I gave my son all my old WW AA hulls when he moved off to St. Louis. Re-supplied with Rem. STS, but was having a hard time with them. When I would seat wads, the old 650 jumped so bad that shot was forced up onto the top of the crimps. I would have about 3-4 shot on top of each finished round. Posted this problem over on Shotgunworld, and a couple of the nice fellow there allowed that I must be doing my reloading in an unheated garage, (yep)! They suggested a hull heater made with a cardboard box and a light bulb as the heat source. Seems the STS's have a little thicker hull than the old AA's, and cold they make getting a wad though pretty tough, hence the "popping" which was throwing the shot around so bad. First I cut off an old shell about 2/3 down, then punched out the primer. Stuck a 1/4" bolt through with a nut on the bottom of the hull, and threaded another inside, tightened it down. Wrapped it with sandpaper and put a hose clamp on to hold it in place. Relieved the wall of the bottom of the wad guide a little, then with materials at hand, constructed my hull heater. Loaded 20 boxes Sunday with no shot jump.

The other thing you will notice is that your hulls will last MUCH longer if you load (and shoot) them warm. Has to do with the nature of the plastic at different temperatures. FWIW, Dutch.

I like to learn something every day, thanks for the info!

Very useful posting. I'm about to switch over to
the same hulls and unfortunately also have to load
in an unheated garage. Great idea for a case
warmer.

I wonder if putting a little motor mica in with the hulls would also relieve that problem? Ballistic Products use to push the use of that stuff, but I have not used it for a while. The mess was enough to annoy me, but it did seem to keep those wads slippery. Now that I have a chrono I should see if there really is an increase in velocity and a reduction in standard deviation.

Doug

The motor mica would not hurt I don't guess, but heating the hulls made all the difference in the world, that and doing a little relieving of the wad guide. The STS are a little thicker, and the crimped portion when cold, impedes the wad getting into the hull. Have had no problem since I started warming them up a bit.

quote:

Very useful posting. I'm about to switch over to
the same hulls and unfortunately also have to load
in an unheated garage. Great idea for a case
warmer.

Can not take credit for the thought, just the implementation. Got this from a guy at shotgunworld, but figured I was not the only person having to switch hulls, nor the only one to be broke enough to have to load in an unheated environment. I am, however curing that situation. Father in law gave me a 17'X12' storage shed. Have stripped the old sheathing, covered with 1/2 plywood, have metal siding showing up next week, picked up a room heater/air conditioner, and as soon as it is weather tight, will insulate and flip the switch. My own little climate controlled out building. Saved two solid core doors that did not suit the last owner, will rip them and build a bench all across one side for shotgun reloaders and my Dillon 550, and will move the U.S. Postal surplus mail bench that I have added 1/2" steel to the top for my Big Boss rifle press, as well as the first little RCBS I started with, (I leave it set up for my .223 varmint round). No more carrying presses back and fort from the house, and it will clear up some space for Management.