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Posted: 4/5/2012 6:05:46 PM EDT
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Does anyone clean shotshells before reloading? I shoot in a very sandy area and the hulls are covered in debris. Suggestions ?
Skink |
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I have once when I bought some used hulls off a skeet and trap range. I washed them in a bucket of soap and water, then dried them in the dryer tied up in a pillow case.
Don't dry shotgun shells in the dryer, and not just because you'll contaminate the inside with lead compounds remaining from the burnt priming compound. The hulls shrunk, and not only enough to notice, but enough to make crimping a problem. They will eventually stretch to full length, but several reloads will be required. Sounds crazy, but it's true. My usual gun for Sporting Clays and so on is an over and under, so the hulls never hit the ground now. But nowadays, if they have a feather or piece of grass stuck to them, I load 'em up. I would wash hulls with dirt, sand, and so on. |
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If there's no debris on the inside and just the outside I'd just wipe them down with a damp rag. If you must clean them only clean 1 piece plastic hulls, certainly not hulls with a fiber basewad like the cheapie Federals. If there's any nicks on the metal head portion it'll likely rust. Nowadays they're either some type of nickel or zinc plated steel or brass plated steel, in the old days most shotshells had brass heads |
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Thanks for the replies. These are all old and new style AA hulls. I have about 3 deer corn bags full that were given to me and I have been shooting them and rotating through the stock, but I wanted to know how other cleaned them. The sand is a very powdery and it gets in everything. I will try the large bucket of soapy water and air dry.
skink |
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Quoted: Thanks for the replies. These are all old and new style AA hulls. I have about 3 deer corn bags full that were given to me and I have been shooting them and rotating through the stock, but I wanted to know how other cleaned them. The sand is a very powdery and it gets in everything. I will try the large bucket of soapy water and air dry. skink That's what I would do. |
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