reloading brass shotshells

[wire nut]

Have anyone here ever reloaded brass shotshells. I looking especially at .410 bore.I found the directions on end time web site on how to fireform brass but I can buy .410 bore brass about as cheap.
If anyone has any experience doing this I would appreciate any tips or advice available.
Thanks wire Nut.

[beagle]

I've loaded 12 guage brassies before. They're not too bad. The ones I had took large pistol primers so that was easy.

In loading brass shells, a larger wad is required as the wall thickness is not as thick as plastic and paper cases.

Sealing was accomplished by using an overpowder paper wad and sodium silicate (water glass). This is available at some drug stores and can be put on with a Q-tip.

The oversize wads are available through Presision Shooting up in the northeast as well as any other shotgun loading gizmo known to mankind.

Other than the primers, wads and sodium silicate, it's like loading any other shell.

These were used in a double. Don't know how they'd function in a pump or autoloader./beagle

[georgewxxx]

Beagle, Be careful with that water glass. Back in the 60's when we researched loading brass shotgun shells, the issue of the glass etching the barrels came up. We switched to a rubberized adhesive. I think some guys used plain old Elmer's glue. to seal that whole batch. Under normal conditions a hard over shot wad will keep the shot from dribbling down the barrel. Don't think recoil would be a issue with the 410. ...Geo

I buddy of mine has been loading a set of 10 2" 410 brass for 50 years. Last year we ran them very slowly through a 444 Marlin sizing die to get them back to normal size again so they'd fit in any chamber. I haven't tried it, but maybe 444 Marlin brass would be cheaper, but a bit too thick to get wads seated. ...Geo

[wire nut]

Thanks John and George.This is a project I want to under take this winter.I have been reloading shotshells since i was 10 years old. These will be used in older single shot guns. I'm not sure how these will pattern but will be something to play with especially with the price of .410 exceding $10.00 a box in this area.
Any other tips appreciated. Thanks wire nut

[Single Shot]

Use the bought 410 brass shells. I fire formed some British 303.

Getting the anneal correct is the hard part. Some had to be formed twice.

Factor in the primers & powder, its cheaper to use the starline brass.

Sodium silicate "Waterglass" is cheaper if you get it at a paint store. Just look on the ingredients list of some of the cleaners sold to prep a wall for painting.

But if you do go to a Pharmacy, tell them you want it for keeping eggs fresh while camping.

It used to be called egg keep and used to coat fresh laid eggs for storage.

Tell them it's for shot gun shells and they won't sell it to you.

(ask how I know):drinks:

For reloading I use an overpowder nitro card, and a felt wad cut to get the shot charge to the right height, then an overshot card with one drop from a eye dropper of waterglass. I just start a drop from the eyedropper and touch it to the card.

[omgb]

I stopped using water glass and shifted over to CA (super glue) that I get at hobby stores. I use the thick variety although medium will work too.

[georgewxxx]

After saying 444 brass might work, a little light came on. I've got a box of 25 brand new 410 cases made by Magtech I picked up at a gun show last spring for $15.00. they're 2.5" made in Brazil and use standard large pistol primers. The only shell holder that'll work for priming is a Lee #16 7.62X54 or 8mm Hungarian....Geo

[wire nut]

By searching the web I found wads at ballistic products. They have the felt and cardboard listed for .410 bore. Will these wads work in magtech brass. Have any of you made your own wads and if so how did you do it.
Thanks so much for the info wire nut

[oksmle]

wire nut .... I have been loading .444 Marlin brass for .410 shotguns for several years. They are a "sometime" thing as far as functioning in a semi or pump. But I have several Savage Mod. 24s & a couple of S/S that they work just fine in. They have been my rabbit & squirrel loads exclusively longer than I can remember. If you do a search you will find the different loads, etc., that I developed. If you have no luck get back to me & I'll see if I can reconstruct the info. They're just as easy to load as the regular .410 shells & an awful lot cheaper....

oksmle

[georgewxxx]

i just tried to fit a standard size felt wad and plastic shot cup in both a 444 and the Magtec cases. 444 appears to be a bit tighter about the mis-section of the case. I see no reason 410 plastic wads shouldn't work fine in either using a B-thin over the shot wad. Felt wads on the other hand are a specialty item. Brass felt wads would be almost nonexistent unless you have tools to cut out your own. I'd stick with powder that doesn't need too much compression to ignite. The buddy I mentioned in a earlier post is still working on a box of 1000 Alcan's special brass case wads he bought in the late 60's. ...geo

[Hackleback]

just use the felt wads for 45 cal BP revolvers.....

[Single Shot]

wire nut .... I have been loading .444 Marlin brass for .410 shotguns for several years. They are a "sometime" thing as far as functioning in a semi or pump. But I have several Savage Mod. 24s & a couple of S/S that they work just fine in. They have been my rabbit & squirrel loads exclusively longer than I can remember. If you do a search you will find the different loads, etc., that I developed. If you have no luck get back to me & I'll see if I can reconstruct the info. They're just as easy to load as the regular .410 shells & an awful lot cheaper....

oksmle

Thanks, I just added them to my Midway wish list so I do not forget.

