Reloads and other mysteries....
OK, ok I'll admit it, I like to reload. It's kind of like my wife Janet's crocheting...I relax while I reload and it helps me unwind after a busy day.
That being said, should you consider reloading or not? It's a great hobby and if you have the time to devote, it can be productive, relaxing and rewarding. You also have to be a shopper and snatch up any deals on components and empty shotshells. If you wander into your average sports store the retail price of components (+ tax) will usually equal and sometimes exceed the cost of new shells. I go to a few large shoots where vendors have shot, powder, primers and wads at near wholesale pricing. I'll stock up on whatever they have that's a good deal.
I generally shoot new shells at registered handicap and save the empties. That's my primary supply for shells to reload. Some of the big clubs will just about give you boxes of empty shells after a shoot so you can stock up there too. The Remington Gun Club shell is a very good shell to reload and the cost of new ones is about $60-$65 a flat. Most often I reload STS or Nitro27 shells. They produce great loads and can be reloaded multiple times.
What to use.:
Primers:. I have found little difference in primers other than some failures in the Noble Sport 209's. They are ok...I just don't trust them enough to use for registered targets...great for practice though. Most often I use Fiocchi primers which for all intents and purposes duplicate Winchesters. Use the correct loading data for the primers you choose. The only downside to Fiocchi's is they are a tiny bit larger than Remingtons or Winchesters...so if you go back to them after loading Fiocchi's you may find the primers are a bit loose.
Powders are another subjective area. I happen to like Green Dot for handicap loads and Solo 1000 for singles and doubles (trap) loads. They seem very close to factory shells when I use these components. For skeet and sporting clays I use a 12 ga. 1 oz. load with Solo 1000. Velocity is around 1210 fps. and it patterns well with both 7 1/2 and 8 shot. The "Clays" powders are very clean burning and those of you who use autos will find cleaning a snap when using these. Choose one you like and stick with it!
Factory (Rem., Win, and Fed.) have gone out of sight in the last two years...so, I switched to Down Range products wads. Their DR-XL Blue 1 1/8 oz wad is all I use for the heavy loads and the DR-XL1 for the 1 oz. stuff. They pattern great, are generally available and priced reasonably. I find they leave very little plastic In the barrel which is nice when gun cleaning time comes around! One other note, the wads mentioned above have a bevel on the wad apron to slide over the base cone in the newer Winchester AA red and dark silver shells. It makes loading these shells a whole bunch easier.
Shot.: I prefer Magnum shot or hard shot if I can get it. That said...I got about 8 bags of reclaimed shot from Silver Dollar Trap Club this past spring and loaded it up for singles and doubles practice and it worked just fine. Handicap loads or long range loads for sporting clays I would use Magnum 7 1/2. Lawrence brand is some good stuff and I'm sure there are others which will perform equally well.
Most importantly, be consistent with your reloads. Find what works and stick with it! Use only published reloading data, weigh your powder charges and don't rely on charts. Changing powders and recipes often will lead to problems. Reloads are lot like computers...Garbage in....Garbage out!
Hope you found some of this helpful! Shoot well and often,
Bob