Federal 2-3/4 #8 Target Load

Over the summer a few of my friends and myself made use of our spare time on the weekends(pending weather) to go to the trap range and blast the day away. Over the last few months we have accumulated quite the stock of shot shell cases. After sorting through the many boxes of empty shells its time to hit the bench!

When I first started loading shotgun shells I would use Winchester SuperX cases. But the problem I was having was that the plastic was too soft and would not keep its form once set through a final crimp. The only way to keep that from happening was to set the final crimp deeper but that would cause the top of the shell to mushroom out. Next on the list was try the Remington Gun Club cases I had. The Remington cases are a much higher grade plastic. Yet again I ran into a problem. The cases are so stiff that they woul get stuck on the re-sizing bit. Also the old primers do not fully eject when running through the first cycle of the machine. Finally I found it! The perfect case to reload! Federal Top Gun shells. The plastic is firm enough to hold its shape after the final crimp yet still soft enough to run through the re-sizer and not get hung up.


Equipment being used:

-M.E.C Jr. 600

-Federal 2-3/4 (Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Shells)
-CCI 209 Primers
-Hercules Red Dot Powder
-Lawrence #8 Magnum Lead Shot
-Clay Buster 1 oz. Wads

 Using 1oz. of lead shot with 18grs. of Hercules Red Dot should give these loads a rating around 1200 F.P.S. I usually lighten up on my target loads. I can normally make a box of 25 of these in around 15min. Its a little tedious not having a progressive shot shell re-loader especially since I shoot shotgun a lot more often then rifle or pistol. Maybe in the future I will upgrade. But as for now its a good way to kill clay time. As for the final product. These things shot amazing and were very efficient. Very little cleaning needed after putting 250 through my Beretta. Now the search begins to find more shot at a reasonable price. Both of my local shops where I buy all my supplies from are currently out of stock of both #8 and #7 1/2. If I were to buy it online its usually $10 more + shipping(which is an arm and a leg on a 25lb bag).