.490 Round ball for .410?

[ronniet]

I have a few .410s single shots and O/U that I shoot brass cases in.
I would like to shoot some round balls in them.
The end of the bore at Muzzle measures about .487-.488 with a set of dial calipers, don't have a inside mic that small.
DO you thinkin I could shoot single ball in the brass cases thrown from a Lyman .490 mold not patched , made of soft lead?
I don't want to harm the barrel , some of the shotguns I wish to use are a pair of Old Savage 22/410s.
Thoughts?
Ron

[vagrantviking]

I'm not very familiar with the .410 but isn't the case diameter about the same as a 45 Colt- .454" or so? Maybe brass case inside diameter bit bigger but I'm skeptical that it would be large enough to seat a .490 ball without sizing it down first.

Second, a pure lead ball with no wads, patching or lube will almost certainly lead the bore quite badly. Alox lube on the ball or some lube on top of the ball inside the case might be enough to solve the issue.
A smaller ball in a wad might be a more viable option. Hopefully someone who's gone down this road will have some experimental data to clarify things.

[ronniet]

Good point about the case I will investigate.
Ron

[Markopolo]

I don’t think you should. .490 is just too big..

I use these from BPI and a 395 RB along with 2400... works pretty nice...

233252

You can PM me if you need more details...

Marko

[GBertolet]

A .490 RB is rather large for a .410. The nominal bore size for the .410 is .410, plus add the choke, and you are in the .380-.390 range at the muzzle. That's .100 oversized. Will a .490 RB even chamber in your .410? Granted, your RB will only be sized at the equator when fired, but still, I would have reservations on firing this size of RB.

[ronniet]

you are correct, the O.D. of the brass case us just .406 could not measure the I.D. as they were all filled.

I have 2 single cavity Ideal molds that appear never used and one is a 389 405 827 is the numbers on it the other is a 429 112

Does anyone know the size ball they throw. Also they have no handles, what are the cheapest handles that would fit these 2 molds?
Thanks
Ron

[bikerbeans]

A .375 RB will fit through the full choke of my mossberg 500e 410. I load (4) .375 round balls in a 3" 410 hull for self defense.

I doubt a .490" ball will fit in either a brass or plastic 410 hull.

Google search your mold numbers to see what you have.

BB

[Markopolo]

Well, the first mold is just too big a ball to use.. the 2nd number must be wrong somehow as that isn’t a ideal number format that I know of. 000 buck shot, 375 RB, 390rb are all good sized for what you want to do. 40 cal RB works too as long as you don’t have a full choke.

As far as a all brass shell for somebody like Magtec, I would suggest something like this that a buddy over at small bore does...

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The same thing can be easily accomplished with a proper sized punch slightly larger then the shell diameter. The stump wads come from BPI. The normal punch size to use with plastic 410 shells is 3/8in, so something a tad larger will be good. Some folks use a 44 cal fired case with the bottom cut off to make cork wads. Ed Harris does it that way. About 15 grains of 2400 works for me, but you need to work that out for your gun.

Sense you have all brass shells, and using a single shot, why not use BP? It will really impress your friends.. I do it for 12g all the time... just remember that BP measures differently and is by volume. A 9mm brass makes a good starting point for BP and dishes out about 18gr of fffg. That is a good starting point for BP in a 410 1/2 oz load. If you do use BP, be sure to compress your components tightly so there is no airspace, and also remember to clean your gun throughly with Hot soapy water.

No matter how you want to make this happen, you do need to get tooled up with wads, punches, and a decent rb mold. BPI is a good place to start and Circle fly makes all the wads you will need if you don’t wanna punch your own.
Marko

[Treeman]

Cheapest handles for your molds are Lee handles sold for the Lee 6 cavity molds. They don't look as snazzy as Lyman /Ideal handles but they fit and work.(Most of the time they seem to fit okay right out of the box but if fitting is required it is just a few licks with a sharp file.)

[ronniet]

So Lee only has the single cavity handles when they come attached to one of their molds?
I use brass cases I fire form, 9.3 , 303, 30-40, 44-40.
I shoot about anything it them from white rice to Shrapnel I have around the shop. I reload with a lee hand primer and a 3/8" wooden dowel rod and Elmer's glue. When I sometimes resize I do it with a Lee 444 Marlin die.
I cut my own over shot cards and waxed felt wads with a HF 7/16" hole punch. I use either 4227 or Unique or 2400? I don't recall as I have both of those in the old Hercules carboard can.
I just thought I would shoot a round ball sometimes for a better range and accuracy at some varmints.
I use the shrapnel for snakes, hawks/owls trying to get at my Yorkies.
I am sure the Savage 22/410s are a full choke , I bought a new one the other day from Walmart I Have not shot.
A Hatfield single shot 410 for $99.00 made in Turkey, **** nice gun for $99. like the USA used to make , all steel and Turkish walnut stocks and a vent rib only plastic or aluminum in the trigger guard. All else is nice blued Steel and **** nice Bore too.
I have yet to find plastic wad that will fit into the Brass shells that fit like it should , they are all too loose.
I have a Ideal .389 RB mold that make be what will work in the 410s.

Ron

[ronniet]

I need to amend my statement and apologize, The measurements I gave in the OP are wrong just plain not true.
I read the calipers wrong !

The bore at end of barrel reads .390 and not .490!
I guess this comes from old grumpy age.
I slugged 2 savages and the New Hatfield and Both savages were same at .390 and the Hatfield was .408
I saw my mistake at just glancing at the calipers and assuming it was .490?
SO a .389 ball will fit my brass cases, may need to patch the ones for the Hatfield..
Ron

[Treeman]

Ronnie, Yes. Lee single and double cavity molds are shipped with attached handles. The six cavity mold blocks ship without handles and Lee sells the handles separately. Those handles are enginneered to fit Lee six cavity alumnium blocks, Lyman/Ideal iron blocks, RCBS blocks etc.

[Markopolo]

You won’t have to paperpatch the round balls.. if you get some of them stump 410 wads, they should fit fine in the Bore. They will be a bit sloppy inside the brass shell, but as long as you use some sort of over powder wad first, then set the plastic wad on top of the over powder wad, it should seal things up nice inside the all brass case. Might have to use several felt wads to build up the shot colum a bit to the desired height for crimping...

Marko

[Jedman]

I have a 32 ga. O/U that has a bore dia. of about .505 I haven't measured the chokes but a .490 would probably work for a 32 ga.

Jedman

[Outpost75]

Use .390 ball in choke bore .410 - OP is a typo!!!!