Post by twomoons on Jan 30, 2009 11:18:42 GMT -5
This kind of goes with the shotgun post so I thought i would throw this in...
Mag Tech currently makes all brass shotgun shells and they are popular with a lot of the Cowboys as thhey drop out of the gun nicely, but if you shoot b/p they work just as good as they did in the old days for a fellow who wants to reload on the kitchen table. I have two reloading sets for brass shells, one was my grandfathers annd has some hand made stuff and the other is a complete set of Bridgport tools from the 1890's in the box brand new. Needless to say i use the old tools.
The tools themselves are simple. You have a combo decapper and wad seater, a shot and powder measure, a wad guide and a primer seater. In the better kits you got a wad cutter too. In 1890 this set sold for $2.50.
Myy Grandfather and his brother bought unough brass cases so that thay had 100 on hand each season and after every days hunting they reloaded the shells on the kitchen table at night. The process is dead simple...
You set the shell on a board with a hole in it and use the primer punch to punch out the old primer. You then wash the shells in soapy water and dry them on the warming oven. Primers are seated with a little tool that looks like a hinge with a hole in it. Then you use the powder measure to scoop in your load, the measure is marked for Drams of powder and ounces of shot and usually you shot equallvoluums of powder and shot. Then you used the wad guide, a tin tube to push in a hard card over the powder and a cushin wad, a scoop of shot and an over shot wad. In the old days they used Water glass (sodium silicate) to glue in the wads. Everyone who had chickens had water glass as it was diluted and used to preserve eggs. Now days the best thing I have found is DAP sealant as it will hoold well on the slick brass. Elmers glue can be used but sometimes it lets the wad slipp and it sure is dissapointing to shoot and have only a wad come out after your shot has trickled past a loos top card.
All in all it took longer to write this than to load a 1/2 box of shells. The only thing you need to watch is that brass shells are thinner than paper and need a larger wad. I use a 10 ga paper shell wad in 12 ga. brass shells. This is why in the lod dyas you got a wad cutter with the set.
Mag Tech currently makes all brass shotgun shells and they are popular with a lot of the Cowboys as thhey drop out of the gun nicely, but if you shoot b/p they work just as good as they did in the old days for a fellow who wants to reload on the kitchen table. I have two reloading sets for brass shells, one was my grandfathers annd has some hand made stuff and the other is a complete set of Bridgport tools from the 1890's in the box brand new. Needless to say i use the old tools.
The tools themselves are simple. You have a combo decapper and wad seater, a shot and powder measure, a wad guide and a primer seater. In the better kits you got a wad cutter too. In 1890 this set sold for $2.50.
Myy Grandfather and his brother bought unough brass cases so that thay had 100 on hand each season and after every days hunting they reloaded the shells on the kitchen table at night. The process is dead simple...
You set the shell on a board with a hole in it and use the primer punch to punch out the old primer. You then wash the shells in soapy water and dry them on the warming oven. Primers are seated with a little tool that looks like a hinge with a hole in it. Then you use the powder measure to scoop in your load, the measure is marked for Drams of powder and ounces of shot and usually you shot equallvoluums of powder and shot. Then you used the wad guide, a tin tube to push in a hard card over the powder and a cushin wad, a scoop of shot and an over shot wad. In the old days they used Water glass (sodium silicate) to glue in the wads. Everyone who had chickens had water glass as it was diluted and used to preserve eggs. Now days the best thing I have found is DAP sealant as it will hoold well on the slick brass. Elmers glue can be used but sometimes it lets the wad slipp and it sure is dissapointing to shoot and have only a wad come out after your shot has trickled past a loos top card.
All in all it took longer to write this than to load a 1/2 box of shells. The only thing you need to watch is that brass shells are thinner than paper and need a larger wad. I use a 10 ga paper shell wad in 12 ga. brass shells. This is why in the lod dyas you got a wad cutter with the set.
At least not for everybody.
I believe the last time I tried to convince anybody that reloading was way to save money was 40 years ago. I was 14 and trying to convince my Dad, who used a box of 32 Specials about every 5 years and maybe shot a whole box of 12 gauge shells, in a good year, that I HAD to start reloading..... ;D It worked.... 
