doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Reloading for the 16 ga

Mike, you missed the part about tossing STS and GC hulls before you need to, and comparing them to the currently available crop of 16ga hulls. If you get 3 or 4 reloads out of a 16ga hull before they start to split, how much cheaper is it to reload 12ga hulls 6 or 7 times each? Conservatively, a penny a pop for each additional use of the same hull? Let's see . . . you buy 16ga promo loads for $6/box (if you're really lucky). Shoot them once, reload them 3 times. That's 4 shots for 25 hulls=100 shots from that box, or 6 cents/hull. I've picked up Gun Clubs for $5/box. Shoot once, reload 6 times, 7 shots for 25 hulls=175 shots/box, or less than 3 cents/hull. $1+ advantage/box in favor of the 12's (or 20's), conservatively, figuring in both wad and hull cost.

Glad you're not working on the federal debt problem, Mike.

Oh yeah . . . worked a shoot last weekend. Guy I shoot with scored a bunch of once fired 12ga Gun Clubs. How likely is it to score once fired 16ga hulls . . . unless maybe you shoot with me?

Well now lets see, that would be a valid price "IF" one bought 25 "Empty" hulls for $6.00. As they were bought loaded ready to fire then this price per hull just flew out the window.
There is of course no question a 12 or 20 can be fired cheaper than any other gauges.
However most other gauges, including the 16, for those who for whatever reason desire to use them can save more through reloading than is possible with the 12 & 20.
There is after all a greater price diferential between loaded shells than reloading prices for the 12 & 20 VS other gauges.

All I know about 16ga reloads is that a good part of the hunt's satisfaction comes when I shove in those Remington black-ribbed perfect-crimps with one ounce, SP16, Longshot, 7000psi, 1175fps. To miss is sacrilege.

Where are all you volume 16 ga. shooters?

I shoot more 16 than anyone around here, and that's only about two flats a year.

Loading makes no sense at this level of use. I buy Fiocchi GT and give the hulls away.

A once fired 16 gauge hull seems to be about 15-20 cents per, considering the componets are worth $4.10 and the shells sell for 8-10 bux a box.

I'd load for it, but there's a $240 loader to amortize and it's just not worth it. Three years to pay for the loader, hell I might be done with it by then.

Of course, I don't need any non-standard loads either and that's the whole appeal for many folks who do load for it.

I load 7/8 12ga loads in Remington hulls with CBFig8's for $3.35/box (and that's with shot @ $36/bag). The load I shoot (24gm magnum shot @ 1175 fps) is difficult if not impossible to come by in a factory load at any price. I shoot about 12,000 of those per year.

I load 7/8 16ga loads (1140 fps) in Remington hulls with DR16 wads for $3.75/box. Before you crucify me that it's not just $0.25 more, that's because I included shipping in the cost of my dr16'S. The only load comparable in a factory load is $8-9/box. I recently cut back from 5K to about 3500 of those per year but with the addition of a new 16ga I'll likely up that again.

Are you sure you don't want me working on the federal debt, Larry?

I reload most any once fired 16ga hull. My favorite are the old Win CF. Also like the Rem blacks, but rarely get more than a couple reloads because the crimp bakes and curles up like a potatoe chip. The newer Win hulls are fine with correct wad, as are Federal and the "euro" brands. Goto powder is Unique, NS primers, SG16 wad for latter mentioned bigger hulls and Win AA, Claybuster or Rem for narrower Win CF & Rem hulls. For other gauges I use Win AA 12 thru 410 unless I fine some super cheap promo stuff. I have not used many DR16 wads because i am used to adding filler -- styro discs, puffed wheat, speaders, etc. The Dr16 is too tough to cram into my wad guide and can't quite bring myself to apply the Dremal grinder.

Wow. Lotta 16 ga Mike.

Keep up the good work!

Whether you fire them new or buy them empty, you still get to count only the number of times you use the hull. (Here I'm only figuring the cost of the hull, not the other components you use--or don't use, if you buy factory loads.) So you shoot the same hull 4 times--once factory-loaded, 3 times reloaded--that hull cost you 6 cents if you paid $6/box for the shells.

Mike, that's good for 16ga reloads . . . but using your figures on wad costs, and your figures on how many times you use a hull, you still lose out to 7/8 oz loads in either 12 or 20ga. Cheaper wads, cheaper hulls because they last longer.

But come to think of it, given the guys we have in DC, you might not do any worse in charge of debt reduction.

If the sole reason for reloading was economy, then perhaps we all would be better off not being involved in the uneconomical(YMMV) world of doubleguns. Reloading is a lot like flytying. The capital outlay for vises and materials far exceeds what it would cost to keep most of us in flies if we had to buy them. Reloading allows us to tailor loads for specific guns and is fun to do. It's an excuse to keep connected with the sport in another way. I tie flies so I don't have to depend on a UPS man to bring me what I need or want the next day to catch fish. It also keeps me involved with a hobby that I love. Same with reloading. Over 30 years ago I taught a 12 year-old how to shoot a 12 gauge shooting 7/8 oz handloads. I don't know or didn't know if that load was commercially available as it is today. It sure wasn't readily available where I lived. I ended up shooting that load at doves. Hunting turkeys, I handloaded 10 gauge 3.5's. Federal made a killer load back then, but my handloads were more versatile, and there was satisfaction in hunting ducks, dove, quail and turkeys with loads I made. I probably saved some money, but if time is money, then maybe not that much money. But it sure was fun. I could probably get by with Polywads and RST's for my old doubles, but I will do the impractical once again, save a few dollars handloading 16s, maybe not, but it will be fun and another way to keep my hand and time in a hobby that I love. After all, isn't a hobby just a way to murder time? (Mark Twain)

Anybody want any new unfired 16 ga brass shells....Fiocchi I believe....10 rounds to a box....3 boxes.

tjw