I have been reloading 12 ga. 1 1/2 oz loads and have eccopuntered a problem that I hope someone can help me with. I am using Winchester AA and Remington STS hulls and Winchester red wads for heavy loads. I am reloading 1 1/2 oz of nickel plated lead shot. I am using a MEC 9000 reloader. All the shells that I have reloaded have a bulge in the wad area. I have tried to adjust the wad pressure and it has helped some, but I still have a bulge problem. I do not have this problem on any other loads that I make. I understand that these hulls are tapered. Could this be the cause of my problem. Has anyone else experienced this problem. or does anyone have any ideas on how to eliminate this problem?
Reloading 1 1/2 loads
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If your components volume are right there should be no problem. Of all the hulls I've loaded, STS hulls are the easiest to load for me. I wonder if you are using large shot and 1-1/2 oz is too much? Large sized shot occupies more space than the same weight in smaller shot. You might also try breaking the legs of the wad down a little by hand before you load them. (Could be done with the rammer tube on a manual press.) I'm assuming you are accurate when you say "bulge", because a wrinkle, or buckling near the wad area is usually from too much taper or stomper force. BTW, we have a shotgun category for this subject. Look for this thread to be moved there by a moderator.
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Some load combos just don't fit right.. and you may have to find a different hull or wad to make it work.. B2B
Sts hulls are my favorites for loads up to 1 1/4 oz loads, but in my opinion are worthless for 1 1/2 oz loads. AA's and sts hulls are high pressure hulls so i hope you are using a reliable source for the loads. When loading that much shot or more i generally use Federal GM hulls, and would suggest that you use the compression type hulls (sts AA) for target up to standard field loads, and choose a GM or reifenhauser type for heavier loads. By the way those wads are for straight walled hulls, not tapered hulls so this is the cause for the bulge.
I have loaded a slew of those using Blue Dot and nickel #3 and #5 on an ancient Mec 700. I made shot measuring cups to make sure I was getting every pellet, and I measured the powder with a powder measure, and never had a problem with either. But I did mash the heck out of the wad a couple of times before I dropped the shot in. I think you have too much crimp pressure and the shot is sitting too high and the base of the wad is the weak point.
When you get that down try loading 1-7/8 ounces of Nickel #1 in some old two piece Remington 3" hulls. Oh those are fun.
When you get that down try loading 1-7/8 ounces of Nickel #1 in some old two piece Remington 3" hulls. Oh those are fun.
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Winchester AA12R wads...
have been manufactured in two different lengths. This could account for your loading problems and why Winchester discontinued this wad.
have been manufactured in two different lengths. This could account for your loading problems and why Winchester discontinued this wad.
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Are you sure the WAA12R was made in 2 lengths? The WAA12F114 (Yellow, 1 1/4 ounce) wad was changed, then discontinued, but all the WAA12R (Red, originally 1 1/8 ounce) wads I've seen have been the same. In any case, the Red wad isn't my first choice for heavy loads. It was made for Trap loads in Winchester's paper (high basewad) hulls.
DC
I didn't know the aa12r wads were offered in two lengths either. I am down to only one bag which i use in straight walled hulls with high base wads. I have heard that the aa12f114 wads were changed, but have not made a comparison for myself. I still have two bags of the yellow wads, one old bag and one bag i purchased right before they discontinued them. Perhaps i will open those up and make a comparison.
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Well...
...I used a published 1.5 ounce load with AA12R wads and indeed had patterned and used the load afield. Later I purchased more AA12R wads and loaded more shells with the exact same data - hull, primer, powder, etc. The shells with the newer wads were bloopers (this was all with AA compression formed hulls).
Later on checking the old against the new, I found the old AA12R wads were longer. This resulted in less seating pressure on on the ball powder used. Now all this was a number of years ago and may not have any bearing on the discussion of AA12R wads produced during the last years of production.
...I used a published 1.5 ounce load with AA12R wads and indeed had patterned and used the load afield. Later I purchased more AA12R wads and loaded more shells with the exact same data - hull, primer, powder, etc. The shells with the newer wads were bloopers (this was all with AA compression formed hulls).
Later on checking the old against the new, I found the old AA12R wads were longer. This resulted in less seating pressure on on the ball powder used. Now all this was a number of years ago and may not have any bearing on the discussion of AA12R wads produced during the last years of production.
The red wads i have are at least fifteen years old. I used to load paper cases and when i stopped loading those case i shelved these wads till i figured out they fit S&B cases perfectly and i had bought a couple cases of S&B shells when they were dirt cheap. I thought i might buy the cb clone of these wads for these cases when i use up the aa's, but now i am wondering about the fit. Oh well perhaps i will just steer clear of S&B after i wear these out.
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