Has anybody tried reloading the 16 gauge shells Cabela's is selling under the Herter's brand name? They are Cheddite hulls, but seem very thin and I wondered whether they'd take the crimp.

I bought three flats to shoot in my Arrieta and hate throwing them away if they'd reload once or twice. On the other hand, I don't want to get a bunch of components and find out that the hulls collapse at the crimp station.

Thanks.

I load them, Work OK, as good as any other Cheddite Hull you buy new from the suppliers. 3-5 loads then toss. 16's it's about the best of the "available" lot. Real good hulls like AAs all but impossible to find. DR 16 wad I understand was designed with that Hull in mind, good for 7/8 oz loads with no fillers. 3/4 the crimps want to collapse. No doubt they work best with 1 oz.

The Herters 1 oz have a little to much recoil for my old Hammer Guns, shoot them in a Remington 31 or a Trojan then re-load for the Hammer guns. Your Arrieta recoil probably not a issue.

Boats

I use them for roll crimping my 16ga. spreader loads....they work well! I also fold crimp them until they start to wear out...then cut them down for roll crimping.

Nice looking loads, I have been roll crimping using new Cheddites, Herters 2 3/4 fold crimps only. Way I cut down from 2 3/4 to 2 1/2 for the rolled loads on a table saw, sliding table, fresh hull works best. Thinking the band saw could do a better job.

Only thing I am roll crimping are spreaders, volume about 20 % of total.

Boats

Lovely finish on the roll crimp, factory could not be better

I cut my hulls down using a home made dowel with a blade. I think someone sells them? Very quick cutting hulls, and makes a clean cut. I also have a screw in the bottom of the dowel to adjust the hieght of the cut. Very important to adjust for your particular recipe, and still get a nice final crimp.

CB0078-16 was developed for 7/8 oz. loads. It is the same as the CB0100-16 with a button in the bottom. It loads well in Herters 2 3/4 hulls. If you want the load PM me or email at mfitt(at)optonline.net. It tests out at about 8,000psi.

Does anyone know of any published loads to reload the Herters 16ga
hulls using U.S. primers and wads? I have lots of them but would have to mail order for Fiocchi or Rio primers and pay hazmat.

Hi, I've reloaded many of the Herters Cheddite hulls,and for me they've crimped beautiful. No problems what so ever. In fact for my 16ga hunting loads this is my hull of choice.

As these hulls are Cheddite's any Cheddite published load would be fine. You may want to join the Yahoo 16ga reloading Group, it's free and they have a ton of recipes.

https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/reloading16gauge/info

Good Luck!

Greg

I've just taken up 16ga reloading (again). I go back to the 16ga reloading days when there were 2 different sized primers and when you could actually get 16ga target hulls. (Really good hulls for 16's don't exist, unfortunately.) And everyone used either the old Remington R-16 or Win WAA blue wads . . . until they were no longer available.

So far, I've reloaded ONLY the Herter's hulls using the CB 7/8 oz wad. Cheddite primer, Universal powder. I drop one Cheerio on top of the shot as filler. They crimp very nicely, but I would guess 5 reloads/hull would be a stretch. Other than leaving a lot of crud in the barrels, I really like the load.

What about the Federal hulls. I have noticed our local Walmart has starting putting out a few Federal 16ga shells. I don't know if they are available as empties or if you just have to buy loaded ones to get the hulls. They have some in what is essentially the old 2½-1 load @ about $8.00 a box. Would not recommend firing even these in a strictly "Black Powder" era gun or light 65mm chambered ones.

40x,

From the 16 G Society Spreadsheets, no link to any testing. All with the RP SP Hull 15.5 g International DR 16 Wad 7/8 oz.

Ched 209 1119 FPS 6160 #

Rem 209 STS 1124 FPS 6140 #

Win 209 1105 FPS 5760 #

General opinion is Win 209's produce less pressure and velocity than Cheddite Primers. Problem is little data currently published on 16 G light loads and components limited.

Not recommending anything to anybody, I use Cheddite hulls Win 209's & DR 16 Wad in my 16 G loads and data very close to above. All very light loads. Pushing velocity or shot load would not use any of this information & stick with factory tested.

Listen to warnings from the ammo company's would not shoot my Twist barrel 16 either.

Boats

2 Piper am on the lookout for some of those Federal 1 oz 16's shoot them in a Pump then see what the hulls will do loading. Even though the Cheddite Hulls work, would drop them in a minute for a quality hull.

