Just took the plunge!

[C-Money]

Cool! Keep us posted on your progress!

[seth30]

I will, just waiting on the tax return to get into my account   I will make a video, and pictures of the process and will follow up with shooting on paper to demostrate the pattern.   

[sebek556]

  have fun with it seth, there is just something about doing stuff yourself. It just feels better.

[wraithen]

I will, just waiting on the tax return to get into my account   I will make a video, and pictures of the process and will follow up with shooting on paper to demostrate the pattern.   

I'm going to have to hold you to this. Gonna start my own setup here in a few weeks. Poor wife will never see me 

[trippledigitss]

Right on man, good choice.  I think for the money you cant go wrong. I bought one a few months ago from Cabelas the day before Christmas. I like it so much I bought another for my son to reload his 20ga shells. I am just reloading trap shells so I cant help you with the steel load questions but it sounds like the other guys have you on the right track. But like C-Money says, there can be quite a bit difference in the primers - for instance Fed's and Fiocchi's are hotter and I've read can account for as much as 1 to 2 grains equivalent of more powder.    I do notice the Fiocchi's are a bit bigger in diameter so once i used them other primers fit in the hulls more loosely.

 And on the subject of primers, if you dont have it already, I HIGHLY recommend getting the optional primer feeder, it makes it SO much easier. Lee says the Fed;s work best in the feeder and it is true. I have used Fed's, Fiocchi, and Cheddites and the Fed's feed alot better BY FAR. I think the others have thinner rims and get hung up on each other and the Fed's dont. But if you dont have it, spend the $10 and get it!

As far as powder, on Red Dot & especially Unique I see a big difference in their printed bushing chart than what actually comes out so scale it for sure. I bought a cheap little digital reloading scale from Cabela for $20 and it works great. I think the .155 bushing says on the chart its good for 23gr of unique when I actually only get 20 to 20.5 out of it, Red Dot is about 1 to 2 grains different than advertised, and Clays - which I mostly use now for the 12ga trap loads is about right on, maybe .3-.5 grains difference. I have been loading Rem Gun Club hulls and have loaded some as many as 7 times and they still look fine. But I have recently started phasing them out for the Rem STS.

(and C-Money, I saw Bass Pro had the STS & Nitro 27 going for 85 a case, no tax and about $7 shipping per case. Plus they have a 6 pay option where you can make 6 equal payments, one a month, with no extra charge or interest. So I could order a lot and pay a little at a time - and you get your items right away like you paid cash in full)

And for changing your recipe and swapping components. Personally for the most part I do not think it is a big deal to swap out stuff. Of course stay in the max powder range, but I think you can basically use any primer and wads that fit your hull and you are fine. I used a recipe as a guideline and now I have swapped wads, Calybuster White 8's vs CB figure 8's and shaved a few grains of powder off and they shoot fine.

Anyway, again, good choice on the Lee. I think it loads them like a new factory shell and is very easy to use. I also enjoy loading my own shells as much as shooting them. There is something very satisfying about breaking targets with shells you made.

I checked out a couple books from the library and got good info for reloading shot shells. One was "The ABC's of Reloading" and the other was "Reloading for Shotgunners" You may want to look into a couple books and see if you find good info.

Here are a couple videos I made right after I got it.
 

[trippledigitss]

have fun with it seth, there is just something about doing stuff yourself. It just feels better.

[seth30]

Thanks for the cool vids and info!  You have really helped out a lot!!

[C-Money]

Cool Video! I won the Handi at our club shoot last weekend. Always adds a bit more pride when you shoot well with shells that YOU make. Its no different to go out and whack a limit of green heads with your own shells, feels good. Reloading is fun and is a stress reliever for me. I gotta go crank out 125 more rounds for the shoot in Almira on Sunday! I better get at it!

[trippledigitss]

Cool thanks guys, glad you like the vids. For some reason when I watch them thru this link the video is slow and behind the audio, so if you watch them on You Tube it plays correctly. Maybe its just my computer?  That was right after I got it so I am doing things a tiny bit different now and using Clays, STS hulls and Fed primers but I still use alot of Gun Club hulls and its all basically the same. Now I will flip a new primer into place with my left hand as I'm pulling the finished shell of the end. It makes it a lot easier when you can just move the hull straight from the de-capping to the new primer station without reaching behind 1st. Small difference but seems a lot smoother/faster. And like I said, the Federal primers work very well in the Lee primer feed where the others hang up slightly and you have to use your thumb to slide them down sometimes, but that takes all of about 3 seconds.

I like to sit back and load shells too, its a fun hobby and relaxing. I just sit down before or after dinner for an hour or two and start stacking them up! I can do about 100-125 an hour, so you wont break any speed records with it but it makes nice shells. My buddy has a hydraulic loader and he says he can do 100 shells in about 6 minutes!  I havent seen it myself but he aint the type to BS me and he spends obscene amounts of money on his trap shooting, so I dont doubt it. I tried doing a few shells at a time on the Lee, put one in a couple stations at a time, you can do it but its not any easier or faster - but its alot easier to screw something up!

[seth30]

Alright about to make this thread pic heavy   I loaded my shots a few days ago and finally got to do a field test.  Thanks again for all the help!   Those videos were great!  In a previous thread I showed a deck that I recently built, and with the left over wood I was able to make a great reloading bench.  My reciepe is:
2 3/4 Cheddite hulls (with primer)
12S4 Federal wads
36 Grains Steel powder made by alliant
9/10 Steel SHot #2 from ballistic products.com- They had or still have a sale where you buy 50lbs and the shippings was just 15 bucks

[seth30]

Here is the hull after the shot, and boy it was a smooth shot! It felt like I was shooting a 20 guage.

[seth30]

The wad did its job No torn pedals, and the inside of the barrel reveived no damage.

[seth30]

30 yards on the range. 

[seth30]

40 yards at the range, and this is done with a modified choke   No bird within 40 yards will live if I shoot at it. 

[seth30]

The contents of the shot....