Shotshell Questions

[dovehunter]

All the Remington shotshell casings that I have encountered in recent years have the monolithic plastic body and base wad. I have not noticed any difference in the interior volume or appearance on any of them. They don't appear to be any different on the inside than STS hulls that I have used so I load them all the same. I have shot hundreds of them using the same loads prescribed for the STS hulls and have never had any problem. I would not, however, do this with any hulls having a fiber base wad but, as I said, I haven't seen any of these in years. If memory serves me, I believe the Lyman shotshell manual has a section on shotshell hull identification.

Regarding the drams vs. grains relationship, there is no direct relationship. Don't worry about it. The dram equivalent is of no use to reloaders anyway. Some of the shotshell reloading manuals I have seen will show this along with the actual loading data but it is only offered as a ballpark guide to the velocities one might expect to get using a comparable blackpowder load.

[skeet]

Skinny... I don't actually remember the exact figure but a 3 dram load of FFg Black weighs approx 76 grains. That is what I used to load in a few "wake up the dead shells" at the gun club. I actually shot them at skeet targets and they worked just fine. I do remember the load was in a Federal paper case with a SAC wad(Sullivan Arms Co...ergo SAC)which was a plastic overpowder wad with a card and filler wad then 1 1/8 oz of shot. When the shell says a 3 dram equivalent it means that the velocity is approx 1200 ft per second with 1 1/8 oz of shot. Pressures are not equivalent to black powder. Much higher. I even loaded some 20 ga with FFg in a 2 1/2 dr load and they worked just fine too. If you do want to load black in a newer type shell try to find one with a low basewad..preferably paper and straight sided case. You can (and I have) load pyrodex in 12 and even 20 ga shells. I even have a load for my 44 spec shells with pyrodex. Pyrodex is loaded on a volume to volume basis with Black Powder. It weighs approx 80% of what black powder weighs.. So use volume to load Pyrodex. BTW if they haven't changed 'em the green and black shells are the same basic case. They load better if they have 8 star crimps.. the hulls are skivved at the crimp end 6 stars suck.. and usually aren't skivved. Oh and the size of pyrodex to use is either RS or Ctg. FFg in Black powder. FFFg is useable but cut the load by a couple of grains..just for grins. And cold weather does affect pyrodex a bit..so..well you know.

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Are the Remington green Sport Loads and the black Game Loads the same hulls?

Yes

Do they fit under this category from the Hodgdon Manual? "Remington STS, or Nitro 27, or Gun Club Plastic Shells"

again,yes

Do I need a shotshell checker?

I don't know....I've never heard of 'shotshell checker'. However, I have been reloading for 30+ years and have never found the need for one, whatever it is

How do you convert Drams to Grains?

As previously stated, it can't be done. Drams is a measure of volume, not weight, and is a hold over from black powder times. However, if you wish to duplicate a particular load, you can use the Dram equivelent & payload (# of ounces of shot) to give you a velocity, and can then use that information to find a given charge weight of a particular powder to approximate that velocity. For example, if the box is labeled "3 3/4 dram eq, 1 1/4 oz shot", that load is roughly equal to a muzzle velocity of 1330 fps. Knowing that, you can look up the loading tables for 1 1/4 oz shot and find a powder charge that will give you 1330 fps, and you have basically duplicated the 3 3/4 drams of BP that it would take to get you that velocity.
Have I muddied the waters yet?