1. How often do you reuse hulls?

2. Is there a standard way to clean them before reloading? Since I'm mostly looking to reload waterfowling rounds and normal conditions are either wet or muddy (or both)...what should I do with these sometimes dirty hulls to get them ready for reloading?

Stick em in your dishwasher. I load them till the crimp folds start tearing off

Dishwasher, lol...that's a great idea. Didnt know if the water would cause the brass to rust up. But I guess if the dishwasher is also set to dry it should not be a problem.

So how many loads before the crimp folds start to tear??

Marc,

I would keep them in the top rack away from the heating element, if you decide to use the dishwasher. The plastic melts real easy.

I just soake mine in a large coffee can with Dawn and a little bleach. That seems to get them pretty clean without much effort. After I dumpt the water out of the can and rinse them off, I set them all, base down, in the coffee can and set it on top of my caste iron radiators overnight to dry. Make sure you deprime them before washing them.

When the crimps start splitting from being shot, I cut the crimp off and save them for reloading with an over the shot wad.

I have so damned many hulls, I haven't needed to start reloading the cut ones yet. But rest assured, I will start tinkering with them as soon as the weather gets warmer.

I load mine until there is a tear in the crimp, or when the crimp will not hold. I can't see any difference in the shot performance between new or once fired shells and ones that have been loaded 10 or more times, as long as the crimp holds.

As for washing plastic shotgun shells, when I first started reloading, I used to wash them in the cloths washing machine, tied in a pillow case or loose. In a washing machine you don't have to worry about the hot drying cylce of a dishwasher melting the plastic. Brass won't rust, but the steel in the primer will. Make sure the inside of the shells including primer pockets are completely dry or you will get misfires.

When I started competing in trap and skeet, I was loading 10,000 or more shells per year, and decided it wasn't worth the time and effort to wash shotgun shells.

I reload them until there is some damage to either the crimp or the side of the hull itself.

I've got quite a few that are on their 10+ reloads right now. I like the Remington STS the best.

As for cleaning them. I don't. If they're really dirty, I toss them. If there is just some dirt on the outside, I wipe them off with a damp towel and let them sit for a day or two.

I don't clean hulls either. There was a time when I threw empties in my game bag with birds and they would have blood and feathers stuck to them. When I got home I would wipe them off with an old towel dampened with water. It would get all of that plus some of the residue from the burnt powder off. Somewhere along the line I started putting them in a separate pouch so they don't come in contact with the birds. They last just as long and kill just as well when dirty.

I have a friend who I shoot skeet with and he washes his hulls in the washing machine. He also washes them after each use. He lets the quantity build up until it is a full load and air drys them on his deck. His wife is very tolerant.

I have reloaded for shotgun for about 15 years and crank out about 200 boxes of shells per year. I wouldn't worry about cleaning shells for target shooting. I have tried various methods for cleaning them and I notice no difference in their length of service.

Waterfowl shells do get a lot dirtier than target shells. I would poke around inside each shell with something like a chopstick and then blow them out with compressed air. The outsides of the hulls can be wiped off with a damp rag and that should be it.

Lots of newer shells do not use brass, its only brass-washed steel...they can rust. And I would be hesitant to put any shells that use a paper basewad in the dish washer or clothes washer, for fear the paper basewad would swell up and never return to original.

I wash all my target shells. I use a front loading wash machine, and put the hulls in those zip up laundry bags. After they are done I put them in a big plasitic tub that I cut the bottom out of and replaced that with vinyl coated hardware wire. I do all my washing in the summer time. At 100+ degrees, and 20% hunidity, they are dry in an hour or two. My wife helps.

As far as waterfowl loads I clean the mud of the cases with damp cloth and clean the brass with 0000 stell wool.

Why would you wash hulls when there so damn cheap I use them 3-4 times and toss them, and for the guys washing hulls you best make sure there one peice, if they have a paper base wad your asking for trouble.