sealing over shot cards in brass shells *** with follow up question***

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

OK, so I recently acquired a Belgian Hammered Double in 16ga.  I also managed to get hold of some Brass Shells for it (Thank you!).  I also have the full set of correct sized over powder cards, cushion wads and over shot cards.

 

While I have been loading BP into plastic hulls for many years, I have never loaded brass.  Not much different than what I am already doing except for sealing the over shot card.  Everybody has their favorite sealing material: Duco Cement, Elmers glue, water glass, bubble yum bubble gum, spit from a horned toad, etc.  And all of those methods work just fine.  What I am after, being new to brass shells, is the one that is the easiest to get right.  These are not going to magnum loads!  This shotgun is about 125 years old.  As much as I love a big boom, this will be loaded on the lighter side.  No sense beating up on an antique.

 

So, to all the Soot lords out there, what method would you suggest to a guy new to brass shotgun shells?

 

And now a follow-up question....

 

now that we have successfully stuck/glued/soldered an overshot card in place well enough to not fall out under normal bumps and bruises.  How much of that glue comes out when fired and for the remnants how do you get them back out of the shell for the next loading?  If I am over thinking this too much, I cant help it... I'm an engineer. 

 

 

[Kid Rich]

Easiest and most reliable for me was a hot glue gun, cooled and ready to shoot in seconds. lasted on the shelf when others dried out or failed.

kR

[Hogleg Hunter]

Elmer's wood glue works for me. 

 

Hogleg

[Diamond Curly SASS#57086]

I use Dulac glue and shelf life is about a year. Elmers works fine but dulac is easier to apply. Oversized helps.

[Buckshot Sheridan]

I just used the roll crimp in my CH4D dies. It isn’t much crimp, but the card stays secure. Used to stick them in with about everything else out there, but this was just less hassle and worked better. 

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

In the good old days the over shot card was retained by a light roll crimp as described by Buckshot.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

HA!!  None of the above??

 

Depends (No, not the ones inna plastic baggie).  Size of your Over-Shot cards.  DISCLAIMER:  I do not load nor shoot 16Ga shotgun.  I shoot All Brass 12Ga Magtech exclusively.  I DO NOT roll crimp.  A roll crimp just makes the hull harder to reload.  My over-shot cards are quite tight in the hull.  Therefore I simply use TWO over-shot cards pressed firmly down on the shot column.  They stay together just fine in my Hammer Double guns.  They may come out if dropped on concrete.  Only happened once.  

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

8 minutes ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

HA!!  None of the above??

 

Depends (No, not the ones inna plastic baggie).  Size of your Over-Shot cards.  DISCLAIMER:  I do not load nor shoot 16Ga shotgun.  I shoot All Brass 12Ga Magtech exclusively.  I DO NOT roll crimp.  A roll crimp just makes the hull harder to reload.  My over-shot cards are quite tight in the hull.  Therefore I simply use TWO over-shot cards pressed firmly down on the shot column.  They stay together just fine in my Hammer Double guns.  They may come out if dropped on concrete.  Only happened once.  

 

This is sort of like masking!  One is good, two is better.  Holy, moly what happends if three are used?  Some people use stiff clear plastic cards that fit tightly like CC describes. Holds the shot and you can see inside!  (If that matters.)  In the old days the factories weren't worried about reloading.  They needed a fast way to push loaded rounds out the door.  I remember back in the early 1960s my dad was assigned to the Damneck, Va. Naval Gunnery Range.  At that time it was a Polaris missile training facility.  Just off the beach were groves of trees.  I wandered out there one day and there were mountains of brass shotshells under the trees.  During WWII they used shotguns to teach gunners how to lead and tossed the empties into the woods.

[Three Foot Johnson]

Started with Duco, went to Elmer's carpenters glue - much more cost effective to buy a gallon jug than all those little tubes of Duco.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

1 hour ago, Buckshot Sheridan said:

I just used the roll crimp in my CH4D dies. It isn’t much crimp, but the card stays secure. Used to stick them in with about everything else out there, but this was just less hassle and worked better. 

