I have been reloading large mag rifle and large pistol for just over a year now. I want to do some 12 guage light loads. I have one of those little lee 2 3/4 inch loaders, just to try it out. This is how I started reloading my Weatherby, theh went to an RCBS Jr, then a turret press.

I've been doing some reading and I see the wad used depends on which brand/casing you are using, which I wasn't counting on, as I have an assortment of cases that were used for Cowboy shooting. Now I am going to get a bag of AA's. My question is, is this really a concern? or is it a must to use a certain wad for a certain case brand? I'm guessing it is, from what I read, but nothing said this, other than the load data.....which is why I'm getting the AA's.

Just wanted to know what others are doing if they have mixed cases.

Like any other reloading you've done, for 12 ga. you will want to find a safe "recipe" of components for your desired purpose and stick with it. In loading shotgun shells, you have to balance the height (length) of the wad with the powder and shot you're using in each case type. This is important to how good your final crimp will be. For example... Some powders take up a lot less space in the case than others. In that event, you want to use a longer wad to get a good crimp without "dishing" or even leaving a hole in the end of your shell. Also...the internal design of the cases makes a difference...straight wall vs. tapered internal shape. Do a bit of research for your AA cases and pick an established, safe recipe. Once you've gotten started...you can determine which ones of your "mixed" cases will also work.

Shotshell reloading is only akin to metallic cartridge reloading in that they use powder, a primer and a payload. Otherwise, totally different.

You always 'work up' a rifle or pistol recipe, from the starting load, checking for signs of excess pressure along the way to finding an accurate combination. You NEVER do that with shotshells...you pick a recipe out of a reloading manual that has been tested and load it exactly as the book instructs.

Or, you could concoct a half dozen of your own assemblage of components and send them off to HP White Labs or Tom Armbrust for pressure testing before you ever pull the trigger of your own scattergun.

Separate those mixed hulls and load each with its own recipe of components.

Go to Ballistic Products website. They have manuals for each gauge, specialty loads, and books that give thousands of recipes for shotshells. There are a few combinations of wads/hulls/powders that don't work well, but many that can be interchanged safely. If you have a specific question, email them and they'll give you a specific answer. Good luck!

www.ballisticproducts.com

DO NOT take BPI recipes as gospel!!! Many have been found to be grossly over pressure.

The issue is that NONE of their loading data is tested to S.A.A.M.I. standards or even to any standard. The loading data they produce is done with a computer program, which they still acknowledge. Matter of fact one of the mags had a story on BPI where it was again acknowledged.
Also, BPI only lists recipes with their own branded wads.

Precision Reloading's manual is safe and up-to-date. Plus all the free internet data from component manufacturers is reliable. I would trust loads found on Shotgunworld.com more than BPI's data.

I have a problem with a company selling data that isn't tested to the same standards that our firearms are built to. Sorry if I stepped on your toes ACRecurve but...

I really don't think that folks understand that ballistics are not linear. So switching components, extrapolating and guessing is fools territory. I know that most won't believe that but I have seen it with my own two eyes.

quote:

Sorry if I stepped on your toes ACRecurve but...

No worries! I'm glad you gave that information. I have reloaded for so long that I a$$umed they were properly testing their loads before publishing them. Thanks for helping keep us safe!

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My question is, is this really a concern? or is it a must to use a certain wad for a certain case brand? I'm guessing it is, from what I read, but nothing said this, other than the load data.....which is why I'm getting the AA's.

You are correct, Get some Winchester AA Hulls, also there are many other hulls that have the same base height as AA so you can use the same type wad for a paticular load in certain different Hulls. Just check what the Hull base height is.
From years ago AAs, some red low base federals, blue peters, Rem STS, etc had the same hull base height, its all listed in a good manual

For my target shooting, I only load the old style AA's in all four gages. Hopefully I have a lifetime supply, although I am saving the new style AA's, just in case.

The old style AA's are a one piece plastic hull with tapered inside case walls as opposed to the new style AA's which are two piece plastic hulls with straight case walls. They make a different wad for each of these cases.

The base height of the old style AA's is just enough higher for the primers not to fully seat in new style AA's without adjusting the primer seating ram in my Hornady 366 presses.

Pick up a copy of Lymans Shotshell reloading manual, has a wealth of loads tailored for just about every shotshell, primer, powder, and wad combination known to man. Best twenty dollar insurance policy you can get...

Thanks for the info, I never recieved a notification that anyone responded to my question.

I have everything I need, picked up over 700 AA's (old style) and over 400 Gold Medals along with several hundred Rem STS and Club hulls. Even some 3 inch Super X mag hulls, which I loaded for Turkey this fall.

I also have lyman 2nd and 5th editions with 5 other manufacturer loading data manuals.

The AA's and the Remington hulls use the same wads; the Gold Medals are straight walled and are properly fitted with different wads.

Best to load the tapered hulls (AA's and Rems) with a Win or Rem wad (or their clones), and the Feds with a Fed wad, a clone, or one of the Euro wads.

Buy a Lyman # 5 manual, it'll keep you safe. HTH, Dutch.