Reloading shotgun

[Desert Rat]

Folks if I reload shells fired in my shotgun... the brass is then "fire formed" in my shotgun no so?...if I reload the same then I need not resize the brass...or should I still?

[458Exp]

In theory... no you need not resize.

But then I have found the chambers in O/U do differ in the same gun.

[pre 64]

I would still resize the brass. Same step in the press as to de-prime,so no extra hassle involved.

The shotgun case's base is not brass as is the case of conventional rifle or handgun cases. It looks to me like mild coated steel,as evidenced by empty shells left in the veld....they rust under certain conditions within a day or two.

I reckon that they have far more 'spring' in them and,unless sized,will create chambering problems.

I even invested in a stand alone 'super sizer' as i found that the ring type sizer on the old Lee type press did not size the brass enough for flawless chambering.

[bruce.patience]

my understanding that you don’t resize rifle cases as it gives more accuracy ~ not sure exactly I think I did know but wouldn’t bet on that knowledge now.

For shotgun that is not the case so you may as well size them.

I also have a few shotguns so there is no way I am separating shells per shotgun


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[johannvdg]

In theory... no you need not resize.

But then I have found the chambers in O/U do differ in the same gun.

https://www.ruhanirabin.com/famous-q...bert-einstein/

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[Shot]

The problem with not resizing shotshell brass is that when shot the brass does not "stretch" in a symmetric circle. One side of the brass will be flush against the plastic and the other side will be away from the plastic.

So when you load the shell into the shotgun again, the part standing away from the plastic will intermittently get caught on the inside "lip" of the chamber when closing the gun. (will check, should have a photo or 2 of these "caught" shells). If you close a O/U slowly and softly enough, you feel when this happens. If you then stop and rotate the shell a 1/4 of a turn, it closes without issues.

So yes you can go without resizing the brass, but the question is do you want to. If you are happy with jams and unusable ammo when you shoot to save 3min of reloading time (and zero extra time if you are using progressive press) then don't resize you brass. If you want to shoot more and worry less about loading the shell. Resize your brass.

[Desert Rat]

...thanks for all the inputs much appreciated. Will stick to resizing...I load 20 gauge and scrounge plenty different used shell casings and found that the Fiocchi and Clever casings reload the best, they seem to have thicker plastic than the rest and hold their "previous" crimp form better than others which allows for a better re-crimp on the reloads.
Astounds me that LEE make the base of their shotgun reloader from polymer plastic....resizing some of the recovered shell casings has me worried at times that I am going to break the base with the force required to resize the "brass" hence my original question that if it is fired in my shottie do I need to resize. Never thought of the fact that both chamber might not be 100% the same.

[johannvdg]

The Lee resizing rings may have been designed at a time when American shells actually had brass bases, but that is fast changing.

Most, if not all the hulls we get in SA is a brass washed steel base, hence al lot more difficult to resize.

I would look at getting a MEC Supersizer or just a MEC 600jr.

Both can be found on Ebay for under a 100 bucks in the US. Then you just need to find a lift for it to SA.

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