2 3/4" Federal Low Brass Hulls

This is sort of a heads up to LOOK at the base wad of 2 3/4" Federal hulls

From time to time I get once fired hulls batches through a friend
He is some how tied in with a company that runs tests on shotgun shells
Not sure all what tests are done
I am also not sure who pays for the tests or why they are run

But some of the hulls are cut open , I am guessing to check the amount or type of shot is in the hulls

OK this batch was mainly 12 gau Federal 2 3/4" hulls

As I sorted I found 3 different low brass hulls ( think of Top Gun or Federal Game Load ) with different height plastic base wads
Also 2 different height of the fiber base wads

I am still sorting , only 20% done
It looks like they just swept the hulls up off the floor as some looked like they were stepped on

What is printed on the hulls , a lot of the time is hard to read or nothing seems to be printed on the hull

But the 2 lowest plastic base wads were on hulls that some had Steel printed on the hull
Also some had nothing printed on the hull or 7 , 6 or 4 shot sizes , I am guessing

The medium and highest plastic base wad and a Fiber Base wad that seems to be the Federal High Power base wad hull
Many had 8 , 7 1/2 or 6 printed on the hull but not all , again I am guessing this was shot size

I also found some 2 3/4" hulls that had a fiber base wad that was lower than the normal Federal High Power base wad height
These hulls had nothing printed on the hull

I posted this to give you a heads up to check and sort before you reload
As I am sure the different base wad types and heights will result in different load data for the different types

I also have seen new Federal 2 3/4" hulls from Ballistic Products
These had a Low plastic base wad and used different load data than the Gold Medal hull
I was told that these hulls are what Federal is using in some of their 2 3/4" 1 1/8 oz steel shot loads

John

I don’t even pick up Federal hulls anymore for the reasons you just mentioned.


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With steel shot, I found that base wad height varies by the original load, from all manufacturers, not just federal. Not to mention the base wad difference between lead and steel hulls. I have loaded steel shot for nearly as long as it has been required. At first, I made it a habit to pick up all the hulls laying on the ground when I was duck hunting, figured I would scrounge up as many once fired hulls as I could. When sorting them after scrounging for a few years, I discovered the many differences in base wad height and that there was both plastic and fiber used to make them. There was so much difference, I ended up getting a piece of dowel rod that fit inside the hulls and marking lines on it to denote the various heights so I could segregate them easier. It also didn't take long to find that for the most part you could only get one or two loadings before the hull was ruined. Mouths would either tear or get partially shot off. Don't know if they were just made of cheap plastic or if it was the stiff steel wad being hard on the crimp. I'd even find once fired hulls with missing mouth sections.

I’ve gotta 30 gallon drum full of Federal hulls. Older ones are always the old rolled paper base wads, newer ones are the plastic basewads. The only difference I can see, just in a practical sense, as I have no pressure testing equipment, is the plastic base wad shells are a little shorter inside so that presents a crimp problem sometimes. I do segregate them as to the base wads, just so I can run a batch with all the same crimp profiles. Different base wads, change loading techniques slightly. Never a problem as I generally load these for hunting loads and usually fire and leave em in the woods,especially if you are running and gunning cat squirrels! Gets kinda hectic sometimes hunting those little beggars! Good ole Herco, 1 1/4 oz of shot, book fps is 1330 . Standard load, been using it for years! I’ll take all of them I can get as I have enormous amount of 1 1/8 oz wads.
Do they last as long as Remington Premiers or AA’s? Nope, but they free, so........... as always just my opinion.

A big reason I use the older Federal 2 3/4" hulls with the rolled fiber base is 2 fold

One , normally I get them free
So after a few reloads I recycle them

Two , I load a 1 oz load of steel shot in them 1 time ( To 1600 FPS )
There are pressure tested loads in these hulls that 1 oz can be loaded safely to 1650 FPS
7/8 oz loads to 1700 FPS

So with the new plastic base wad hulls
I found out there is now pressure tested loads with the low plastic base wad
But I have a thousand + of the rolled base wad hulls to use up

John