Straight wall hulls in tapered hulls

[Jrvaughan1956]

Recently I made a mistake and loaded about 100 Nitro 27 Remington 12 gauge hulls with a CB 6100 with 17 grains of Perfect Pattern, Cheditte primers and # 8 lead shot. They loaded easy and made a great looking shell. Is the safe to shoot? Should I take a part salvage components. I like loading several different shells and straight wall and tapered. This might be the best argument for sticking with one load. Usually use CB4100 or CB 0178.I have several bags of CB 6100 for straight wall. Thanks in advance, Jack V.

[Blackfire]

Not knowledged enough myself...but working up different loads is good to do, as components availability varies...

[Scout6a]

What's the weight on your shot load?

[7000grain]

Howdy,

Thanks for the detailed info. Let’s break this down carefully.

Your Load Summary:
• Hull: Remington Nitro 27 (a tapered hull, similar to STS and Gun Club)
• Wad: CB6100-12 (a straight-wall hull wad, clone of Federal 12S0)
• Powder: 17 grains of Alliant Perfect Pattern
• Primer: Cheddite 209
• Shot: 1 oz of #8 lead
• Crimp: Good appearance, smooth cycling

⸻

Issue:

The CB6100 wad is designed for straight-wall hulls (like Federal or Rio), but the Remington Nitro 27 is a tapered hull. When a straight-wall wad is used in a tapered hull, you risk:
• Poor gas seal at the base
• Excessive pressure fluctuations
• Inconsistent velocities
• In some cases, spiked pressure, although most often you get incomplete combustion and off-pattern loads.

Is it safe to shoot?

Short answer: Not recommended.

While you might get away with firing them, it’s not a published, tested load, and the mismatched components — especially a straight-wall wad in a tapered hull — can create unpredictable pressure behavior. There is a risk of:
• Blooper loads (poor combustion)
• Increased fouling
• Wads lodging in barrels
• Pressure spikes in the worst case

If this were a swap like primer brand or ±1 grain of powder, it might be safer to guess. But this is a wad-to-hull mismatch, which is more critical.

What should you do?

You’ve got two realistic options:

Option 1: Disassemble & Salvage
• Use a shell puller or shell cutter
• Salvage powder, shot, and primers if possible (or just the shot)
• Reuse hulls and correct wads later
• Annoying, but safest — especially if these are for clays or league shooting

Option 2: Mark and Use With Caution (Not Advised for Formal Shooting)

If you’re determined to use them:
• Only fire in well-maintained modern guns
• Use in cooler temps
• Avoid competition or fast shooting strings
• Consider shooting them one at a time (e.g., in a break-action gun)
• Watch and listen for poor ignition or odd recoil/sound

But again — this is not a published load and not safe by reloading standards.

Key Takeaway / Lesson Learned

You’re absolutely right: This is a good argument for picking a few go-to loads and sticking with them, especially if you’re using a mix of tapered and straight-wall hulls.

A better match for CB6100 would be:
• Federal Gold Medal, Top Gun, or Rio hulls (straight wall)
• For Nitro 27 hulls, stick with CB1100-12 (clone of WAA12) or CB0178/CB4100

Final Verdict:

Salvage the components. The risk isn’t worth it — especially with 100 rounds.

Let me know if you want help building a few “core” loads for both tapered and straight-wall hulls with the components you already have.

– Eric (fellow shotshell nerd)

[Roby.evans]

Well stated Eric, safety first. The juice is not worth the squeeze for only a hundred rounds.

[Blackfire]

Thanks Eric

[Roby.evans]

https://youtu.be/cf85gRjScl4?si=qpviBnEjBN8r2y6m A good video on straight wall vs tapered wall hulls

[Jrvaughan1956]

I am going to put them aside for a bad weather day and salvage components. Thanks for the input. Jack

[7000grain]

Anytime