410 reloading

[bearcove]

What is available to do this.

Probably could resize the brass with a 45 colt die. These are for shooting in a 45/410 contender barrel . don't mind if its a slow process I have kids that help if they want to shoot.

The 410 contender is fun.

Have a Pacific loader for 12ga but I figure you could do 410 in a regular press.

Thanks for your responses, Rod

[rancher1913]

waiting to see what responses are, interested in doing this myself.

[Cowboy_Dan]

I use my regular press to reload brass .410 shells. I use a .444 Marlin die to resize shells (I do need to modify it for 3" shells, maybe cut off the top) and prime with large pistol primers. The rest you will have to do by hand. If you plan to reload paper or plastic hulls, you have to think about crimping them. Either way, you need a dowel to seat wads and something to knock out primers. I use a Lee Universal Decapper for that. I also have a MEC 600 Jr for plastic hulls.

[Littlewolf]

I load 3" brass hulls for my 410 size and recapping done with a 444marlin die 10gr Reddot powder 1/16" thick cork cut with a punch made by cyberguy at .451dia then a 1/2oz size plastic wad pressed in w a 3/8" dowel fill to hull mouth with shot compress with 444marlin m-die seat an overshot card cut with same cutter that made the cork set in loading block till all hulls filled seal with elmers glue or crayola. Almost forgot to mention when using brass hull prime with large pistol primer. Its really that simple to do

[Slade McCuiston]

I lurk here quite a bit but I registered just to drop some information here to help you out.

Dad and I worked up a load for brass .410 shotshells the other day. Considering that I have found absolutely no load data for brass shotshells. As always, if you decide to do this, be safe and work up your load. This is not a published load and may not work correctly in your firearm.


We started with four grains of Universal Clays which was essentially a pop gun. We tried 5 grains, then we worked up to 6.5 grains which seemed to be a good trap load, and then 7 grains which then seemed to be a good squirrel load. Used a 1/2 oz. of shot originally but I increased the load to 7/10 oz.

The CBC brass hulls (by Magtech) use Large Pistol Primers. That's extremely handy when you don't want to have to stock an extra set of primers for your shotguns
Components used in one shotshell, in order:


1. CBC .410 Hull
2. Federal Large Pistol Primer
3. 7 Grains of Universal Clays
4. .125 Maxi Nitro Over-Powder Card
5. .430 Fiber Cushion Wad
6. .450 Overshot Card


Then, use a drop or two of Elmer's glue to seal the overshot card to ensure it doesn't fall out while jostling around in a pocket, etc.


Might I add, I don't know I'll ever start using plastic shot-cups in my reloads. The paper and fiber wads decompose and don't leave a mess in the woods, but I've found plastic wads from years gone by... they don't biodegrade.


I ordered my brass hulls at MidwayUSA and my fiber wads and cards from Ballistic Products, Inc. I'm not affiliated with either company and don't care where you get your stuff.

Oh, and a universal decapping die from Lee is handy for popping out the spent primers.

If you're interested in seeing a video I made of the process the link is below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY2ZkRQlL9o

[Taylor]

Thanks,good info here.I formed a 50 round box this summer from 303 Brit.
I have a black powder load,but not one for smokeless,just haven't got a round to it.I have universal and will try your load.Thanks again.

[Slade McCuiston]

Glad I could be of some help. Again, please work up your load - don't start with 7 grains of Universal Clays right off the bat. I would start at 4 and work up. I shot this in a 16 gauge with an adapter to fire .410. In effect, that gave me a much stronger action than a standard .410. Be safe.

[Taylor]

Have you used any other powders?

[Slade McCuiston]

No I haven't used any other powders. I have seen load data for others which I will post at the bottom. Be very careful and work up loads. I have no clue if this data is actually safe. It's not mine and I haven't tested it.

Case	Reformed 303 British
Projectile	1/2 ounce #9 shot
Wad	3/8 inch diameter 0.090 inch thick overpowder wad, 3/8 inch thick fiber wad, 7/16 inch diameter 0.045 inch thick card wad
Powder	8.0 grains Alliant Herco
Primer	CCI 350
Firearm	Springfield 951
Barrel Length	24.0 inches
Avg Muzzle Velocity	880 feet per second

Case	Reformed 303 British
Projectile	1/2 ounce #9 shot
Wad	3/8 inch diameter 0.135 inch thick overpowder wad, 3/8 inch thick fiber wad,7/16 inch diameter 0.090 inch thick card wad
Powder	11.5 grains Alliant Blue Dot
Primer	CCI 350
Firearm	Springfield 951
Barrel Length	24.0 inches
Avg Muzzle Velocity	948 feet per second

Case	Reformed 303 British
Projectile	1/2 ounce # 6 shot
Wad Column	0.135 inch thick overpowder wad, 3/8 inch thick fiber wad, 0.045 inch thick card wad
Powder	15.0 grains Alliant 2400
Primer	CCI 350
Firearm	Springfield 951
Barrel Length	24.0 inches
Avg Muzzle Velocity	1093 feet per second

[rking22]

Watching this with interest as I like the 410 (a lot) and want to load up some brass loads. Now a question, and I am not throwin rocks, but is there a solid reason not to just start with published loads from the plastic shells? 2400,lil gun,296 are the select powders I have worked with in plastic. I load 2 1/2 410s on a 9000, son and I both shoot lots of them at clays. In fact he is the current state champion with the 410 , again.
I hunt with mostly 3 inch but bought 2 cases about 10 years ago for the hulls and still have some. Load 3 inch on an old 600Jr or a Lee loader if feeling nostalgic(sp).The brass case is just interesting to me for my single barrels, I assume a M42 would not cycle them very well???? I have a box of 405 winchester brass that may become 410s

[Slade McCuiston]

Well, there is a load for 2400 that I listed above. Again, I haven't used that load. Try it at your own risk.

