doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Reloading 2 1/2 12 ga ammo

I have friend wanting to start reloading some of the 2 1/2" 12 ga empties he has (RST and Lyalvale) accumulated. I've seen posts about PW's willingness to sell or modify the 12 ga shell die for PW375s to load 2 1/2" shells, but a search of this web site isn't showing anything to help with components or reloading data. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
V/r
Maxey

I got a 2 1/2 inch die a number of years ago from them for my PW Loader. I am pretty sure if you call them they will fix you up.

Maxey, is your friend aware of the success many vintage gun shooters have had with low pressure and low recoil 2 3/4" hulls? These are pretty much "off the peg" loads that load easily and cheaply.

I got a quote from PW on a 16 gauge die and it was very reasonable. Gil

Rocketman - yes he and I are both aware of the light 2 3/4" ammo and loads, but he hates to waste all those 2 1/2" empties, and besides, most of us here always take the road less traveled!!!
V/r
Maxey

PS - appreciate you continued insights and contributions to this and other boards!!!

OK, Maxey, just making sure light load 2 3/4"ers didn't get overlooked.

So, if you don't find a commercial solution, PM me and we will see if I can help you/him out.

An adapter can be purchased for the MEC 2 3/4 reloader to load 2 1/2 shells without having to change dies. If you play long enough you can find a cheap MEC or texan 12 gauge on ebay and simply set it up for 2 1/2 only (I have done that with a texan 16 ga with good results on both polywad and rst 2 1/2 hulls.

Consider roll crimping for 2 1/2, once you start you may become addicted.

Plastic cases should be pretty easy. A shotgun chamber, be it 2.5" or 2.75", is of sufficient diameter to accmodate thick-walled (about 0.025") paper cases. If you use 2.75" plastic cases in a 2.5" chamber, the mouth of the plastic case is so thin (about 0.005") that even in the forcing cone area it will not impinge on the bore diameter. In other words, fired from a plastic case, the shot and wad will actually have to jump a short over-diameter area before finally reaching the actual bore. Find a bore gauge and prove it for yourself.

Hello Maxey, Does your friend already have a 12 gauge PW375 reloading tool ???

If he or you already own a 12 gauge PW375 tool set up for 2 and 3/4 inch shells then there are 2 or 3 easy ways to go to use the RST empty hulls that are already 2 and 1/2 inch empty hulls. First you can do nothing EXCEPT put an over the shot card on top of the shot before you crimp the 2 and 1/2 inch shell closed and the card will hold it all together. There will be a hole in the middle of the crimp but the hole will be filled by the card. This works very well.

If you do not want to do this there are modifications that can be made to convert the PW375 12 gauge to a 2 and 1/2 reloading tool. It is not hard to do.

Good Shooting To You, Jent

jentpmitchell@msn.com

I can't help y'all from going down the road less traveled - I'm prone to that adventure/misadventure myself.

However, RST hulls are not very good for reloading. I don't know about the 12 gauge hulls but in 16 gauge there is little crimp memory and you must manually index the crimp starter for the first two or three reloads - and most of them don't last more than three or four reloads. I only reload them (and other Cheddite and similar type hulls) in 16 gauge because, as bad as they are, there is no hull that is better. I reload 2 1/2" hulls in the 16 gauge only because I'm a dumpster diver and 90% of the empty hulls discarded at Vintager shoots are 2 1/2" RST's - I choose do it the easiest way.

In 12, 20 and 28 gauge I only reload Winchester AA's and Remington hulls. Both of my old 12's have been let out to 2 3/4" but if I had a 2 1/2" 12 bore I would shoot my low pressure 2 3/4" reloads in it. I don't go out of my way to do it the hard way.