Gun Dog Forum

Anyone have experience reloading reclaimed shot? It runs significantly cheaper and whearas I would only be using it for practice club shoots, I think it might be something of benefit. What digging (no pun intended) I have done on the subject, there is (like anything else) pro and con arguements. The pro obviously is the cost savings. The cons that I have heard is that the shot is out of round, not as clean, and of mixed sizes.

Now that my "Shooting Season" has kicked off I am shooting between 2 and 3 days a week. I'm reloading 10-15 boxes a week. This summer it will pick up a bit more. Shot isn't getting any cheaper, although it's still far cheaper to reload.

Call me crazy but I think for practice it can't be all that bad

I have used reclaimed shot and it was great, way cheaper and breaks birds just fine. We had our field mined and cleaned the shot in a cement mixer. I wish I would have bought more. I really don't care if the shot size is mixed, it should all be like 7, 8, and 9's anyway. I shoot good mag shot for serious stuff but for practice it's great. Just my opinion.

codym wrote:I have used reclaimed shot and it was great, way cheaper and breaks birds just fine. We had our field mined and cleaned the shot in a cement mixer. I wish I would have bought more. I really don't care if the shot size is mixed, it should all be like 7, 8, and 9's anyway. I shoot good mag shot for serious stuff but for practice it's great. Just my opinion.

Thats what I was thinking. I am confident enough to know that if I miss it wouldn't be because I was throwing reclaimed shot up in the air. If the indian puts the arrow where its supposed to be, he won't miss.

Some people re-graphite it and some don't apparently? I seen online where you can buy graphite powder. I'm going to try it if I can find some reclaimed shot around here.

Thanks for the input.

Check with local trap clubs. When they have the trap and skeet fields mined they usually offer used shot for sale, at least around here they do. I don't reload but have friends that do and they have used reclaimed shot. You will never know the difference.

tnbndr wrote:Check with local trap clubs. When they have the trap and skeet fields mined they usually offer used shot for sale, at least around here they do. I don't reload but have friends that do and they have used reclaimed shot. You will never know the difference.

Yeah, I got hooked up with a guy through one of the shooting forums and he actually services both gun clubs I attend. He's actually delivering clays to the gun club I attend on Tue/Thursdays tomorrow, and I'm going to pick up 50# worth for starters. $28 bucks a bag beats the heck out of 38-45 bucks a bag.

Cost savings that will end up being spent on fuel. :roll:

$28 bucks a bag beats the heck out of 38-45 bucks a bag.

Price is good but sounds high. When the gun club I attend was selling it a couple of years ago it was $20 for a 1 gallon plastic jug. Don't know what that equates to in pounds though.

I've never used it but then I've never seen it. I don't frequent shooting ranges. But it the stuff is good enough to shoot clays with, it should work well for pointed birds that small quail will work on. I think the idea of out of round is real valid. Matter of fact I've read that same thing from guy's long in the past. If I were shooting competation, I don't think I'd use it for practice. If you miss, was it you or the shot? Probably you but you can't be sure.

tnbndr wrote:

$28 bucks a bag beats the heck out of 38-45 bucks a bag.

Price is good but sounds high. When the gun club I attend was selling it a couple of years ago it was $20 for a 1 gallon plastic jug. Don't know what that equates to in pounds though.

Usually member prices on stuff like that (especially if it was mined from the facility you're a member of) is cheaper. Just in the past couple years I've been reloading, shot has gone up significantly. This reclaimed shot came from somewhere else and its being sold by a guy who has a business servicing Gun Clubs here in KS with consumables.

I am betting he bought a 55 gallon drum of it for about 75-80 cents a pound from whomever mined it. So essentially he's making a profit of $8 bucks a bag and I'm saving at least $10 a bag. I'm quite content with that.

The gentleman showed me a sample of it and it was as clean as anything I've put through my reloader thus far. It looked really good.

If the reclaimer cleans and lubes the shot, I think it's just fine to shoot. You want to make sure it's cleaned though. From the 16 yd line or for any close shooting, I see nothing wrong with the performance.

Just an update since I reloaded some of this Reclaimed Shot...

I have reloaded about 10 boxes of this Reclaimed. Its as clean as anything I have put in my reloader thus far. Yesterday I loaded up some shells before heading out to the gun club to shoot skeet. Win AA hull, Win .209 primer, 19.5 grains (32 mec pwdr bush) of Green Dot, WAA12SL Claybuster wad, and 1 oz of reclaimed shot. Must be good stuff because I broke my PR on my second round of skeet!

Aside from needing to bump the powder bushing up to a 33 for a little more velocity since Benelli's can be finicky about cycling, I had no issues whatsoever. No complaints with reclaimed shot here.

tdhusker wrote:If the reclaimer cleans and lubes the shot, I think it's just fine to shoot. You want to make sure it's cleaned though. From the 16 yd line or for any close shooting, I see nothing wrong with the performance.

+1

The longest shot on the skeet field is 25 yards... I don't ever let them get that far.

Why are you loading Green Dot in 1 oz 12 ga loads?

Greg Jennings wrote:Why are you loading Green Dot in 1 oz 12 ga loads?

A) Because I can
B) Because It works
C my point?

Hey Greg I use a load similar to this sst hulls 1 oz of shot I forget how many grains of green dot and winchester wads (orange I would have to look at the bag to remember exactly what they are). Is there a reason not to load that recipe? Just wondering.

Cody,

My load is straight from the Lyman Reloading Handbook. Its legit, nothing to worry about. Sometimes you have to filter out the pompous air here on GDF because what you do one way, someone else does another way. So in default, your way is wrong. Last I checked, my thread was about Reclaimed Shot, and not about why or why not to reload Green Dot in 1 oz loads.

prairiefirepointers wrote:Cody,

My load is straight from the Lyman Reloading Handbook. Its legit, nothing to worry about. Sometimes you have to filter out the pompous air here on GDF because what you do one way, someone else does another way. So in default, your way is wrong. Last I checked, my thread was about Reclaimed Shot, and not about why or why not to reload Green Dot in 1 oz loads.

+100

I like to run a hotter powder than Green Dot. I feel like a load with a pressure above 9k is more consistent and gives a longer shot string with the 1 oz.

PFP, before using "pompus" to describe me, you might want to ask the basis for where I'm coming from. OTOH, if you want to get in a flame war....

Greg Jennings wrote:Why are you loading Green Dot in 1 oz 12 ga loads?

Sounds pompous to me. Especially since this thread isn't about reloading powders, its about reclaimed shot. It was mentioned in passing, and you felt the urge to point out and be all "Oh my! Why are you doing that!....Reloading Green Dot in 1 oz loads? Shame...."

Greg Jennings wrote:I like to run a hotter powder than Green Dot. I feel like a load with a pressure above 9k is more consistent and gives a longer shot string with the 1 oz.

You could have just stated this from the begining... Although irrelevent to the Reclaimed Shot topic.

Greg Jennings wrote:you might want to ask the basis for where I'm coming from

Don't give a rats arse.

Greg Jennings wrote:OTOH, if you want to get in a flame war

Oh NO! don't throw your weight around! Pleeeeeaaase NO! :roll: