There are people that will reload nearly any hull and get good results.
Personally, I use Gun Clubs for 12ga and Win AAHS for 28ga. Not because the others won't work or aren't as good, but because I have a lot of them and I like to keep things simple.

 

Remington hulls are the easiest for someone new to shot shell loading to use. I agree that the euro hulls load great. About all I use anymore for 12gauge. Mostly Fiocchi. Some people are just snobs that will never change. Euro hulls require precise adjustments for proper crimp. Remington you can get a decent crimp with out perfect adjustment.IMO

 

So I just started reloading shot shells this last December.

I've bough 3 Mec Jr reloaders brand new. 12ga shotshell, 12ga slugger, and 20ga shotshell.

I've loaded various hulls. Winchester, Remington, Federal, Nobel sport, cheddite, fiocchi, Estate, & some other brands.

Used Fed 209A & Ched 209 primers

Used various clay busted wads.

Used Red dot, green dot, universal (clays), long shot, HS 6 for powders.

What I've come to learn/believe is a lot of people hate on certain Hulls. From my experience so far, I've found all the hulls to reload just fine & to work great. It took a little learning on getting the right wad in/for different hulls to get the correct stack height, but once I figured the different wads out, It's been great.

Yes, I totally get that some of the Remington & Winchester hulls have the best hulls for reloading & getting the most reloads out of the hulls. Which I've reloaded & do like those the best. However, If one goes to the gun range usually you can get 200-300 once shot hulls pretty easy. So I'm surprised more people don't talk about reloading Federals, estates, Fiocchi, & ect. Even though they only reload 4-5 times.

Anyways thoughts?

Because in my case I have a lifetime supply of 12, 20 and 28 ga AAHS and STS hulls. I won’t bother picking up any other hull. Sixteen gauge is another matter, but I have 600 or so Herters hull.

 

I will reload just about any hull that I can get for free. I prefer AA and Remington because they always load well and require less powder. I like to use one hull for one load and another for a different load. Right now for 12 gauge I am loading my old AA CF with 3/4 oz and the euro hulls I pickup at the range for 1 oz. For 1-1/8 I am reloading Federal paper basewad from the 90’s

 

I just like to keep it simple. Rem and Winchester hulls and I only need 2 different wads. 3 wads when I want to load 1 1/8oz

 

If I had enough AA and Remington hulls I too would load them for everything!

 

yep....
50-K of the same wad and primer would sure be nice.

blue hulls powder and primer and wad.
red hulls and another powder and wad.
green hulls and a third pile of wads and primers.

the loads all do the same thing, but now i got a shed full of hulls and a room full of wads.
rather have half a room full of powder and primers and a half a room full of wads.

 

For 12, 16, 20, 28, and 410 ga I use mostly Remington STS/Gun Club or Winchester AA for target loads. I use mostly Reifenhauser hulls for field loads as I sometimes use a semiauto or pump for hunting and I don't care if I can't find the empties.

It also lessens wondering what may be loaded in a hull. 12 or 20 ga ga STS/GC/AA is 7.5 or 8; Federal paper hull or Federal paper base hull 5; non-red Federal paper base hull 4 (20 ga 5); 12 ga Federal Gold Medal 2 steel; Euro hulls an ounce of 6 shot for shooting crows.

16 ga AA or Rem Game hulls 7.5 or 8; Rem *57 primer hulls 6, everything else 5 shot.

28 ga AA 8; Fiocchi 6; Federal and everything else 7.5.

410 2.5" AA 8.5; Federal and everything else 7.5; all 3" 7.5.

Some of the Euro hulls use a different shaped primer than American hulls which may cause a primer to fall out. I have enough Euro primers on hand to last me a while.

 

Many who reload have no interest in reloading as a hobby, they do it strictly to produce ammo for breaking clays. Those people are not using single stage loaders and have no interest in experimenting with multiple hulls, wad or powder combinations, they accumulate hundreds or thousands of hulls they know from experience will reload many times without failure.
They then load those hulls with the same proven components over and over to save money on ammo for breaking clay targets.

 

toptechx6 makes a good point. I do enjoy reloading, but it is a means to an end. I enjoy emptying them out more than filling those hulls. So I'm somewhere win the middle. I'm filling AAhs 12ga now, have GC and STS in the wings as well as some more AAhs.

The other day I was loading and a couple Win super target cheapie red hulls were in with my AA hulls so I threw them in the loader and, voila', they came out just fine and went bang just fine too. I'm sure they won't last as long but in a pinch those could be great. And they are plentiful in my area because Walmart is getting them in regularly.

