Reloading for the .410

[Triggerhappy]

Has anyone here ever reloaded for the .410? Is it economical? Worth the trouble? Can you cast slugs for it? Or do you simply use a few round ball? I've never owned one but ran across one that interested me. Would like to know about loading for one first though. If I had to buy factory I probably wouldn't do it.

My apologies if this isn't the right place for this post. Seemed most appropriate at the time.

Thanks,
TH

[turbo1889]

The sub-gauges (28ga. & 410-bore) are actually the best ones to reload for in terms of economics. Two of the main costs in reloading shot shells namely the lead shot and the powder go further with the small shells. You get twice as many 1/2oz. 410 loads out of a bag of shot as you do 12ga. or 20ga. 1oz. loads. The same thing is true with powder as well -- you get about twice as many loads out of a pound tube. Primer cost is the same and wad cost if you buy smart can be kept about the same or less. This combined with the fact that the sub-gauge shells are usually expensive store bought means you actually get the best results as far as saving money by reloading when your reloading the sub-gauges.

Now the down side of reloading the smaller shells is that it is more tedious and slower and components can be a little more difficult to get your hands on. As far as 410 buck and slug loads. buy yourself a #25 bag of Rem. field grade OO buck from www.precisionreloading.com (most economical I've found so far for buck besides casting your own) and that will last you a long, long time loading between 3-5 pellets per a shell (Load data in the Lyman book for this). Next up is slugs. At this point short of a custom mold or ordering yourself slugs from the UK from "Buck & Ball" and paying international shipping you’re stuck with round ball only. There is a kit Ballistic Products sells for this and then you can just load your own combination with card and felt wads casting your own balls from a mold. Here is a chart I made up a while back for ball loads for you to figure out what size balls would be best for your gun, of the available mold sizes:

http://forums.handloads.com/uploads/turbo1889/2009-02-12_160854_Round_Ball_Slug_Sizes_by_Choke_Constrict ion.GIF

[Poygan]

I loaded skeet loads for the 410 many years ago using a MEC 600Jr. I found it very annoying. The wad had a tendency to follow the ram back up and fall out or at least wasn't firmly set on the powder (using 2400). I vaguely recall the brass base sometimes being bent during primer removal. I tried 3 round balls with the plastic wad for the skeet loads and found I had a lot of blow by and mediocre results. I didn't do a lot of reloading for the 410 because I also had the 28 and 28 gauge bbls for the gun. I have occasionally seen slug molds on ebay for the 410.

I guess it would be an OK project if you had plenty of time and patience.

[Old Ironsights]

Has anyone here ever reloaded for the .410? Is it economical? Worth the trouble? Can you cast slugs for it? Or do you simply use a few round ball? I've never owned one but ran across one that interested me. Would like to know about loading for one first though. If I had to buy factory I probably wouldn't do it.

My apologies if this isn't the right place for this post. Seemed most appropriate at the time.

Thanks,
TH

I have ONLY reloaded custom Slugs for the .410.

One of the guys here made me a .412 136gr "super foster" I semi-designed.

I was trying to make this work before Indiana accepted Pistol Caliber Carbines for deer hunting. I got my Cylinder Bore smoothie to be decently accurate at 50yds and (IIRC) 1600fps or so.

Unfortunately(?) I traded my .410 off for an 1886 so I never finished my experiments.

I use ONLY the .410 Lee Loader to do .410 loading.

You can easily use any RB smaller than .413 in a Cylinder Bore, and .360-.375 (000 Buck) in Choked guns. See/Google Dixie Sugs for a HV MaxiBuck load...

[Three44s]

Triggerhappy,

I'd say you are in the right place!

.410?

DID somebody say ............ Four Ten???

Ohhhhh........... Boooooo!

Sorry ...... been a might sore since I met up with a .410!

But my plight has been with shot loads .......

Your idea on slug or ball should not be so ......... well .......... PERSNICKITY!

If you were looking at shotloads ...... I would suggest ......... RUN AWAY at the first sign of a FOUR TEN .........

And gather up around twenty or twenty eight gauge ...... instead!

But I got a cute little double .... a Stevens 311 and a Sizemaster press ...... new ....... so it's TOO LATE!!!

boooooo! Hooooooo!

Regards

Three 44s

[shotman]

One thing- how much you going to use it? AS said they are a pain to reload. Hulls are high. The factory slugs are hard to beat. I have used the .375 balls and they are fun to shoot at milk jugs of water. I load 3/4 oz shot loads. They are much cheaper than factory shells

[725]

Triggerhappy,
There is a current mild interest in a "Group Buy" of sorts for a duplicate of the Lee Loader for .410 right here in the section. Look in "Casting for Shotguns" and go to "guageing interest in .410" entry for a quick discussion about making a loader for the .410, a-la a Lee Loader type tool. There are a bunch here that are interested.

[biggome]

I have done quite a bit of 3".410 reloading with good results using a Mec 600 Jr. I never switch to the shorter hull as it is too much trouble to get it setup properly and they just don't hold enough shot to be good for much. I don't resize the base as they workharden very quickly and split after only a time or two. Hull volume varies a bit so some don't hold a full 3/4 oz of shot with my 14.5 grains of WC-820 powdercharge, I just shake a little shot out of the ones that are too full. Crimping is best done in several light steps looking at the crimp between each rather than one heavy stroke to prevent "squaters" which tend to be common after a few reloadings.

