After i thought about it i plan on starting off loading TSS for turkey hunting, then later on start loading different loads for duck hunting
Shotshell loading is a different animal. If you are thinking of loading mixed hulls you're in for a headache. Different hulls require different wads. Different shot requires different wads. Use the wrong wad and you won't be able to get it to crimp properly. Bad crimp and now your shot leaks out. It fills your pockets, the receiver on your shotgun. Just leaks everywhere.
I'd highly suggest buying a shotshell loading manual and doing a lot of research before you decide to jump into loading shotshells. Not that it's difficult to do. It's just make sure you are really interested in making the plunge.
There are many situations for shotshells where reloading them, compared to buying factory ammo, is entirely a waste of time. Several years back I crunched the numbers on loading 3.5" steel. After it was all said and done I could buy a case of Remington or Winchester steel and it was almost exactly what it cost to reload it. Within pennies per round. There are 3 loads I do load up in shotshells.
A 3.5" load of lead #2 shot
A pleasant load of lead #5's
And a "trap" load of 7.5's
The pheasant load there is a significant cost savings there. Factory "high brass" loads are ridiculously overpriced. The only extra cost for making a pheasant load over a trap load is 1/8 ounce more shot and a little more powder. Since pheasant loads are not produced in the volume like trap loads (and pheasant loads are high brass) they tack about an extra $100 or more on the price for a case.
And if you weren't already aware. High brass on a shotshell is nothing more than a marketing ploy. People pay more for "high brass". Well guess what? You can load goose and duck loads all day long in Winchester AA hulls. (Or pretty much any low brass hull) Read up on the history of high brass. If you didn't already know why it initially was produced. There were legitimate reasons for it's use and development. Those reasons have been eliminated with today's shotshell designs. Why they still make high brass? Because people will buy it for a crazy high price thinking it's what they have to have.
My 3.5" load of lead 2's I load because where the heck could you ever buy that load? If you ever did find it I bet the price would be high.
The trap load I really just load it because I can stockpile components and I already have the hulls. Compared to buying a 100 round "value pack" or case of Winchester, Estate, Remington Gun Club etc. there is no cost savings on reloading trap loads. You can buy the cheap shotshells so cheap it won't save a dime to reload them. Now if you want to compare to buying AA's, at $80-$90 a case, then yeah reloading them will save you some money on trap loads. The stockpiling components for trap loads does save money. It's been probably 8 years since I have loaded trap loads. I probably loaded 3,000 rounds the last time I did it. Well, I purchased the components back then to load another 5,000 rounds. So in another 6-8 years, when all my hulls are empty, I can reload them with components that were purchased at the market price from 2010. That will save me some money. Then I'll do the same thing. Buy components for another 5,000 rounds and sit on them till my hulls are empty again.
So I encourage you to do your research. Crunch the numbers. Compare to buying shotshells in bulk. If you are thinking loading shotshells will save you a bunch of money you'll be disappointed. I not trying to discourage you from doing so. Just be informed of the facts before you buy all the equipment and realize you aren't saving a thing.
For some of the more "exotic" non-toxic loads you might see some cost savings. And I believe that is a BIG might. Crunch the numbers for yourself. There's 7,000 grains in a pound. When I ran the numbers for myself that was buying powder and primers from a local shop that always beats everyone else's price. If you have to pay shipping and hazmat on those components that all adds up. For turkey loads I'm sure a load could be made that'll kill some birds. Will it perform any better than today's highly developed factory turkey loads? I seriously doubt it. A lot of the really good components for those loads aren't available to the public. Plus how many turkey loads do people really shoot in one year? 3,5,15,20? Unless you're shooting competition turkey shoots you probably don't really shoot that many turkey shells.
Shotshell loading is not like loading for rifles. In that for your 300 mag, or 30-06, or 7mm mag you could say save 80 cents a round by reloading. Multiply by 1,000 rounds and you've saved $800. Now that's worthwhile. Shotshell loading (for the most part) is a wash on the cost. Unless you are shooting a lot of a particular load that is expensive to buy but you can load it at a significantly lower cost. If you routinely went though 600 rounds of pheasant shells a year that might be worth it at a savings of 50 cents a round. Or wanted 3.5" loads of lead #2's and shot a lot of it.
Best of luck. I'd start with a loading manual and shop for components to check prices. See what you really want to get into. That's just my experience and 2 cents.