 

I reload Remington hulls mostly, because I have over 100k of them, and on any given day, I could pick up hundreds more once fired hulls. I reload 16 Ga, so I use Fiocchi, and Cheddite hulls mostly, I have many, many, hundreds of Remington gun clubs, but they are about the lousiest hulls out there, they vary in length, and, don't last long. I pick up AAHS 12, 20, 28, and 410 hulls, and give them away, because I have so many Remingtons.

cdb

 

I am with your thoughts on reloading the various hulls. Im pretty much a one and done hull reloader. Ill be using my reloads for hunting everything from quail, dove, pheasants, ducks, geese, cranes and turkey to defense buckshots loads.
Im reloading mostly cheddite hulls that come in a variety for colors. This makes for easy ID for my various loads.
IE: Blue hull Rios are for "blue Steel" loads, Maroon Aguila are for heavy pheasant loads, Clear white Fiocci are for Buckshot loads so you can see the load and so on.

Makes perfect sense to me......

 

Some folks really don't want to fiddle with loader settings - so they stick with one hull design, and even one load recipe.
Some folks decided to not mess with stocking both US (smaller) and Euro size primers. So they stick with one hull design that accommodates that primer choice.
Some folks like to get as many USA made components as locally as possible - and that has made them lean toward the US made hulls, wads, primers.

Then shortages of both reloading components and factory ammo hit again, and upset everyone's apple carts and reloading strategies.

Very few folks on here declare that they HATE to use certain hulls. Most say they prefer certain OTHER hulls to load.

In any case, trying to call out folks as "haters" who have solid reasons for doing what they do - rarely changes their minds. Take care of your own loading needs, and others hopefully can do the same.

good luck, garrisonjoe

 

I can see what garrisonjoe is saying. Being I have been reloading for a very long time. Have multiple presses. Just to load 12 gauge. One size master is set for remington unibody hulls. The adjustments have not been touched in years.That one loads 3/4 and 7/8 ounce . The other Size master is set for Euro or straight walled hulls. Recently acquired a 9000g. That one now loads euro hulls. mostly fiocchi for my simi auto. Someone new will not have all this and should stick to one hull. Between the 3 presses . I will bet I have less invested than one new press cost now.

 

My 12g loads are all color-coded.

Blue Peters = skeet = 7/8-#9
Green STS/Premier = trap = 1-#8
Red AA = small birds/handicap = 1-1/8 #7.5
Green Gun Club = med birds = 1-14oz #4 Bismuth. The only steel base I shoot. Chosen as I'm often afield with an auto and shell recovery in limited. Had bad experience with Top Guns ripping the head down the side causing jams. They went in the trash.

A few specialty low volume loads in Fed GM's, Rem Blacks (GC equivalent), etc.

I wish 20g had the variety.

 

I shot/reloaded green STS for 15 years before getting more into reloading due to covid and now do
12 ga:
Green STS for tournaments main load
Maroon Gold Medal for spreaders
Gun Club for that 1 oz 7.5s for long birds and rabbits,
waterfowl - above and various others for different loads, one and done
Chellengers - practice loads 7/8 oz. - one and done

20 ga:
STS for main practice and tournaments with O/U
Gun clubs for practice
Top Gun for practice - will reload these 5 times for the O/U
Rio, RS60, RX, 6 pt. remingtons for semi-auto at tournaments or practice where I can't retrieve hulls - one and done

I don't use inexpensive Winchesters like Universals and Super W Target, and I don't use Challengers or Fiocchis.

 

So I just started reloading shot shells this last December.

I've bough 3 Mec Jr reloaders brand new. 12ga shotshell, 12ga slugger, and 20ga shotshell.

I've loaded various hulls. Winchester, Remington, Federal, Nobel sport, cheddite, fiocchi, Estate, & some other brands.

Used Fed 209A & Ched 209 primers

Used various clay busted wads.

Used Red dot, green dot, universal (clays), long shot, HS 6 for powders.

What I've come to learn/believe is a lot of people hate on certain Hulls. From my experience so far, I've found all the hulls to reload just fine & to work great. It took a little learning on getting the right wad in/for different hulls to get the correct stack height, but once I figured the different wads out, It's been great.

Yes, I totally get that some of the Remington & Winchester hulls have the best hulls for reloading & getting the most reloads out of the hulls. Which I've reloaded & do like those the best. However, If one goes to the gun range usually you can get 200-300 once shot hulls pretty easy. So I'm surprised more people don't talk about reloading Federals, estates, Fiocchi, & ect. Even though they only reload 4-5 times.

Anyways thoughts?

At my range all the Federals, estates and Fiocchi's are in the trash, but I also find the remington gun clubs in there also that no one wants and I go dumpster diving. I reload remington and winchesters, they all take the same components and load the same, that way I only have to buy one wad. It just make life a little simpler.