[beagle]

George...that was way back a while. I haven't loaded any in a long time. Still, it's good advice./beagle


Beagle, Be careful with that water glass. Back in the 60's when we researched loading brass shotgun shells, the issue of the glass etching the barrels came up. We switched to a rubberized adhesive. I think some guys used plain old Elmer's glue. to seal that whole batch. Under normal conditions a hard over shot wad will keep the shot from dribbling down the barrel. Don't think recoil would be a issue with the 410. ...Geo

I buddy of mine has been loading a set of 10 2" 410 brass for 50 years. Last year we ran them very slowly through a 444 Marlin sizing die to get them back to normal size again so they'd fit in any chamber. I haven't tried it, but maybe 444 Marlin brass would be cheaper, but a bit too thick to get wads seated. ...Geo

[beagle]

George...we didn't have plastic wads back when I ws loading these......

In fact, I used berdan primers for years and replaced the anvil on the factory primers. It worked reliably. Lyman/Ideal made a seperate decapping rod for this purpose that came with the tool that I was using.

My how time flies./beagle


i just tried to fit a standard size felt wad and plastic shot cup in both a 444 and the Magtec cases. 444 appears to be a bit tighter about the mis-section of the case. I see no reason 410 plastic wads shouldn't work fine in either using a B-thin over the shot wad. Felt wads on the other hand are a specialty item. Brass felt wads would be almost nonexistent unless you have tools to cut out your own. I'd stick with powder that doesn't need too much compression to ignite. The buddy I mentioned in a earlier post is still working on a box of 1000 Alcan's special brass case wads he bought in the late 60's. ...geo

[wire nut]

I recieved a flier from graff's yesterday that had magtech brass for berdan primers for 5.99 per 25.
Wire nut

[wire nut]

Oksmle a pm was sent. Thanks wire nut

[kycrawler]

i use 444 marlin brass to load mine , wads can be cut using a sharpened 44 special or mag case or a 308 case cut about 1/2 way run into a 44 sizer then sharpened , i use elmers glue to hold the over shot wad in , over shot wads are cut from cereal boxes

[turbo1889]

. . . The oversize wads are available through Presision Shooting up in the northeast as well as any other shotgun loading gizmo known to mankind. . . .

Okay I googled "Presision Shooting" (Or did you mean to say "Precision Shooting" I tried it both ways) along with every word I could think of to go along with shot-gun reloading stuff and still havn't hit their web site if they have one. You got a direct link or a phone number to get a catalog, or are they a walk in only firm no internet/mail order?

[Red River Rick]

turbo1889:

Try Ballistic Products, they have the oversize wads your looking for and everything else relating to shotshell reloading.

Here's the link: http://www.ballisticproducts.com/.

RRR

[Junior1942]

Send me a SASE for 1 oz weight and I'll send you a few of my 1/2" x 1/8" & 1/16" felt wads to try. Junior Doughty; 190 Major Doughty Road; Tullos, Louisiana 71479. All I have is 1/2" diameter.

[Scrounger]

Precision Reloading: http://www.precisionreloading.com/

[turbo1889]

Precision Reloading: http://www.precisionreloading.com/

Thank you, Scrounger.

Thanks for the offer, Junior 1942, but no-thanks.

[Rrusse11]

Gents,
I've reloaded for the .410 using standard 410 wads with a ordinary corrugated cardboard overshot wad cut using a set of cheap chinese hole punches I picked up somewhere, can't remember the size, prolly 7/16", slightly oversize. The standard plastic wad seats firmly into the taper of the 444Marlin brass. A bit of pressure followed by the 444 Lee FCD die rolled the edge enuff to hold the load firmly. Shot hunnerts of 'em, and one memorable day at the trap range, standing on the top of the trap house, ran 25 with 'em, #9 shot. Eventually the brass gets tight and then a run back thru the the sizer gets them back down to chamber accepting size. I've also played with 405 brass, but the rim needed trimming.
Now that I've got a Ponsness Warren 800 for the .410, I haven't bothered. The gauge is MOST definitely worth reloading! I've got a single stage Ponsess that I've been playing with for 3" 5/8oz loads 410 in hulls from Grafs. They'll bust birds from the 16yd line, though lately I've been concentrating on 16ga and high velocity 7/8oz 12ga loads. Got a 16ga long forcing cone reamer today from Manson, see if I can improve last night's 92/100 with an elderly Marlin 31 pump.
Cheers all,
R*2

[Slowpoke]

Last winter, I did a little sperminten with .303 British shells in the .410 they worked but after several firings the lower third of the case never expanded out and you end up with a case that has two very different diameters both inside and out I use only wc 820 in the .410 and the charge I use doesn't fill the case enough to get above the smaller diameter so I had to use two different sizes of overpowder wads to bridge the transition. I killed a lot of Blackbirds and two crows and tore up some stumps with them. They functioned thru my pump gun just fine after I thinned the rims. I never got used to looking at those odd shaped case's and figured they would never expand out at any pressure I would subject them to in a .410 so I retired them for hard times and moved on.

