10 gauge round ball size

[BigMrTong]

Hi all, looking for advice on ball size for my 10g

I have read through the thread by "goodsteel" and am attempting to do similar

I plan to go with a column like this ----> 41g of SR4756 = Plastic Gas seal = Column of Fibre = Filler support = Round ball

I also like him want to put it on a 3.5" 10 Gauge hull. Roll crimp at first then I have some full brass so instead of the roll crimp eventually go with a bees wax seal (which I do on my .410).

The only thing I am worried about is the size of the ball. My 10g is cylinder bore, no choke and stamped .775 I was thinking of using a .770 or .775 round ball, but goodsteel used a .780
This scared me as in his pic it will no fit in the barrel without pressure and have to swage its way though the barrel slightly.

I load a lot of 12g slug, but all are Sabot. I also do .410 round ball, but do use a .400 ball. I really dont want to sabot the 10g.

Looking at a few threads on here I have seen some of the 12g round ball loads also using a ball a couple of thou bigger than the bore.
Is this normal / safe and or recommended, or have I missed something ?

Many thanks, Mike

[NavyVet1959]

Probably going to depend upon your barrel. If you are using an H&R UltraSlug rifled barrel, it'll probably be even safer.

[BigMrTong]

Good point .. its a H&R short barrel smooth bore. No choke.

[NavyVet1959]

Good point .. its a H&R short barrel smooth bore. No choke.

Those barrels aren't as thick as the UltraSlug barrel.

Either the round ball is going to swage down or the barrel is going to expand.

With only 0.005" difference, I would probably give it a try. I've resized from a .41 mag to a 10mm and it didn't seem to take that much force and I was using a 50:50 WW:Pb alloy. If you're using pure lead, it will be even easier.

Or you could go over to goodsteelforum.com and ask him... :)

[Hogtamer]

Soft lead, 5/1000 over fine. Again, soft lead that will swage. Undersize = no accuracy. 10 ga = ouch!

[bikerbeans]

I have two h&r 10ga shotguns and both have the same barrel OD as the 12ga ultra slug hunter barrel. The 12ga ultra slug hunter barrel was installed by h&r on their 10ga sb2 frame. IIRC, The older, pre 1987, h&r 10ga barrels had a thinner contour.

BB

[copdills]

one big hunk of lead scream N down the barrel

[sharps4590]

And I thought my 16 bore round ball was immense......:roll:

[BigMrTong]

Reply from Goodsteel

"You have it correct Mike.
I don't know why you are scared of shooting oversize balls in your shotgun. The tiny little bit of compression it takes to size that ball down .005 inches pales in comparison with the pressure it takes to push an entire column of shot, buffer, and wads through the barrel.

Regardless, the fact is any lead projectile must be cast larger than the barrel that will be used to shoot it if any semblance of precision is expected to be realized. You certainly will not be using water quenched balls anyway as you need them to expand, so it's not a problem. You still need to make sure you get a proper compressed column stack over the powder in your shell, because if you mess that up, you will have a dangerous situation on your hands.

I have since moved away from SR4756 in the ten gauge because it is no longer made. At the present time, I have settled on Longshot as the perfect powder for the ten gauge, and I worked up loads with it for the round balls, and #4 buckshot that will absolutely stomp you like a rented mule.
I use a roll crimp, so the column is certainly compressed tight no matter what the powder charge is, and I just started low and worked up with a chronograph. "

Ill have to join his forum !

[longbow]

I'll second Goodsteel's comment on the ball swaging down easily.

When I got my 0.735" ball mould for my 12 gqa. at 0.730" bore diameter I began to wonder if it was a good idea so got a wood dowel and mallet and a ball then dropped the ball in the shogun chamber, set the dowel on it then gave it a whack with the mallet. The ball swaged easily. It is only 0.005" over bore diameter and there is very little meat around the equator of a ball. This was ACWW by the way, not hard but not pure lead either.

I wouldn't want a full length solid slug at 0.005" over bore diameter but a ball has so little lead to displace that it is a non issue in my opinion.

Longbow

[Geezer in NH]

10 answers not one with a ball size

[elvas]

If I had the gun I would first measure the bore to confirm the .775" diameter.

[sharps4590]

Might not be a suggestion because no one other than the OP has the gun to measure the bore.

[Cap'n Morgan]

As long as the gun has a cylinder bore I wouldn't worry at all. The swaging will be done by the forcing cone and the rest of the trip through the barrel will probably meet less resistance than an ordinary shot load. I have shoot a bunch of ribbed slugs with a diameter of up to .732 through a modified choke (.705) with no ill effect.

OT, but still 10 gauge:

http://www.classicarmsjournal.com/from-the-loading-bench/

In the article Ross Seyfried tests an american made black powder, Olde Eynsford, and compare his favorite 1-1/4 ounce smokeless 10 gauge load with a similar 1-1/4 ounce black powder load of 117 grains. The black powder load generates 1198 fps, compared to the smokeless' 1162, and it does so with a pressure of only 5800 psi where the smokeless (29.5 grains SR7625) generates 7700 psi - that's 25% less pressure for the black powder. Not bad!

