high brass lead shot

[frontgate1]

Can someone explain what high brass lead shot is?
Is it lead shot that is brass coated or lead shot alloyed with brass?
Or something else.

 

[Virginian]

A reference to lead shot loaded into shotgun shell hulls with a "high" outside metal base. "High brass" used to mean higher powered, as opposed to "low brass" whic was targer or field loads, until I think it was the Activ all plastic came along in the 1980s. A lot of shells are still loaded somewhat that way, but the only way to really know the power level is to read the box.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

"high brass"...I haven't heard that term used in quite a while.

Virginian explained it pretty well.

 

[frontgate1]

Federal calls its high priced shells, sold at wallly world, high brass lead.
As compared with the two other types of shells it sells, the game load - cheapest, and the mid-priced load, heavy field load.
High brass is not referring to the brass cap on the bottom of the shell, but is a reference to the type of shot. Why????

 

[_DMC]

It is refering to the hull. Federal calls it "Game-Shok High Brass". It is a lead shot load in a high brass hull. 1 1/4 ounce load at 1,330 FPS.

DC

 

[oneounceload]

High brass has nothing to do with shot...it refers to the height of the brass part of the hull. In olden days, most heavy field loads were placed in high brass hulls, supposedly to help prevent case-head separation, especially with paper hulls.

With modern components, it doesn't really matter.

 

[dagger dog]

Where I came from high brass shell designates a higher working pressure, than a low brass shell, the out side length of the "brass" base of the shot shell.

Lets take 2 loadings for twenty gauge both with #6 lead shot 2 3/4 " shells

Federal heavy field load the high "brass" base measures 0.085" it is loaded with 2&1/2 drams powder and a 1 oz. shot load of lead shot at a velocity of 1165fps.

The other is a Remington field load the low base measures 0.060" it is loaded also with 2&1/2 drams of powder but with a 7/8th oz load of #6 shot velocity of 1225 fps.

The "high" brass 1 oz. load develops higher pressures because it has to move the extra 1/8th ounce shot and the extra length of the brass base is there to contain the higher working pressure.

Lead shot means what it says, the shot contained in the shell is lead and not the non-lead shot that is required by law in most water fowl hunting . Non lead shot being steel, tungsten, bismuth, or other various non lead mixtures.

 

[huntsman]

Forget about high brass or dram equiv. what is most desirable is High Antimony(Hard shot) which is what the more expensive field and trap loads have.

 

[mio]

im suprised somebody hadnt heard that term in a while since its still common use here where i live

anyway as mentioned it refers to the brass on the hull and higher pressures/velocity where it comes into play for me is when im expecting to have longer shots in the field
a good example is december squirrel/grouse hunting no leaves on the trees and lots of snow so my shots are longer than in the begining of the season. the "hopped up" shells with a full choke give me greatly improved performance over the longer ranges.

 

[rcmodel]

It really has nothing at all to do with pressure or velocity anymore.

High-brass originated back in black powder & paper case days.
It was needed to prevent heavy loads of black powder from burning through the paper case walls.

With the advent of smokeless powder, it was no longer necessary, but carried over due more to tradition, then anything else. And the brass case head was used to hold the paper case together with the base wad inside it that held the primer.

But anyway, folks just wouldn't buy a heavy hunting load if it was loaded in a low-brass case.

Then, when plastic cases took over, there was hardly a need for the brass at all, except for a hard point for the extractor to hook on too.

If you handload, you know that you can load Heavy Field, or 2 3/4" Magnum loads in low-brass target hulls and they work just perfectly fine.

rcmodel

 

[Bud Tugly]

IMO the only advantage to the high-brass/low-brass thing is if you're out hunting and you're carrying a mix of field loads for grouse and also some high-power shells in case you run into some pheasants. If you carry them all mixed together in a jacket pocket you can tell them apart at a glance without having to read the print on the sides.

If you're a bit more organized in the way you carry ammo it isn't necessary, but for the more laid-back guys like me it comes in handy once in a while.

 

[huntsman]

Then, when plastic cases took over, there was hardly a need for the brass at all, except for a hard point for the extractor to hook on too.

+1 when I used a 16 gauge I loaded Activ hulls which had no visible metal at all.