Brass Shotgun Hulls and the Evil White Stuff

[Dragoon 45]

A friend asked me this question: Can you use a smokeless powder such as Clays in Brass Balloon Head Shotgun Hulls? I know that MagTech states right on their Boxes "for use with black powder only", but I am not sure about other brands. I advised my friend not to load anything but BP or a sub in these hulls, but got to wondering about it after I talked to him.

I would fear rupturing the case head as there is very little metal in that area in these balloon head cases. Also it seems almost like a sacriledge to use anything but BP. Am I full of it, or was my warning to him correct?

Thank You.

[Abert Rim]

Dragoon, there might be some sort of safe load out there for the Magtech brass, but shot shell pressures can so easily get out of hand with just a slight change of components that I'd personally stick to BP or Pyrodex in the balloonheads. That's all I have ever loaded in Magtech brass.

[elk hunter]

This won't help you much, but Alcan used to list smokeless loads for their brass cases so I suspect MagTech cases could be loaded with it, the question is should they. Pressure is pressure whether it's generated by black or smokeless, but every type of shotshell hull reacts differently to the same set of components, what may be a great load in one may be dangerous in another. that's why you should use only published, properly tested data with the specified case when loading shotshells.

[The Double D]

The Mag tech cases are not made the same as the old Alcan brass cases, the Alcans had a head wad, the CBC's do not.

Follow the manufactures advice and use only black powder in those cases. And understand none of the substitutes are black powder, they all are smokeless powder . Before loading any of the substitutes contact the powder manufacture, some of the those substitutes generated soem rather high pressures for the results.

True enough pressure is pressure, but how the pressure is generated is not equal

[Chiefs50]

I have a box of brass .410 cases from MagTech and the box I have doesn't have a "Black Powder Only" warning. I have loaded these with Lil' gun and used them in my 14" Contender. I haven't had a problem doing this. I know many others have done this as well. Are we sure there is a safety issue here? I do have a good supply of .444 brass available to me but they are even shorter than the MagTechs so I'm not so sure how they would work.

Mike

[Skipper]

Here's the info from Magtech:

"Q: Does Magtech have any reloading data for the brass shotshells?
A: For details on loading Magtech’s Brass Shotshells go to www.circlefly.com. Locate the menu on the left side of the screen and click on Wad Sizing Chart to find all the internal products used in reloading Magtech Brass Shotshells. You can also click on Loading a BP Cartridge to find detailed loading tips. "




http://www.circlefly.com/html/wad_sizing_chart.html

http://circlefly.com/html/bp_cartridges.html

Here's a good discussion:

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=10856

Also:

http://www.handloadersbench.com/forum26/9240.html

[Dragoon 45]

Thanks Guys. I don't load anything but GOEX BP in my brass hulls. My friend has an 86 Win and a SxS Coachgun he wants to shoot these brass hulls in, in SASS matches. I believe it is dangerous to load anything but BP in 12 ga MagTech Brass as the web area is quite thin and the manufacturer warns against using anything but BP. I don't want to see him blow up a gun or worse hurt himself so I warned him against loading Clays or other smokeless powders in the hulls. I just wanted to make sure I was not full of it, when I warned him.

Thanks again.