Looking for a .410 hand tool loader

[Blackwater]

My cousin who spent the last 30+ years in SE Asia and the surrounding areas has a .410 as his only gun now that he's home for good, and I'd like to get him a reloader for it. They sure are scarce as hen's teeth! Anyone got a good recommendation how to find something to work for him? Salaries weren't great there, so he's financially challenged, and I thought I'd find one for a homecoming present for him, and to keep him shooting on a budget. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd really appreciate hearing them.

[SSGOldfart]

Convert 303 British brass and load using 44-40 dies to load with and cut a case to make him a wad punch,roll crimping works good.

[cpileri]

Lanes:
http://lanesreloading.com/410.html
Works on a budget.
C-

[cpileri]

rocky mountain cartridge also makes a similar one:
http://rockymountaincartridge.com/index_htm_files/RMC%20Short%20Price%20List.pdf

[cpileri]

And if he has any tricks for loading 410 in creative ways, have him contribute to this thread:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?284750-410-Buck-and-Ball-question

[Mk42gunner]

I loaded a lot of .410 shells with a Lee Loader when I was a kid in the seventies, and I have to say I recommend hunting around garage sales to find just about any single stage press, hopefully one that really resizes the case head.

Robert

[toallmy]

Cheaper to get used mec 600 then a lee classic hand loader .I have been trying to find one for about a year for a younger brother.my God a complete set goes for about 100 on eBay.

[MT Chambers]

Agreed, the best low cost shotshell loader is the 600jr., anything slower is just a PITA.

[LAGS]

For years I reloaded .410 shells for my wife's .410 mosberg pump.
I just drilled a hole in a peice of 1" steel that was the correct size to resize the case head, and bought a roll crimper to close them back off with an overshot card.
I used the same steel plate and a set of three mandrals I made on my Poor mans Lathe and a file to progressivly un neck .303 boxer primed cases .
Those I just pounded into the sizer plate then reprimed them with a C clamp and then to seal them off I used a Overshot card and a hot tip glue gun.
Yea, Billy Bob all the way, but it worked.
I now have a MEC 600 Jr in 12 ga and another press for the .410
Things can be done on a VERY tight Budget when you cant find an old Lee Classic Loader that I think they stopped making years ago.

[trapper9260]

For what ai was going to say is stated already.I reload 410 also.I have a Lee hand reloader that got back years ago with my dad. Then I got a Mec 600 mark V and I found that do the 2 1/2" on the press and finish the 3" by the hand press.I always have problems with the press for the 3" .

[toallmy]

I have made a home made 410 loader with a punch to remove the primer ,then quarter inch driver screw driver handle to seat New primer ,cut down 44 brass for shot scoops ,and small pistal casing for powder scope.I got fancy and jb welded couple 223 brass on scopes for handles but I did by plastic crimp finisher for the Mic to set the crimp by hand. It will work till I find a good lee classic . It was for my younger brother to play with good for a box or two at a time .strange but he did not want to just use my 600 . O by the way check out a good role crimper with a sack of clay buster wads you can recycle your empty halls on the cheap and have a blast.

[Blackwater]

Thanks, guys, and especially to cpileri for the link. That's probably what I'll do - get the Lane. He's no shooter, having lived most of his adult life in the area where it would often have been hazardous to his health to do any shooting, or sometimes to even show any interest in it. The old .410 is an old Mossberg bolt action that was his Mom's before she passed. She used it to keep pests out of her garden and deer out of her flowers. I'll be teaching him to shoot it, and hopefully to reload it so as to save a good bit of money, or shoot more for the same amount, which is more likely and a LOT better, since he has little shooting experience. One more notch on my grips in teaching another person to reload. I don't know how many I've taught to reload now, but it's likely at least a couple of dozen along the way. It's funny how people take to it so easily if it's presented right. He's already hooked, I think, though I suspect he doesn't really know it yet. Way back in high school, he was one of the "mad chemists" in our class, and several of us did some rather risky stuff, all in the course of "growing up," of course, though a few COULD have prevented our growing at all. He's got a very logical mind and instincts, so I think it'll go really good for him, and it's something that nobody else will be giving him, that he can actually use, and benefit significantly from

BPI's manual shows some rather amazing laods for the .410 that could make good self defense fodder, in a pinch. Thanks for all input. I appreciate it.

[LAGS]

I think your easiest route to go with the least investment is to buy a Box of the All Brass shotshell casings from Ballistic Products, and reload those with a punch to deprime the pistol primers, a C-Clamp or a vise to seat the new promer, some power and shot scoops made out of old casings found at the range, some cardboard discs for wads and wood glue and some cardboard to seal them up.
If loads are kept light, you wont even have to resize the brass casings before five firings.

That is how the cowboys on the range use to do it back in the day.

[cajun shooter]

You may use the Lee powder scoops for the powder and shot when loading by hand. I have also purchased a old fashion type adjustable powder and shot cup off of flea bay for $15. Later David

[jdl447]

http://www.lanesreloading.com/410.html

[KCSO]

Like LAGS I just got busy on the lathe and turned out a set like the old Lee loader. I roll crimp with a drill press and a roll crimp tool from Ballistic Products. Works just fine for my converted M95 Styer.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Getting a .410 hand tool to work right is not an easy proposition. Everything works just fine up to the Crimp.

I have a really nice Set of Brass Tools made by Paco Kelly. everything works fine except the crimp. I have never gotten a good crimp with this tool. I bought a BPI Roll crimper for .410 and it works beautifully.

So you can do everything up to the crimp with the hand tool and then do your crimps with the BPI Roll Crimper. and turn out nice ammo.