I got to be on first name basis with a ole boy that cleans up at the shooting range I frequent, showed him my funny looking 303 case's, he felt sorry for me and the next week handed me a sack of 444 Marlin case's along with a garbage bag full of both sizes of plastic .410 hulls, I felt like a little kid again there for a few minutes, I tried to give him some boolits but he turned me down. The rims on the 444 marlin were to thick so after my experience with thinning the rims on the 303's decided not to go there again.

I bought a box of Magtec brass next and they work just fine. Imagine that:) I use felt and card wads that I cut myself I buy my felt here duro felt I use the Duco cement to hold the over shot card in place. It was getting on to early spring by the time I got the Magtec brass I was just getting a good start on some buckshot loads when I came out of the woods one day with seven ticks on my legs so gave up until cold weather sets in again, I am thinking a couple more weeks and I will pick up where I left off. I did put up a few shot loads that I tested in the yrd and they worked good.

One day this summer I was out mowing, I had been at it for couple hrs and decided to head for the house to get some refreshment I was coming up the hill towards the house on the riding lawnmower kinda numb and I noticed the guineas come running towards me, they always do because they have learned the lawnmower stirs up bugs, but I just kept on motoring up the hill then one Guinea cuts right in front of me and then I notice rite behind it is a grey fox, I had my 45 acp with bird shot loads in it on me but by the time I realized there was a fox it was out of range so I kept on for the house watching that fox try to catch lunch, I shut the mower off and got in the house and grabbed the .410. I had three of the magtech cases there that I had stuffed with 5/8 oz of # 6 shot by the time I had got back out the door the chase had made it around to the side of the house so i eased on down the deck so i could wait for a shot. In the mean time that fox had got a little to close to that particular guinea and he flew up 30 feet into a tree, now I have seen Grey fox in tree's I have shot Greyfox out of tree's so I knew they climbed tree's but I had never seen them climb a tree, well I got a real show this day as that fox went up that tree slicker than any cat I have ever seen, the limb the guinea settled on had not even quit shaking and that fox was there, that guinea flew out of that tree into another tree and by the time the guinea got settled in his new tree that fox was back on the ground he sat down rite there and started scratching, mean while the guinea in the tree is making a racket only a guinea can do and several of his buddies that are hiding out about thirty yrds away just at the tree line are doing the same, about this time herself comes driving up so I motion her on up where I am ,about the time she gets to me one of those guineas on the ground makes a run straight at the fox get's about three feet from it stops and starts staring at the fox, it was to much for the fox so he takes out after the guinea, now this tale gets better because there are about a dozen chickens with in feet of the fox and they don't have care, well the guinea the fox is chasing all but runs over two young roosters along with the fox but the fox wants nothing to do with chickens, well that guinea flew up into a tree and the fox stops about 35 yrds in front of me only problem is he is right in front of my Jon boat, so I tell the wife as soon as he moves from the boat I am going to kill him, she says no don't, and I say yes I am going to kill the son of gun, about then he moves off and I had already decided I was going to shoot twice whether the first shot folded him up or not because the tree line was just a few yrds away and I didn't want to go in the woods after a wounded fox so I dump two rounds one on top the other and the fox was dead, it was thirty three steps to where the fox lay, he was pretty much riddled, though I didn't do any skinning as he was crawling with fleas. It bugged me for a few days why that fox didn't want anything to do with the chickens, then one morning I look out the window and there are around thirty turkeys grazing out in the pasture and among them are a dozen poults they looked just like guineas from a distance, I now believe that fox was used to hunting those young turkeys.

good luck

[Slowpoke]

good luck[/QUOTE]

Thats Duro felt at http://www.durofelt.com/ for felt wad material.

[Greg]

my 410...well, it was my Grandpa’s first ( marked 12mm ) has a 2½" chamber, so I used .444 marlin brass cases. The 303 cases didn’t work so good!

.410 Brass case Load

* see Lyman 42nd Handbook and Hodgdon’s 25th pg 442.

R-P .444 cases

R-P Large Pistol primer

14.5 grains H110

⅛" card wad; ¼" filler wad

⅝ oz shot; and a card over-shot wad glued in with super glue. I couldn’t find any ‘water glass’!!

Taper crimp with a 45 ACP die.


I had picked up some Alcan ‘.45 pistol’-‘Special Wads for brass cases’ at a Gun Show. tried the 303 brass, I wasn’t thrilled with the results. I bought .444 Marlin brass, it works even though it’s a 2 + 7/32" length.

http://www.circlefly.com/ lists wads for brass cases. Hornady brought out their 405 cases ( 2½") and then the metric 9.3x74 R if you want a 3" case.

A Lyman 45 ACP carbide die does the sizing; I took a extra decaping stem adapter and made a wad seating stem using a long pan head machine screw and jam nut. The Lyman die comes bored straight thru then threaded 9/16th’s for the adapter...RCBS is threaded a lot smaller and won’t full length size a 2½"case.

I use store bought boolits in my .410...the bag is labeled ‘ Lawrence Brand chilled 8's’