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I've been reloading shotshells since the late 70s. I've had a number of machines, MEC, Hornady 366, 266 and DL155. I've even had a Lee Loadall...still have it actually but never use it. Almost 15 years ago I bought a very used PW375. I was definitely a machine from the 60s. I had some trouble with it so I shelved it and loaded all of my 16 ga on the 266. I liked that 266. It worked and was capable enough. The deal is though, those Black Rem game hulls? Forget loading those. The crimps were a mess. I ended up cutting all of those down and roll crimping them for my short chambered guns.

A couple of weeks ago I dragged out the PW 375 and sent it of to PW to get it set up. The changed out the old crimp die for the new tapered one and installed the new machine cap that permits removing and installing bushings without removing the shot/powder res.

This past week I ran off 200 shells with out a hitch. Crimps were factory tight and beautiful, even with those crummy Rem Blacks. Geez, this is a very nice machine. I like it much better than my 266 or my 155. Gotta wonder why I didn't fix it much sooner.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

Now you need to locate a stash of 1x fired hulls---good luck.

Congrats R J Talley on those black Rem/RGL reloads.

I am always mystified when I hear about "those crummy Rem Blacks". Frankly, I find RGL's and all other Rem SP hulls in 16 gauge or other, are one of the easiest hulls on which to get a great, tight round crimp, whether 6 or 8 point, whether high or low brass, black or green, with 209-size primers or old ones with 57 type primers. Yes, the SP hull, of which the RGL is one, has certain features, such as:

1) Compressed Fiber Basewad -- Will go to hell if wet, or reloaded enough times. However, the crimp will outlast that basewad, so . . . no prob.

2) Thick Hull Walls -- Work best with Power Piston wads (only R16 and SP16 in the 16), or Winchester AA-type or Win/clone wads. 20 Gauge Euro wads meant for thin-walled Reifenhauser hulls can be made to work, and of course good old card and fiber wads work well also. If you doubt the sealing ability of a nitro card (and you should not), go ahead and buy an obturating plastic over-powder wad or harvest an over-powder cup from a plastic wad unit of your choice. Want a shot cup if you are using conventional wads? Make a plastic Mark-5 style sleeve from a very thick plastic bag. A sleeve cut from a mylar overhead projector slide is good enough for steel or Hevi-Shot. Also, you could harvest the cup from a plastic wad unit -- preferrably from the same wad unit from which you harvested the over-powder end. I do this all the time, especially with the 24 gauge, for which I have very few wad choices -- simply cut the two functioning ends off, toss the recoil section if necessary, and use fiber wadding of the height necessary to yield a good crimp. (I digress, this advice is for 16 gauge.) Also, you can look around for the shot cup that Federal made for the 16 long ago -- they're out there; I have a box.

3) Crimp durability -- Yes, the black RGLs seem to have a lower crimp durability than the green ones. However, it isn't really much of a problem, as the number of reloads possible isn't all that much different from the rest of the 16 gauge hulls out there. It's really a nit. If you really baby them, you can get 5 reloads, maybe more. You'll want to use once or twice fired hulls (second reload) for hunting loads that will stand large amounts of handling, and for showing off your pretty reloads to your buddies.

4) Re-Crimp Ease and Appearance -- The RGL is probably the easiest hull with which to get a great crimp. They practically fall together! I can't understand why anyone could not get a good crimp with these with any well-adjusted press. Yes, as they get more "reloaded", crimp folds will split or become fragile and require more attention, but this is not a unique problem with 16 gauge hulls. The Euro hulls and Federals are much more sensitive to crimp tools, adjustments and techniques.

So if anyone dislikes the RGL, please feel free to send them to me. To adopt a phrase from one of my favorite movies, "You know how to PM me, don't you? You just put your fingers and keyboard together and type." Thanks.

Cheers!
Tony

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1841 Location: Central ND

Tony,

I agree, the RGL is a very easy hull to reload. Possibly the easiest. No special adjustments are needed.

I do wish they would last a little longer.

My favorite is the Federal, as with the RGL, I wish it would last longer, but it is fairly easy to see in the grass.

Right-O, Mark.

My Rem Black hull issues go back 20 years. First, they are too thick and the mouths tend to be very hard. The result is that they tend to burn and then crack.

Another issue is their fold memory. Those dang hulls like to rest about 3/4 open meaning inserting a wad requires finesse. I've tried a hull spinner from BPI but it only does just so much.

Then there is the issue of the constricted ring that forms just below the folds. It's just tight enough that removing a wad once inserted takes pliers or forceps. This constriction also makes wad insertion tricky.

Finally there is the matter of the base wad. It doesn't really hold up for more than a reload or two at best. Maybe it's not a truly bad thing because the case mouths don't stand up to being recrimped more than a couple of times.

That's been my experience. Cheddite makes a better hull. Fiochi makes a hull as good as a AA hull. Not trying to moan too much, I use them. I just don't like to use them but these days, who has much of a choice.

Joined: 09 Feb 2015 Posts: 821

Afraid I have to agree with Talley. In the warm summer months I might get lucky and get 1 or 2 more reloads from them as the crimps don't seem to split as quick.

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1841 Location: Central ND

Kinda funny how we all have different views on the RGL.

P.S. You can always split up those RGL hulls and send equal amounts, to Maxsmoke and me. Laughing

I'm in the 1or2 reloads crowd . BUT , I REALLY like those couple reloads !