I thinking of starting to reload my own shot shells, for black.

 

I don't have the space for a bench reloader, and I was wondering if anybody does shot shell reloading by hand?

 

I'm trying to figure out what equipment I would need.

You cant do them by hand, not easily or effeciently at least. A lee load-all is ~$40 brand new, I have them in both 20 and 12ga and many thousands through each with not a hiccup. Not the worlds greatest press but for the price, you cant beat it. You can mount it to a block of wood and clamp it down onto a table for temp. set up.

 

Other than the press, you just need a scale and of course components.

I thinking of starting to reload my own shot shells, for black.

 

I don't have the space for a bench reloader, and I was wondering if anybody does shot shell reloading by hand?

 

I'm trying to figure out what equipment I would need.

A Lee as Glenn noted or even a MEC. If mounted first to a small board, you can then clamp it to a sturdy table and that will suffice as a stable platform. You don't need that much room.

 

While not geared for production, this video of one chap's method of reloading shotgun slugs always gives me a chuckle when I see how unsophisticated the reloading process can really be. (I won't comment on any safety issues here either.)

 

Worth nine minutes of your viewing time:

I've always been curious about loading my own sabot slugs to hunt with... glenn ill have to pick your brain later.

Hi!

I'm in a similar situation as yourself; living in an apartment I don't have the room for a permanently mounted set of reloading equipment. To get around that, I have a 2ft x 1.5ft board that I mount various presses to and then clamp that to a sturdy table. Once loading is completed, I unbolt it, box it up and store it in a wardrobe.

 

For a while I was shooting 5 stand every week. For my shotgun reloading, I started using the Lee Load-All II. It's the equivalent of a single stage press, is very compact, and is very affordable. It wasn't long before I realized the volume of reloading I needed surpassed this press, so I bought a progressive MEC 650 Grabber from eBay. Great press, and works great once mounted to my trusty board.

 

Other presses I mount on the same board are a Lee single stage and a Lee Pro 1000.

Cheers!

I've always been curious about loading my own sabot slugs to hunt with... glenn ill have to pick your brain later.

I used to reload Brenneke's years ago when they sold the slugs separately for reloaders. I haven't found a source that carries them anymore and I've lost interest in it over the years. Here are two online sources for components for slug reloading. BP offers a manual as well for their components:

 

* http://www.ballisticproducts.com/Slugs-and-Components/products/71/

* http://slugsrus.com/store/handload.html

 

There is a good forum on ShotgunWorld where all they discuss are slugs, sabots, slug guns, and reloads. Good source of information here.

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewforum.php?f=118&sid=9aab4fe07e2ea88c48a629ccecd5390f

I started reloading shot shells with a set of Lee Loader hand tools which include everything that need except components (primer, hull, wad, powder, and shot). If a new reloader wants to try loading shot shells without spending a lot, without a doubt step up to a press very soon if they stick with reloading for long though. I would say one thing to keep in mind that shotshell reloads are no place to experiment. Stick with loads that are exactly as you find them in the reloading manuals. A good shotshell reloading manual like the Lyman is recommended.