I also have a Pacific DL266 in .410 which makes perfect ammo every single time. A bit more of an investment but Factory Quality Ammo is the payback.

Needless to say I don't use the hand tool much, however it does get used to reload 3" hulls as the Pacific is for 2.5" hulls only. You can get 3/4 oz of shot in a 3" hull which is far superior for hunting than 1/2oz of shot.

Randy

[cajun shooter]

The 410 is for someone who is a very good shotgun shooter, not a novice. Ha!! Ha!!
I do have an original Lee 410 loader that is still new in the box that I came across many years ago while looking for some of the pan casting kits that are also no longer made.
I paid about 1/2 of what I've seen people buy them for. Take Care David

[Blackwater]

Thanks again, guys. Lots to think about. I was going to order that plastic kit, because of the price and the fact that he's probably not going to do a whole lot of shooting, but needs SOMETHING to shoot in his Mom's old gun, but thought that plastic just isn't something I really care much for. I did take a gunsmith friend of mine some SS rods of varied diameters, at least one of which would be sufficient dia. to make up a hand sizer die, and I may get enough of that old rod to get something made up. May even try making a roll crimping tool, too, since it looks like that may be the most efficient way to close the top ends. If I can make it adjustable for both 2.5 & 3" shells, that'd be even better. I'm thinking on it now. He can really use all the help he can get with it, and I plan to try to make it cheap enough for him to shoot that I can teach him how to use the gun well. BPI's manual lists single 00 buckshot at as high as 2700 fps! Now THAT is HUMMIN' rat along! I have molds that I can make up buckshot with for him for self defense situations. He lives pretty well out in the sticks, and that's always a consideration, and the little gun CAN be very lethal IF it's just pointed right. That's the hardest part, always, but I'll do my best with him. I think he'll do OK at least. His intelligence is enough that he'll catch on pretty quick, I think. One more shooter on our side! We need all we can get these days!

[cpileri]

let us know what loads he comes up with: pics and targets!

[ThaDave]

I have made a home made 410 loader with a punch to remove the primer ,then quarter inch driver screw driver handle to seat New primer ,cut down 44 brass for shot scoops ,and small pistal casing for powder scope.I got fancy and jb welded couple 223 brass on scopes for handles but I did by plastic crimp finisher for the Mic to set the crimp by hand. It will work till I find a good lee classic . It was for my younger brother to play with good for a box or two at a time .strange but he did not want to just use my 600 . O by the way check out a good role crimper with a sack of clay buster wads you can recycle your empty halls on the cheap and have a blast.

Got any pictures of this set up? I'm really interested in seeing it

[Blackwater]

As to loads, I'll be going by BPI's manual, plus their buckshot and small gauge manuals. I have moulds for .311" and .360" buckshot/RB's, and that will be for his defensive rounds. The#6's in 3" hulls, mostly for armadillos or other pests around the house, and maybe to keep the deer out of his garden and flowers that his Mom planted. Long ago when my son, now 44, was only about 8 or 9, I got him a little .410 to learn with, cut the stock to fit and the barrel to balance, and remounted the front sight so it'd look "kosher" (very important at that age!) and replaced some factory loads with 3 or 4 .380" RB's in a 3" shell, and tested them at 40 yds. Oh! Also used corn meal as a filler! At 40 yds., they'd print in a pattern about the size of an outstretched hand. He was a darned good shot for his age, and I took him deer hunting with it, confident that he'd kill a deer if we saw one, but we never got the chance for him to see. Very shortly thereafter, he commandeered my very accurate Mini-14, and claimed THAT as "HIS" deer rifle, and I could only consent. He was a bit fidgety then, and never got a shot with it, but he was a darn good shot, and knew deer anatomy from what I'd taught him. Whenever I saw a deer in a magazine pic, I'd ask him to mark where he'd put his bullet, and he'd always put his mark in just the right spot. He was pretty darned good with that gun, too! I taught him how to pull the trigger so the sights didn't move just as the trigger let go, and he was placing his shots like a pro at a very early age. I suspect my cousin will be something fairly like that. He's bright, understands angles, etc., and with a little discourse on game anatomy, and a little coaching, and maybe a little work on the gun, I think he'll find it'll do all that he presently has in mind. Wouldn't surprise me if he adds to the collection now that he's home, and CAN do that, though. Time'll tell, as always. Just good to hae a new shooter, and one who'll understand how to use it and load for it. He's got some thinking ahead for him, but he's an old hand at that. Loads will be pretty garden variety except fo those buckshot self defense loads. The little .410 is often under-rated for that purpose. If he ever has to use it, it'll be very unlikely it'll be at over 40 yds., and up to that distance, a hit with 3-5 01/2 to 000 buckshot at decent velocity should do very well. He's got quick hands, so followup shots with that old bolt gun shouldn't be too slow, either. I'll be teaching him to work the bolt with the pad still on his shoulder, and the light recoil should enhance speed of his followup shots, too. I suspect his next purchase will be a handgun - something really easy to carry, and I'll be talking him into getting his CCW if I can, too. I think he'd find that really satisfying, even if it does set being home now well apart from being in SE Asia. It should really "set him free," mentally, and give him a very new perspective that I think he'll find very refreshing and satisfying. Time'll tell.

[cajun shooter]

Look at the Factory loads made by Federal for the Taurus 45/410 handguns. They are a beast at close range and it would behoove you to up the funds for a box that would cover any close range encounter. They are wicked. Later David

[ThaDave]

I haven't heard that it would "behoove of you" since I was a boot. I've looked at them and I might pick up a box next check if I can.