My first post on this BB talked about brass shot shells and this post will speak to my opinions on same. I have been using Hammer Double and RMC brass 16 Ga. shot shell hunting loads in modern shotguns for almost a year. As some of you know Hammer Double, the producer/modifier of Mag Tech brass hulls is no longer in business. During very cold weather both hull types have a common problem and that is the glued in over- shot cards can and will fall, out sending the shot down the barrel. I use Ducco Cement and it may not be very flexible in cold Temps. Are there any glue experts out there?
I think that I have fixed the problem by roughing the inside of the hull near the top with 150 grt. sand paper, which appears to secure the overshot card in place. My last few outing the cards have stayed in place with temps ranging from 20 to just below freezing.
Hammer Double brass has one fault and that is the base wad can fall out and lodge in the barrel. I noticed the base wad had fallen out and was in the bottom of my shell box. The fix is to place the Hammer Double shell in a “V” block and dimple the case in four equally spaced places just above the inner wad.
A problem with the RMC brass hulls is that they are difficult to reloaded on a press. Instead, hand tools such as the Lee Loader work very good.
Most of the hunting loads that I have patterned are from data that Tom Armbruster supplied for Hammer Double and two loads that Tom gave me for RMC loads via the telephone. The data are for 1 and 1 1/8 oz loads using Unique, Herco, IMR 4756 and IMR’s Trail Boss. All patterned good and with the IMR 4756 and IMR Trail Boss patterning beautiful. I have also tried a variety of loads using one piece wads in the RMC hulls with good success.
While the loading of brass hulls requires a little more time and attention to detail than loading paper or plastic hull, I enjoy the process and often in the evening I load those shells that I shot that day.