[BAGTIC]

I shoot .735 HTWW balls through my Remington 1100 rifled slug barrel with no problem for 30+ years. Peak pressures are reached in the first few inches of projectile travel before barrel taper begins to thin barrel. Pressure concerns should be directed at peak pressure which stresses the breech mechanism the same whenever it occurs. In an unchoked barrel there should be no problem. I have an old 12 O/U I bought used that was fired with steel shot. The thin relatively soft barrels showed evidence of choke expansion due to peening but when patterned they shot fully up to choke specs. I did not fire this gun with balls as it does not have any sights.

[BigMrTong]

Thanks everyone. I ordered and have received my .780 mould
Here is my 10g

199858

The bore does measure .775, and I cast a couple o balls from the mould and whilst they wont fall through as expected is Very easy to push them through with a finger.

I just need to wait now until my UK variation comes through and I'm aloud to load 10g slug ... a couple of weeks wait I expect.

[NavyVet1959]

Thanks everyone. I ordered and have received my .780 mould
Here is my 10g

199858

The bore does measure .775, and I cast a couple o balls from the mould and whilst they wont fall through as expected is Very easy to push them through with a finger.

I just need to wait now until my UK variation comes through and I'm aloud to load 10g slug ... a couple of weeks wait I expect.

I see you haven't updated your location in your profile yet. Where in the UK are you located? The only person that I met when I was over there during the month around the BREXIT vote that was any sort of a firearm enthusiast was a guy that owned some sort of sporting goods store in Londonderry, a couple of doors down from another store that I stumbled across that had a big "Guns & Tackle" sign out front. That store had not opened yet, so I started walking around and stumbled across the sporting goods type store.

Of course, their idea of being a firearm enthusiast over there consisted of having a LOT less firearms than someone would have here. I think 3-5 firearms over there would get you classified as an arsenal and you would be on a government watch list. Here, 40-50 and you're not even an "avid collector" and no one pays you any mind. :)

[BigMrTong]

I'm in the Midlands, Sheffield. Your right, gun people seems to keep themselves to themselves. I personally have about 15 .. and yes would no doubt be considered a "nut" to non gun folks. :-)


I see you haven't updated your location in your profile yet. Where in the UK are you located? The only person that I met when I was over there during the month around the BREXIT vote that was any sort of a firearm enthusiast was a guy that owned some sort of sporting goods store in Londonderry, a couple of doors down from another store that I stumbled across that had a big "Guns & Tackle" sign out front. That store had not opened yet, so I started walking around and stumbled across the sporting goods type store.

Of course, their idea of being a firearm enthusiast over there consisted of having a LOT less firearms than someone would have here. I think 3-5 firearms over there would get you classified as an arsenal and you would be on a government watch list. Here, 40-50 and you're not even an "avid collector" and no one pays you any mind. :)

[BigMrTong]

So, an update .. nothing worse than a thread with no conclusion

I did a lot of research on powder and ended up using Hodgson HS6. I found a lot of documented shot loads in 10g for HS6 and it’s a very close powder to SR4756, and I found a documented Blue Dot load. I also use HS6 in my 12g load and also have comparable loads for these powders in 12g. This all gave me a very good ballpark for a starting point.

I ended up testing 37 - 42 grains for HS6 which all worked great, (42g showed a very slight flattening to the primer. Very slight) and got Chrono’d speeds of 1100fps to 1400 fps across that range.
I settled on 40g as an ideal load that did not rip my shoulder off.

The final load in a Chedite 3½”” 10g hull was as follows : 40g of HS6 = X10X gas seal = 3 x ½” Lubed Fibre Wads = 3.4cc Grits Filler support = .780 Round ball (I rolled crimped them closed)

No issues but be aware I am using the very heavy barrelled H&R modern 10 gauge.

[BAGTIC]

[QUOTE=BigMrTong;4097530]Reply from Goodsteel

" You certainly will not be using water quenched balls anyway as you need them to expand, so it's not a problem. "



Now why would a .775 ball need to expand?

[BigMrTong]

[QUOTE=BigMrTong;4097530]Reply from Goodsteel

" You certainly will not be using water quenched balls anyway as you need them to expand, so it's not a problem. "

Now why would a .775 ball need to expand?


I think he means to stay soft and deform to the barrel ..

[BigMrTong]

A little target practice video .. After testing the load itself, I wonder if it would hit anything ?


https://youtu.be/UC7yaF_hEys

[RMc]

Check this thread out for a historical look at Buffalo hide hunting with a 10 Bore:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?224231-Wyatt-Earp-was-a-quot-Slugger-quot&highlight=Wyatt+Earp

[BigMrTong]

Thats great thanks !