Using Winchester AA HS hulls, what wad are you guys using for 3/4 oz loads and getting acceptable crimping? I've tried AA 28, Federal 28, and ClayBuster wads and they all suck with these hulls!! Stick an STS in the press and it doesn't matter!! Use whatever wad your hand picks up and a perfect crimp everytime! I don't have to have a "picturesque" crimp........just one that doesn't allow shot to fall out of the shell!! Your help is appeciated!! From one who usually does rifle stuff and is pretty good at that!! THANKS IN ADVANCE! Charlie (GHD)

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Originally posted by groundhog devastation:
Using Winchester AA HS hulls, what wad are you guys using for 3/4 oz loads and getting acceptable crimping? I've tried AA 28, Federal 28, and ClayBuster wads and they all suck with these hulls!! Stick an STS in the press and it doesn't matter!! Use whatever wad your hand picks up and a perfect crimp everytime! I don't have to have a "picturesque" crimp........just one that doesn't allow shot to fall out of the shell!! Your help is appeciated!! From one who usually does rifle stuff and is pretty good at that!! THANKS IN ADVANCE! Charlie (GHD)

The old Winchester AA 28 ga hulls were loaded properly with the WAA28 wad, but the newer HS hulls require the Winchester AA28HS wad. This should give you perfect results. If not, then you may need an adjustment of your final crimping stage on your reloading press.

(I think that Winchester went seriously astray when they replaced their old AA hulls with the newer ones, and that the Remington STS hulls are now superior to the present-day Winchester ones. But that's a subject for a different discussion.)

The Win 28 ga AAHS hull comes in two lengths. Early production was 2 5/8" long; to get a good fit with 3/4 oz of shot you needed a dense powder like Longshot or 20/28. Unique or Universal Clays takes up too much space to get a good crimp in the shorter hull. Use the Clay Busters 5034HSa (cheaper) or the Rem PT28. I recomend the CB wad with either 20/28 or Longshot, it works great for me. With the shorter hull you will need some press setting changes vs the STS as it's a bit shorter. With the latter production longer AAHS 28 ga hulls some are reporting good success with the CB 5034HSa and Unique. To tell which length you have stand the AA next to an STS and see if it is shorter. One thing you need to do is keep the shorter AAHS's seperate from the longer ones. Why "Big Red" made the hull short at introduction only they know for sure. Perhaps it was to inflict pain on us.

The Red Duster wad is great and cheaper alternative for either the old compression formed AA or the STS. You will find the AAHS hull will easily outlast the STS by 2X once you get it lined out. I have gotten +10 quality reloads out of the AAHS vs 5 for the STS.

You will also find the AAHS CB 5034HSa wad works well in Federal hulls as well.

Scout Master 54

Lloyd and ScoutMaster, THANKS!! I'm going by the distributors place tomorrow to pick up shot and powder and primers and bullets for my store and I'm going to pick up some of these different wads also!! I'll let you know how they work! Thanks again! Charlie (GHD)

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(I think that Winchester went seriously astray when they replaced their old AA hulls with the newer ones, and that the Remington STS hulls are now superior to the present-day Winchester ones. But that's a subject for a different discussion.)

I agree 100%. Hopefully I have a lifetime supply of the old style AA's. I easily get up to 10 reloads on them.

I'm new to shotshell reloading and just got a 28 ga press, Got the win aa 's figured out but what about Rem express shells and some Federal premium shells I have. What wads could I use for them ? I'm using Unique powder in the Winchesters. Mec #16 bushing. thanks

Baddwuff, have you gotten a Lymans 5th Edition Shotshell Manual? If you have not I strongly suggest you pick one up. You will find plenty of cross section pictures of the various hulls and loading data to go with it. I consider it a must have on any reloading bench and it should be required reading for all beginning reloaders.

Rem Express hulls could very due to age; current production is the same as the STS Hull but this is not so for the older versions. Section one and compare it to the Lyman pictures. Federal hulls are listed by both Alliant & Hodgdon on their web sites and plenty of data is given.

I trust you are not loading just by the bushing #. Bushing drop charts are just suggestions; you must always verify powder drops with a good reloading scale. If you do not have one please get one ASAP.

Scout Master 54

Thanks, got the Lyman manual ordered, will weigh the charges on my scale.