The reason I don't use published loads in plastic shells? Everyone told me performance using published loads for plastic resulted in lackluster performance. Also, because of the component shortage I'm down to IMR 3031, IMR 4166, Universal Clays, and Bullseye. Universal Clays and Bullseye were the only two that were even worth debating... and I determined Universal Clays was the safest bet.

Guys, be safe when working up your loads. I can't stress that enough. Shotguns are a completely different animal when it comes to pressure.

[rking22]

This thread has got my interest up . found this little while ago. http://www.grantcunningham.com/2014/...10-shotshells/

Understand about powder availability, of your choices universal is the only viable. Just feel like it's kinda fast compared to whats typically loaded. Have discussed shooting what we have when we need to and I would do the same. May load up some with the 2400 load tomorrow. Squirrel season's open for testing

[Slade McCuiston]

Well, looks like we're nearly neighbors. I'm from Kentucky. Our squirrel season is open as well. I've been trying to test out my new .410 handloads on a squirrel but I haven't the chance yet. The woods is too thick and I can't see the little boogers. It's early for me still. Usually I ain't hunting until after the corn has been harvested and it's still in our field, albeit dried down nicely.

[tward]

I've been reloading 410 Magtech shells using lil gun and one of the new W-W 410 wads. I found they are just the correct diameter. Use 300 grains of shot and an overshot wad sealed with glue. I found for resizing that 45 ACP dies are slightly smaller than 45 Colt dies and work well. All shot from contender, good pattern at 25 to 50 ft. Tim

[Greg S]

As rking22; i used to shoot quite abit of skeet. As to the decreased performance of plastic hulls, I did some research years ago.

For factory shells for skeet I prefer the old Rem ribbed hulls and reloaded them once for compition with a rem 209, 13.0 296, a rem sp410 wad and 1/2 oz of 8.5s. After the first reloads, each addition reload would result in lower and lower scores with any manufactured 410 plastic hull.

Rem ribbed hulls were good for 2-3 reloads before they became whistlers (plastic hull burned through and broke off at the end of the brass base. Win AA could be reloaded more but again each reload resulted in lower scores and a reduced pattern. I think 4 reloads on a AA was something like a 9-10" pattern @ 18 yds where a factory shell was in the 18-24".

It would be interesting to try brass cases for skeet. I would venture to say a wad/or mylar shot column would get you a better pattern at distance.

[35 Whelen]

Here's my little dab of experience in loading and shooting the .410.
I bought the big Lyman shotshell reloading manual and chose my loads VERY carefully. I chose them based on chamber pressure figuring the less the chamber pressure, the less shot would be deformed, and the more consistent patterns would be. Therefore I matched components exactly, especially when it came to 3" hunting loads, as they were published. I used a MEC 600 Jr. and an adjustable charge bar set to throw the exact powder weight and set it to throw the shot charge which I also carefully weighed rather than relying on a volume setting.
My shotgun is a sweet little SxS by Richland Arms. It has a gorgeous piece of walnut in the buttstock and since it's built on an actual .410 frame is light and handles beautifully. The chambers have long forcing cones which helped reduce damage to shot as it transitioned to the barrel. Finally and most important, I had screw in chokes installed by Michael Orlen. I used the skeet and IC chokes and 2.5" #9's for skeet shooting and IC and MOD chokes and 3", 3/4 oz. #8's for dove and quail. I found with dove and quail that if they were within 25 yds, or maybe a yard or two more, they simply stood no chance.

35W

[Slade McCuiston]

My loads worked well enough...

[rking22]

Pretty good proof of concept, I'd say
I been hunting with a Win 69 last few times. That pic makes me think a 410 excursion is pending ! Fall is in the air, good hunting.

[rbuck351]

I've been using 444Marlin cases and a 44GC upside down over the powder. This gives plenty of room for a full 3/4 oz of #9s then a over shot wad held in with a bit of silicone. Works great in my Savage 24 grouse gun. I have used both H110 and 2400 with good results. I would think AA9, Blue Dot, Lil Gun and anything else in that burn range would work well. Pressure signs really can't be read at shotgun operating range with out proper equipment so starting low and stopping at around 1100/1200 fps should keep you safe.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have been loading .410's for a few years now. I had a 8 lb jug of H110 that I figured out I would never use up in my .44's, so I had to buy a $2000 Browning Sporting Clays Edition O/U to use up that jug of powder.

I also bought 1000 O/F Win AA and a Pacific DL266 to load with. It turns out perfect ammunition, but it is only for 2.5" hulls. AA hull, 16 gr of H110, 1/2 OZ #9 shot and a Claybuster wad that duplicates the Winchester wad. The secret is lining up the skives of the hull with the splines on the outside of the final crimp die. Perfect crimp every time! If you don't line it up you get about 1-2 out of 10 with crushed crimps as the crimp die doesn't float easily enough to correct its position and line itself up like the one on my 12 ga DL266.

What I noticed about loading .410's with hand tools is that the hardest part is getting the crimp right. I have never gotten a good crimp out of my Paco Kelly hand tools that I use for loading 3" hulls. The fix for this was a roll crimp tool from BPI. It works well as soon as you get the hang of it. So you do everything up to the crimp with the hand tools and then move to the drill press for the crimp.

But then I figured out that I could do everything the hand tools were doing up to the crimp,,, On my DL266 and get better results and faster too. The only things I had to change were the height of the wad guide and the bushing for the shot.

I love this gun and the .410 shell in general, and reloading these hulls is much more fun than doing endless 12 ga.

Randy