Hello to all. I am new at reloading shotgun rounds, and have some questions. 1st let me tell you just what I got. It is a Remington 870 express magnum and a lee load-all 2. Also seeing as how I got the 18-inch barrel can I use a choke on it? Now down to brass tacks, I bought a box of Winchester 12 gauge 2-¾ 1 1/8 oz 7 ½ shot Universal shells. I bought a reloading book on shot shell and cannot find these rounds in it. I went to sportsmen’s warehouse and asked.. was told they are shoot once rounds. Is this true? I would like to reload these. I am getting the hang of how all the components come together, and will work out a good load of 7-1/2 for playing, and #4 for more serious work. Now to a different twist, I am also trying to load some flechetts. They are 1 inch long and with the wads I have will not fit into my 2/34 hulls. I bought some 3-inch rounds and was planning on prying one open and stuffing them in. Weight of these little loves is each 7.4 grains, then 5 of them 37.5, 10 75.5, 15 113.3, 20 149.3, 25 187.2. I can fit 25 of them in a hull. They wobble a bit, so I plan on filling with cotton ball. Now as to powder, I know the weight, so do I just find a load that weighs the same and use that? What about wads? Do you think if I just use the recommended wad for the hull it will work? Some data I have picked up says max effective rang is 300 meters, at this point they just run out of juice. Also one site says 20 flechettes, 14 grains of unique or red dot, one up, one down. I do not like the idea of the up and down. The aerodynamics of this leads me to believe the backwards one will try and flip over, thus spreading the pattern. It also says to back-fill with baking soda, do you think the cotton ball would work? Well I guess that is all for now, but feel certain I will have more. Thanks

My recommendation would be to get a copy of the Lyman Shotshell Reloading Manual and see what loads are available. I have never loaded flechettes so cannot comment on how to do that. Some time at the range shooting at a patterning board might be enlightening.

Regarding your shotgun, does it have choke tubes? If so, I believe you can change choke tubes. Take care...
Oberndorf

Welcome to the forum redleg 318. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

Now for some of your questions.

"Some data I have picked up says max effective rang is 300 meters, at this point they just run out of juice."

If this is for factory loaded flechetts rounds or even rounds you load yourself keep in mind that maximum effective range usually is far more than effective accurate range. A 22 long rifle will travel a mile (max effective range), but what is the effective accurate range?

Reloading shotgun shells requires the right hull matched to the right wad for the shot weight your using. Wads and hulls are usually bought in units of 500 or more.

Oberndorf's suggestion of getting one of the lyman shotshell reloading manuals is a good one and will get you into the basics of shotshell reloading. Richard Lee has a good reloading manual that discusses the use of his little loaders and at less than 20 bucks at Midway it's a bargain. The directions that came with your loader will also have a list of hulls and compatible wads and loads.

As for loading the flechetts unless your planning to shoot hundreds of them it may be less expensive to simply buy loaded rounds for occasional use. I do that when turkey hunting with the 3.5 inch turkey loads. I don't shoot more than a few every year and it doesn't pay to try to reload them. Usually you have to buy the materials bulk and the expense of buying that way to shoot a few rounds a month just doesn't pay.

Thanks Oberndorf and Faucettb for your response.

Oberndorf my shotgun does not have a choke, and I found out in order to be able to install a choke I would have to send in the barrel to have it threaded, and would cost more then just getting another barrel. I will be looking to get just that, another barrel. I saw a few for about $100.

Faucettb, I had not thought about the effective accurate range factor, hummm just when I thought I had the bases covered! I plan on getting a 4X8 sheet of 2-inch thick insulation and pattern on that, masking tape can cover holes between rounds. I only have a 100-yard range in my yard so I will just go that far back. I have a book for reloading; it is Reloading for shotgunners, 5th edition, a Gun digest book. I cannot find the cheap Wal-Mart Winchester Universal (red hull 7 ½ shot) 12 gauge hulls listed, so I am stuck on getting the wads for it to reload. I am going shopping tomorrow so I will look for another book that might list it. I bought 5 pounds of flechetts, so I have a lot of them to play with. After I find out what works best, and what their effective range is, I will make up30 or so and put in ammo can. I can use up my stock every 5 years, and replace them with fresh stuff.

I’ve never seen any load data specifically for the Winchester Universal shells. (Maybe I’ve never looked in the right place). They are very similar to, but not an exact copy of, the Winchester Polyformed Hull with the plastic basewad. Both of those hulls have a larger internal capacity than the Winchester AA shell. If you can’t find data specific to the Universal, you can safely use 1 1/8 ounce data for the Winchester AA hull. Performance will be degraded some from the published figures. Don’t add powder to try to boost velocity. Stick with the published data. I also wouldn’t load over 1 1/8 ounces of shot. The reason I say that is because all the published data that I have for the Polyformed hull doesn’t go over that weight. Why, I don’t know.

I wouldn’t load Flechettes (or shoot commercially loaded rounds). I’m assuming you want an anti-personnel round. They were tried in Vietnam and discarded as a bad idea. Low penetration, no penetration, they didn’t perform their main purpose, kill/disable an enemy. Buckshot does the job. I’m assuming that your flechettes are steel. If they are exposed to your bore, they will gouge and score it. Also, if they are loaded directly in a shotcup, without a steel spacer, they will embed in the wad. As far as dumping the shot from a 3” hull and replacing it with flechettes, I doubt that the powder would generate sufficient pressure to achieve any reasonable velocity. That powder charge is for a heavy shot load. You need a fast powder for that little weight, and I don’t think you’ll find any load for a 12 Gauge for a 7/16 ounce payload. And you still expose your bore to the steel.

DC

Hi DMC, I emailed Winchester about the universal rounds, and asked them why no data. I will see what they have to say. Now as to the flechetts, I have read that they are ineffective. I was in Nam and saw what they did. Up close it don’t matter what you let loose with, but out 25 yards, and it might make a difference. Now what I saw in Nam was out of a tank, and out to about 300 yards. Very, very effective. Pinned him to a tree. Now I don’t have a tank, so I will have to settle for the shotgun. If I have time I can switch barrels and let loose with a slug, or just grab a rifle, or pistol for that matter. I am good to 100 yards with anything I have, anything. I hope I never, ever, have to shoot my gun at someone, but if I do I want to make it count. I was hoping there was someone out there who had thought what will they do and had done it, would make it easer for me. If they don’t work then #4 will be my load of choice.