Shotshell Bulges

[dovehunter]

I too have experienced this problem with the cheaper Federal shells and mostly in 20 ga. I believe the problem is that there is less interior volume in their shells with the tapered, fiber base wad, at least as compared to Remington's STS and Winchester's A-A cases. When you use the same or similar loads in the Federal shells it fills the case too much and, when you apply a crimp, it crushes them right above the brass. I have never liked Federal shells for reloading and still don't. However if you go to a plastic wad that is not so tall - say going from a Rem. RXP-20 to SP-20 - that usually seems to cure the problem, at least in my case.