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Member Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 370 Location: Kansas

Managed to score a large box of once fired, deprimed and resized paper shells from a guy at church the other day. Most are old Winchester SuperSpeeds, and all were 16ga! Came with 2 old Alcan boxes with 1/4" and 3/8" waxed filler wads. Looking at some loads for them on SPR's spreadsheets, and noticed they call for .135" Nitro cards. Can I substitute qty(2) .070 nitro cards to make up a .140 nitro card in place of the .135", or does that .005 and double stack mess with the pressure of these old loads?

Looking forward to loading these up on the old MEC250 my father gave me and Skeettx helped me get up and running.

Thanks,

Ben

The extra 0.005" of wad probably has an effect on pressure, but I'll bet it's pretty miniscule. I'm thinking wad composition and wad diameter probably has a bigger effect and both of those would not have the affect on pressure that crimp condition has.

I have substitued two wads for one in many loads. It's a little more inconvenient in that two OP wads are more difficult to seat straight than a single wad is. Enjoy your paper cases while you can.

Savor the aroma of powder fouling and paper while you can. Unfortunately, case life is pretty short when you combine card wads and paper cases.

If the cases are dry or have been exposed to damp conditions and are swollen, you can "recondition" them by heating them for a few minutes in your oven at the lowest setting on the dial. Heat them only long enough to see the wax come to the surface of the case. Inspect each case to make sure the paper pase wad inplace, as WW's are prone to lose their base wads.

Member Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 370 Location: Kansas

Thanks for the info! I will give that a shot. I have never heard of the baking them, but it makes sense. I will also check the base wads. Thanks for the heads up on that. How many reloads do you typically get out of paper shells?

Ben

I can't take credit for the shell "bake". Those instructions were provided with the old Lee Loader for shotshells. Hull life differs slightly by manufacturer. The Federal papers will probably go five times before they have pin-holes burned thru above the head. WW's about two or three reloads, and they usually start losing crimp petals earlier than Feds. The old R-P green ribbed paper hulls are about the same as WW's.

Member Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 370 Location: Kansas

Thanks! I was thinking most of them would be one and dones. I got about 25 of the Federal Hi-Powers in the box, and 40 or so of the Greeen remingtons with close to 200 of the Winchesters/ Westerns (Xpert, SuperSpeed, &SuperX). I will keep you updated on my progress.

Ben

I forgot to add in my first post, that you can slice the fiber wads if I need to make the crimp space work, i.e. 1/2" fibers can bec cut to 1/4" or 3/8", etc.

Member Joined: 02 Oct 2007 Posts: 1975

The most I've got out of reloading the Win paper hulls is two reloads and then they have pin holes right above the brass. Over half show pin holess with just one reload. You have to inspect them carefully. Also check your chamber after shooting the reloads. Can get dirty with carbon buildup.

Member Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 370 Location: Kansas

Thanks! I will definitly keep a close eye on them and my chamber.

Do any of you have any low pressure 2-9/16" or 2.5" loads for these old papers?

Thanks,

Ben