Boats

The reloading sheets from 16ga.com have many low pressure loads, used and some tested. Join the group, acquire the spread sheets, and you'll have plenty of choices.

A buddy of mine reloads the Rem Game load hulls (black) and gets over 6 reloads per minimum. I use only the cheds and get at least five reloads per. Then cut them down for a couple of roll crimps again.

I do have 500 of the 16ga. Win CF hulls. They reload well. I'm only up to about three reloads on them, as they are strictly used as my hunting loads.

Brydog over on the 16 ga forum sells that tool to cut down hulls. Works great.

I have loaded a few hundred of the Herters hulls in 16 ga. They load and crimp fine, but they only last 3-4 loadings and then the crimps split. They are a decent hull and the right color.

As far as I'm concerned there's nothing Federal makes that comes in a 'quality' hull. It's all shoot and pitch including Gold Medal. I'm not saying they can't be reloaded, but life is too short to dork with inferior hulls. They're cheap for a reason.

The Herter's, Rio, Cheddite, etc. are the same deal. Have at it if you want, but I ain't gonna.

Remington 16s are the best available to load, and in fact the Remington is the best available in any gauge except 28 and 410 where AA is still king of the hill.

I've used enough of the Herter's factory shells to be able to recommend them highly in any gauge or loading. Cabela's should be commended for not charging the '16 gauge premium' on the Herter's line of shells. Bravo Cabela's.

The only alternative I can think of is in form of Winchester loads with stars on base (Starline make) in form of Browning ammo made at WW Australian facility. Not sure what quality cases are, but loaded ammo is substantially more expensive than equivalent loads from competition using Cheddite cases. Quite interestingly 16ga Winchester shells in grey boxes are also loaded at Australian factory but use Cheddite hull. That is the way it has to be because it would not be good if customers bought Browning ammo and found Winchester stamped on case base. I believe that are fair number of buyers still think Browning actually manufactures something. Finding out the truth may not be good for company business. For example, what I mean is the new Browning Auto 5 with Benelli recoil system is collection of mass produced parts assembled into guns at secret location (I would guess Portugal or South Korea).

Yesterday the Cabela's in Grandville, MI had Herters target loads for sale for $54.99/flat. They were mostly 20 & 12 gauge , but they had a couple of 16's at that price as well.

Question: Can you reload today and make significant savings compared to the $5.50/box price of the Herters?

I reload 12's and sometimes wonder if the effort is worth it when I can buy shells at that price. I am not a high volume shooter; maybe 150 /week.

Time = money. I always buy factory loads and never re-load for that reason. In free time I like other activities that involve fresh air like hiking, mountain biking, fishing, hunting,.....

The problem with Herter's 16g. is they come in 1 ounce only and many 16g. guns are light, at least mine are. Cannot shoot an ounce through them comfortably at sporting clays. If they came in 7/8 ounce they would take the entire market.

One ounce in #6 is deadly on wild pheasant but you don't shoot many in a day.

Yes, it would be nice to find 3/4oz 20ga and 7/8oz 16ga shells at our local merchants shelves. I do feel your disappointment.

One of my 16 G Hammer guns FN about 1910 weighs less than 6 lbs. One I shoot the most Parker Hammer is 6 lbs 8 oz. Either one Herters 1 oz way too much recoil and they don't need a lot of shot. My reloads in Herters hulls Bushing is supposed to throw 3/4 oz. By weight it's throwing 11/16 oz. 11/16 oz at 1150 fps is a fine sporting clays load for targets 30 yards and under if the gun is choked.

I use 7/8 in a Trojan that weighs 6/10 near perfect load for that gun.

Boats

And that's the reason we reload, to make stuff we cannot buy.

And you guys who load the straight walled stuff, especially the rolled crimps... my hat is off to you.

I load for the same reason I cook... not because I enjoy it, but because I'm not going to pay for an overcooked hamburger and the results justify the effort.

I seem to recall that Federal offered some 7/8 oz 16ga loads a few years back. I was excited until I saw the velocity was something over 1300 fps. Not much recoil reduction from 1 oz @ 1165 fps.

I like Federal Cartridge. It is the only company I can think of that loads steel shot in 16ga. While expensive at $20 per 25 in comparison to same cartridge in 12ga it is substantially cheaper than other 16ga non-lead alternatives.

Are RST 16 gauge shells Cheddite also?

Yes they are.

Best,

Greg