About to start creeping into it . Just curious for y'all who don't a good bit, why do you reload shot shells ? Money savings? Customs loads for a certain deal ? Just like messing with stuff ?
Also gotta say it's an interesting deal compared to metallic on one hand they say you need to be super careful and follow the book 100% ( apparently waaay more then metallic) and on the other people are haut shoving whatever into a hull putting a roll crimp on it and shooting it with no problems, it's kinda neat ..in a crazy confused kinda way lol

Versatility, a few different bags of shot and wads. A grocery sack full of hulls, some powder and primers, and whatever you want a shotgun for is at your fingertips. No running to every ammo store within 50 miles to get what your after.

When I was realy into shooting Skeet,,I was shooting over 1,000 rounds a week.I started reloading mostly for the savings.I was reloading for less than half price of bought shells.Once I started,,I reloaded all my own shotshells including hunting loads.I was loading my own Duplex Buffered loads long before they were available on the market.GO BY THE BOOK.

Just to know how to do it.
Shotgun powder is much more forgiving than handgun powder. I had a .45 blow up in my hand. I'm more cautious now.

For the money savings when I use to shoot more. There's not really a performance difference like in rifles per say so other than $ savings I wouldn't really see any other reason unless it's like Danny said, you just want to have the components on hand to load up whatever you want whenever you want

Now me and the boys may only shoot a case or two a year so I just buy them prepacked

I beg to differ on that.I found my roll my owns to be more consistent than store bought.

Just getting into it. But for me it’s to make low pressure loads for an old SXS I inherited. Can’t find low pressure loads in Canada. I’ll also load up some big heavy lead loads for coyotes something can’t find easily in store

Black powder is great for those old SXS. Just be sure to give a thorough cleaning after every time you shoot. Grandson has been shooting black powder in an old damascus barreled gun. Takes 2 1/2 shells. I just cut 2 3/4 hulls back to the line the crimp makes on the hull and glue in an over shot card. A dram of black powder is approximately 27.34 grains

I like to do it so I don't have to trash good shotgun hulls. Unfortunately, 209 primers can sometimes be hard to get, and the cost of good lead shot is increasing in price.

U could be right I just couldn't see the difference shooting quail

Load em:

• hot
• subsonic
• heavy
• light
• buck
• slug
• long 3-1/2"
• short 1-3/4"

I'd write a list but the internet probably ain't big enough to handle it.

Did i mention that you have a bit of flexibilities in your loads. Maybe even some choke options.

Especially with non toxic and buckshot.
You can customize a load to your particular gun/ choke combination.
It's just like finding a "pet" load for your rifle.
I have a 20ga 18 pellet #4 buckshot load for one of my 500 mossbergs that's throwing 85 to 90% in a 20" at 40 yards.
Same load moving 100-150 fps slower patterns great in a shockwave.

I find loading shot shells to be quite therapeutic. When I'm at the press no one else is allowed in the room, not even the dog. When I'm clicking right along I can put out a box of shells in approximately 3 minutes for the 12. When I start I go thru the whole bag of shot. That's 400 one ounce loads in the 12, 457 7/8 ounce in the twenty, 533 3/4 ounce in the 28, and 800 1/2 ounce in the 410. I don't do any 410 very often as I don't use it much and they are a real pain to load. I use MEC 9000G presses. For the 12 I'm saving about $.80 per box. The others, a lot less of a saving because of the powders that I use. I have an acquaintance that has the appropriate pressure testing equipment and the expertise to use it, all my loads have been tested and are quite safe. All the MEC presses drop powder and shot by volume and can vary. Powder will vary by a tenth or two which falls in the realm of DMS. Using a progressive the powder bushing will generally drop a little light, the single stage presses will be a tad heavy. Hence a good scale and a good selection of powder bushings is a good idea. The difference being the single stage is cycled a lot more between powder drops. Shot charges vary slightly according to shot size and alloy. There are bars that are calibrated to specific weights and shot sizes for anal trap and skeet shooters. If you are shooting competitively you should really be using factory ammo. In some instances it's required. I don't use chilled shot, it's too soft and deforms on ignition and travelling down the barrel. I use only magnum (hard) shot. It deforms less and patterns better.

Years ago I would go thru 20 to 25 thousand handloads a year. I have always used factory shells in competition. These days I go thru a little over 5 thousand. I like the performance I get from my loads and I didn't have any issues getting ammo during the recent shortages. I buy wads and primers by the case. Powder by the 8 pound keg, two kegs to the case. Usually I buy 10 bags of shot at a time. And I have several 30 gallon plastic barrels full of once fired Remington Gun Club and STS cases. There is a half bushel each of 28ga and 410 AA in the basement somewhere. They are all free for the bending over and picking them up when I'm refereeing an event. I load them four times, five at the most and toss them.

I only load 410 mainly because of lack of availability and also cost. Pre shortage 410 was $5-6 a box now $13+ a box. I average 1500-1700 rounds of 410 a year shooting sporting clays so the pay back was fast even with inflated component prices. In addition I have a young son coming up that I am sure will go through a bunch of 410 in the next couple years

I started loading for shotguns before I was old enough to drive. These days, don't load and shoot nearly enough to even justify the equipment, but that aside, with what equipment I have and an extensive stash of components.... I am now my own ammo factory. Everything from powder puff bird shot to buckshot and slugs. If factory ammo dries up as it has before, it wont matter to me. If Wolfie needed a good reason to take up loading for shotguns, that would be it.

Tom Bergen, the guy my dad hunted with, used to load some very hot pheasant load in the 70's/ 80's
Wasn't to many birds the that flew away......
Still using them to this day on "tribute" hunts in IA...
Never used a shell that compared for pheasant...

That is why we did it.....

Wolfdog--if you look at it historically the cost savings was a significant driver for those shooting clay targets. Its a game that typically requires lots of practice and there was a point in time when you could reliably get good components at reasonable prices. However the cost savings hasnt been that much for a long time on the 12 gauge due to its popularity driving how much of that ammo is pumped out from the manufacturers. And like metalic the availability of components can be sketchy. On the other hand with the sub gauges--particularly 28 and 410---the cost savings can vary depending on your powder usage but there is little shot used and the price of factory ammo is VERY steep. I was just at my parents and my dad was reloading 410. I believe he said that AA 410 type shells typical used in registered tournaments were around $175+ a case so there's plenty of potential for cost savings there IF you have access to a distributor of components. Heck even the cost of quality once fired 410 hulls will set you back .20-25 cents each.

And some guys just enjoy doing it. My dad finds it relaxing, fun. I find it boring and tedious and gave it up opting to buy the cheapest cases of 1oz 7.5 shot 12 gauge offerings that I could find. Also good idea to find the distributor for loaded ammo or go to a big regional shoot and buy your stuff there

I think you should be saying why not? I got a great deal on a used press and just like the ability to load from power puff to full on loads. Also the next time ammo disappears I will still shooting.

I started reloading to reduce the costs. Shooting multiple gage sporting clays, going thru 1500 -2000 shells a week was expensive even back then; can't image buying commercial shells at today's prices.

I don’t think you can do much wrong loading shotgun shells, lol. When we were 12 my best friends parents and mine got together and got us a reloader, powder, shot, shells, primers, etc.
We were 12!! And loaded everything from rock salt, metal shavings, BB’s out of the little plastic bags that looked like ketchup packets, bird shot, ball bearings, etc. We loaded our shells, friends shells, whoever’s shells, and we’re all still here. And believe it or not, we still have the same shotguns. Mine was a Winchester and his is a Remington. Back then it just gave us something to do and saved a little money I guess.