Advise please

I'm looking at getting into reloading my own steel shot shells.... Does anyone have any advise on brands of shot, primers, wads and powder to use? Is it cost effective to reload rather than buy shells?
It will be 12 gauge shells

Thanks for any help

Cost effective? Not unless you are shooting thousands of rounds yearly.

You mentioned every component except the HULL. And it is a very important part of the recipe. Hulls vary in capacity and can create a dangerous situation very quickly.

While I am certain there are numerous shotshell reloaders here, you will be better served to check out www.shotgunworld.com and inquire there. Nice bunch of guys and a ton of information.

Not saying you are irresponsible in any way, but some folks have the impression that shotshell reloading is just cramming a bunch of stuff into a plastic hull and shooting them. The fact is that you can destroy a shotgun quickly with poor reloads. Do your appropriate research and go about it cautiously. Always use known, PUBLISHED, and exact recipes. And have fun!

Hope that helps a bit.

I put pen to paper a few years back on the cost of reloading steel shot.

Keep in mind, I already have the equipment, so it wasn't factored into the cost.

I could buy Winchester steel shot for duck hunting at about 60 cents per round. It was right at $15 for a box of 25.

After breaking down the cost per shell, it worked out to about 50 cents per shell after the initial cost of hulls

3.5" hulls
Primers
Powder
Wads
Shot
Shot Buffer

I only use steel shot for ducks a couple times a year. The value just wasn't there for me.