[redlabel]

I am presently not a reloader but when I find the time to add another hobby I would like to start.

I do have a question though. At an auction I ended up with several hundred paper hulls. Mostly 12ga, but there are some 20 and 16's with them. Are these capable of being reloaded? They seem to be in pretty good shape and I'm wondering about someday reloading and shooting them in an old 16ga SxS that has exposed hammers.

 

[Bigdog]

You can reload paper hulls. However, if you are shooting pumps/autoloaders it is recomended that you only reload once-fired hulls one time. After two firings the hulls can seperate from the base or the base wad can come out and plug the BBl. With a double BBl or single BBL it is easy to look down the tube after each shot and make sure you are clean. Not as easy with a pump/autoloader.

 

[ammoman]

I reload them the same as i reload the plastic shot gun shells

 

[RiveRat]

I used to reload them years ago. You have to pay attention to the wads. They were originally loaded with a cardboard over powder wad and then fiber filler wads between the shot and over powder wad. You also had to pay attention to wad pressures to get the proper burn on your powder. The thickness of the base wad plus the shot - powder load determined the thickness of the filler wads. There were some charts available for this. You might contact MEC and see if they have them in their archives. Modern plastic wad -shot cup combinations have eliminated the need for all this, plus the great seal of the plastic over powder cup makes fussy wad pressures a thing of the past. If your hulls will accept the new plastic wads, you will have a lot less trouble. Most old paper hulls have a thicker wall and the plastic wad will not fit. The crimp is another matter, you need a good sharp crimp starter. If you can find an experienced reloader in your area, don't be afraid to ask for help. Good luck