a box for each one. I thought they were quite pricy! I load 12's and 10's, so these will be (hopefully) the last I buy until the come down in price!

[Lefty Dude]

I developed a smokless load using Unique powder. They are loaded by hand, no press necessary. I have a 16 ga. shell holder and use my Rockchucker for priming

that sounds like a good way to go. how's the crimp work in those brass cases?

The Magtech Brass SG shells require a bit of prep as they are not totally ready to load from the box. Once the cases are preped, this is an only one time step. The cases last a long time. Most of my life anyway's.
The flash holes are not all the same size. I use a Lyman flash hole tool to bring them all to spec.. Also the large pistol primer pockets are not uniform, some are very tight. Again I use a Lyman primer pocket uniformer tool. Then I do a slight roll on the mouth of the case, just enought to pressure fit the wads and cards thru the case mouth for the seating over the powder, and the over shot card. This very slight crimp or roll will hold up thru several reloading, unlike a bullet crimp on a cartridge which removes the crimp on the bullet release on firing. And unlike bullet crimping being installed last, I do this before reloading.

I use both fiber wads and plastic wads. I do not use Black powder. I use Smokless.
For additional information I suggest going to the Circlyfly site. They make all the wads & cards necessary for loading Brass shells. Also the proper size for the gauge requirements.

I would not suggest brass SG loading for the novice reloader. You need all the experience you have for this task.

http://www.circlefly.com

[Lefty Dude]

Lefty Dude,


What are you using for wads and how do you seal them off?

Some use waterglass, Duco cement. I use Elmers Glue.

I adjust the loading column with fiber wads & shot to approx. 1/8" from the top of the case. Then the over shot card is placed on top of the stack & shot. The Elmers is then placed with a dome of glue, over filled so as not to spill over the side. Surface tension holds this dome from leaking down the case side. As the Elmers dries,( two or three days) it shrinks down in the case mouth & below the case mouth roll crimp. The Elmers dries hard and look like wax.This also does two things, it holds the package in place from spillage on firing from a SXS, one barrel firing and dislodging the package of the un-fired chamber barrel. Second with the roll & Elmers plug this hold the package like a bullet crimp, allows the gas pressure to build some before release. Same as a plastic crimp does for a regular fold crimp of the Shot gun shell. My loads are so clean burning, the inside of the case have very little residue on firing.
For CAS/SASS I shoot both SXS's and a Winchester 97/16 ga. both use the Brass shells.
Cases are segerated, I do not mix the shells from each. The chambers are different, the 97 being tighter than the double.
In the 97 the shell are shorter than the plastic. They go in quicker and come out faster than plastic. Quicker- in because of the shorter length. Out- quicker because of the additional weight. I have never had a brass shell stove-pipe in the 97.

The standard Military 12 ga. shell in both WWI & WWII & Korea was brass. They used them in both the Winchester Model 12 & the 97. Vietnam also used Brass at first then changed over to plasti towards the end.