(I had my brother write this up and send to me. I thought some of ya'll might get a kick outta it. Warning: Image Heavy)
Loading Brass Shotgun Shells
By Major Art Tillery SASS # 87441
I am a member of SASS (Single Action Shooters Society) and recently have started loading the Magtech Brass Shotshells in 12 gauge 2 ½” chamber. These shells can be found online at Cabela’s, Midway USA, The Sportsman’s Guide, and other such sites. Below is a list of things you need to get started. I shoot these from a Stoeger Coach Gun and have had great success… and have not yet had to resize them. (Some shotguns may be different)
What you need:
Magtech 12 guage Brass Shotshell
Large Pistol Primers ( I use CCI #300)
FFG Black powder or Subsitute ( I use American Pioneer Powder)
11guage X .125” Maxi Nitro Card (Ballistic Products Inc.)
11guage X ½” Fiber Cushion Wads (Ballistic Products Inc.)
10 guage Overshot Cards (Ballistic Products Inc.)
1 oz. Shot Cups ( I cut these from WAA12SL Shotgun Wads)
Duco Cement
Lead Shot ( I use 7 ½ or 8 shot)
¾ inch Wooden Dowel Rod
12 guage Shell holder ( RCBS sells one)
To start off I prime the brass using a RCBS 12 guage Shell holder that you can purchase from Midway (
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/214811/rcbs-cowboy-shellholder-12-gauge-brass-case) I use it and my Rock Chucker press priming arm to install a large pistol primer into the shell.
Now that the primer has been installed it is time to add a powder charge, I use APP (American Pioneer Powder) a black powder substitute. If you look on there website (
http://americanpioneerpowder.com/loading.html it says to use 51grn FFG powder charge by weight, with 1 oz. of shot. Now the 51grns by weight is different then how most Black Powder is measured which is by grns by volume. But that is how they have it listed, so that is how I did it for my brass shotshells. I feel that it makes for a nice low recoil load. Now a set of Lee dippers or such helps a lot with loading the correct powder load, I have an adjustable dipper and 51Grns happens to be about what the lowest setting is. So I just dip up the powder, level it off and pour it in.
Then I place a 11guage X .125 Maxi Nitro Card on top of the powder charge and press it down using the ¾ wooden dowel. You can kind of get a feel for how much compression to give… I just kind of “lean” into it.
Once you have placed the Nitro card in, it is time to add (2) - 11guage X ½ inch fiber cushion wads on top of the Nitro card…. forming a 1 inch column. The cards I use are not pre-lubed, some people prefer the lubed ones.. But I have not noticed a difference in the non-lubed ones. Once again press these two wads down using the wooden dowel rod. Some people use just a regular “red” shotgun wad in this step instead of the two fiber wads. I learned using the fiber wads, so that is what I stick with, but the “red” wad is another option to try if you like.
The next step is to add the shot…. Like I mentioned I use 1 ounce of 7 ½ or 8 lead shot, most clubs I shoot at do not want you using anything larger. There are a couple of different ways that I have tried on this step. The first way is to just dump the shot right on top of the fiber wads, which seems to make the pattern scatter a bit out of the barrel. The second way is to use a shot cup from a normal shotgun wad… which I just cut off using a knife. The shot cups I use come from the “pink” WAA12SL wads. This option seems to keep the pattern a little tighter for knock down targets. You can mess around and see what works best for you.
Now that the shot is in the shell it is time to add the overshot card… for this card I use a 10guage overshot card. It is placed on top of the lead shot and once again pressed down with dowel rod… remember just kind of “lean” into it. Once that is done take the Duco Cement and place a bead of glue around the edge of the overshot card. Some people use hot glue, “liquid glass”, silicone, elmers, among others. I have had really good luck with the Duco Cement, and it can be picked up at most stores.
As you might have noticed none of the wads or cards that I am using are true 12 gauge size. This is because of the thin walled Magtech Brass, the inside diameter is larger then a true 12 gauge, so you use a slightly larger size to get a better and tighter fit. Also the wads I use are BPI Brand (
http://www.ballisticproducts.com/default.asp) , but there is a brand called Circle Fly Wads (
http://www.circlefly.com/index.html) that is very popular too.
The final process I do is to slightly roll the edge of the brass for easier feeding into a double barrel… some people do not do this step and just leave the brass be. (adding a roll crimp will work the brass and eventually cause splits) I do this using an RCBS shotgun reloading die I have that fits into my Rock Chucker Press. The original use of the die was to remove the “nail head” from plastic shotgun shells after crimping. But I have found it to work very well for this purpose. Now you have a brass shotshell to use! Just repeat for however many you wish…. I load four boxes at a time.
If your going to use Brass shotshells in say an 1897 Winchester pump, you probably need to have some type of roll crimp to help chamber the shell when the action is worked. There are a few different options for dies that work for the 12 gauge brass. One is made by RCBS, (
http://www.midwayusa.com/Product/296286/rcbs-cowboy-brass-shotshell-die-12-gauge). It comes with a 12 gauge shell holder, a decap unit for large rifle primers and a roll crimp to finish the case mouth. It does an ok job, not the best, but for the money it works. If loading brass shot shell is something you enjoy doing and plan to continue doing for a long time I would invest in a set of CH4D Dies…. But they are pricey, but worth the money if you are going to do a lot of brass shotshell loading.
http://www.buffaloarms.com/Buffalo_Arms_Company_it-157411.aspx?CAT=4030 I plan on purchasing a set very soon.
I hope this helps any of you shooters out there, that have thought about loading up the Brass Shotshells made by Magtech. They take a little more time to load, but I find it fun to do so and a little more authentic for use in cowboy action shooting. You have to admit… THEY SURE LOOK COOL!