 

This is what I did for years.   But, I have to admit that maybe 1 or 2 shells out of 50 would still have the card fall out and spill the shot.

So now, after I do the crimp, I just do a circle of Elmer's white glue.   It hardens up and seems to hold everything more securely in place.

(And just to be contrary, I load 'em with smokeless all the time.)

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

24 minutes ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

 

This is sort of like masking!  One is good, two is better.  Holy, moly what happends if three are used?  Some people use stiff clear plastic cards that fit tightly like CC describes. Holds the shot and you can see inside!  (If that matters.)  In the old days the factories weren't worried about reloading.  They needed a fast way to push loaded rounds out the door.  I remember back in the early 1960s my dad was assigned to the Damneck, Va. Naval Gunnery Range.  At that time it was a Polaris missile training facility.  Just off the beach were groves of trees.  I wandered out there one day and there were mountains of brass shotshells under the trees.  During WWII they used shotguns to teach gunners how to lead and tossed the empties into the woods.

 

Where is this place?  Is it open to the public?    I wonder if all those shells are still there, waiting to be cleaned up and reused!

[Turkey Flats Jack]

I've tried several things and what I've found best for me is a slight roll crimp and some tallow to seal it in. I use 50/50 crisco/beeswax on top of the card then put a roll crimp on it. The trick to getting the roll crimp out is to anneal the brass every couple reloads. It takes the crimp out when you shoot it. 

[Major Art Tillery]

I use Elmer's Glue... Cheap, and you can buy alot of it before school starts at great prices.  I pool it up probably 1/16  on top over shot card and let it dry.  Works great for me.   

[Hoss]

I’ve tried Elmer’s, hot glue and waterglass.  
 

my best result was to take a thin layer of fiber wad, say 1/4 if a wad, put it over shot, then a overshot card on top of that, glued in with waterglass. The fiber wad gives something for the glue to stick to. 

[Tom Bullweed]

I use whatever wood glue is on hand.  My overshot wad is 1/4" or more below the mouth of the hull, so I get plenty of room for the glue.

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

added follow up question in original post...

[Mud Marine,SASS#54686 Life]

I use an 8 gauge overshot card glued down with Duco Cement on my 10 gauge 3-1/2" double crammed with BP. It works for me. The Duco tubes make it really easy to squeeze down the right amount of glue. The cost is minimal in the overall cost of competing!!!

[Three Foot Johnson]

On 2/7/2022 at 11:38 AM, Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428 said:

And now a follow-up question....

 

now that we have successfully stuck/glued/soldered an overshot card in place well enough to not fall out under normal bumps and bruises.  How much of that glue comes out when fired and for the remnants how do you get them back out of the shell for the next loading?  If I am over thinking this too much, I cant help it... I'm an engineer. 

 

 

There's usually a ring, or partial ring, of Elmer's left. I drop 'em in a bucket of water to neutralize the BP residue anyway, and the water softens the glue enough that it can be easily scraped out with a popsicle stick.

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

59 minutes ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

water softens the glue enough that it can be easily scraped out with a popsicle stick

I wondered if the after BP wash down would help with the left over glue ring...  Thanks

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

I use 11 gauge wads and overshot cards in the Magtech 12 gauge hulls.

I've not fired any of the glued ones yet, so I dunno what happens to the hardened glue. 

[Diamond Curly SASS#57086]

2 hours ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

I use 11 gauge wads and overshot cards in the Magtech 12 gauge hulls.

I've not fired any of the glued ones yet, so I dunno what happens to the hardened glue. 

I use Duco glue and about twenty five percent of them have a thin ring after being in the tumbler. I have a nylon shotgun brush on a handle and just swab it out. No problem. DC

[Jailhouse Jim, SASS #13104]

I use hot glue.  It all comes out.

[The Blarney Kid]

I use 11ga over powder and cushion wads and 10ga over shot wads with a bead of Elmer's school glue around the wad. To clean out any glue residue I use a plumber's 3/4in tubing brush.