I like the 'lil .410 to round out my backyard shotgun battery; 3/4 oz .410, 1 oz 20 ga and 1.25 oz 12 ga for casual claybird busting behind the barn. If you can't hit 'em with the .410 you just keep stepping up until you can though generally the 'lil .410 will break 'em 9 out of 10 trys when you do your part.

Go for a .410 if you are willing to reload otherwise stick with a 12 or 20 bore and get your shells from the store.

Paul

[madman]

Has any one tried to fit the dirty word bullets into a wad. I don't have a 410 but I am working on shot loads for 45-70 and 500 S&W BFR's

[9.3X62AL]

The only "difficulty" I've had with 410 bore reloading is keeping the crimps folded on a few Remington shells after they've been fired a few times. Otherwise, they work like the 12/20/28 through my MEC 600 Jr. To boost pattern efficiency with the 28 and 410, I use #9 shot and limit shots on game to 35 yards or so. Doing that, the small gauges give up little to the 12 and 20 on doves, quail, and varmints.

[GSaltzman]

I find it no more difficult than any other gauge. It's just all smaller so it may take a little more care. I load 2.5" inch hulls with 8.5 shot for skeet shooting and do not load any buckshot or slugs so this may not apply. I can tell you it is a major cost savings though. Plus it's both addicting and frustrating to shoot!

[Beekeeper]

Three 44's,
If that Stevens gets to bothering you too bad let me know and I will take it off your hands.
Been looking for a double for quite a while.
Only problem will be getting it in Kalifornication.


beekeeper

[mikenbarb]

I reload tons of .410 bore shells for my daughter and son to shoot and it saves a ton over factory ammo. I can load a box of .410's for around 3 bucks and store bought are up to over 15 bucks a box. Yes, You can save ALOT of money reloading for it. At least thats what I tell my wife when I buy more components.LOL. :-D
I load #4,5 and 6's for small game and 7.5 thru 9's for clays on a MEC 600jr and it does a great job with 2.5 and 3" shells. Its easy to change from 2.5" to 3" if you can turn a wrench and screwdriver.
Dont listen to anyone who tells you its an experts gun or not enough gun because the .410 has taken as much game as an other gauge made. Kids love them and so do I for small game hunting and skeet shooting. My daughter busts the clays great with her 1100 in .410 bore and her best is a 23/25 and were working on that for a 25/25 or a 100/100 hopefully some day.

[Swamp Man]

MEC 600jr and it does a great job with 2.5 and 3" shells. Its easy to change from 2.5" to 3" if you can turn a wrench and screwdriver.
I'm looking into getting a MEC 600jr for 410. On the site they sell one for 2 1/2 and one for 3 inch shells. Which one should I get to do 2 1/2 - 3 inch or are they both the same and adjustable?

[9.3X62AL]

I only load 3" shells, I'm unsure how to advise you about the adjustments. I use 11/16 oz of #9s or #7-1/2s, and 2400 powder. I set my 600 Jr. up the 3" shells 15+ years ago, and left it as-is ever since. My view is that 1/2 oz 2.5" loads are for sparrows and clay birds only.

Now, I do have some 1 oz recipes for the 28 bore that need fill-up. Cheddite hulls, some esoteric wad column, and Blue Dot is supposed to fall together and work. One of these days. Still trying to talk myself out of that new Ithaca 37 in 28 gauge, and doing a very poor job of it.

[steg]

I frustrated myself for years using Lee loaders, both lengths, one day I tried a roll crimper, it worked great. The rounds that were produced with the Lee loaders were ugly to say the least, and usable at best with a breakopen type shotgun. With the roll crimped shells, they slick right through my Mossberg 500, that I acquired after the roll crimper, I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't have the roll crimper............steg

[flounderman]

If you are using a breakopen shotgun you can make the tools to load a 410. Instead of crimping, glue an overshot wad in place to hold the shot in. If you want to go cheaper, buy a punch the right size and cut your wads from a milk carton or cardboard, or both. before plastic wads, the standard was a card wad over powder, followed by a couple of felt wads and an overshot wad roll crimped in place. You can load the full length of the plastic case or trim off the crimp to make it easier to insert the components. use a dowel to push the wads down, a punch to remove the fired primer, seat the primer inserting the dowel in the case and pushing the case over the new primer, cut a couple of 357 cases to the correct measurement for the powder you are using and the shot. It's slow, but it works and it is as cheap as you can go and once you have done it you can improve the system to your likeing. this is how a lot of the early reloading was done.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

It won't hurt a bit to dissect a couple of cases either to measure and study what the factories do.

BvT

[TRG3]

I reload .410 for rabbit hunting with beagles, using mainly #5 shot. Like has already been said here, you can use a reloading press or make your own tools to knock out and replace the primer. I punch out thin paper cards to go over the shot and then I roll crimp. With the 3" shells, they sometimes want to bend slightly if you try to fold crimp them, so that's why I decided to roll crimp. Besides, with roll crimping you can just cut off the end of the shell if it splits and make a shorter one! I shoot a single or double barrel .410, making any "bent" shells much easier to use.

[rtracy2001]

I'm looking into getting a MEC 600jr for 410. On the site they sell one for 2 1/2 and one for 3 inch shells. Which one should I get to do 2 1/2 - 3 inch or are they both the same and adjustable?

The 2-1/2" loader comes with the 1/2 oz charge bar, and the 3" loader comes with an 11/16 oz Charge bar
(IIRC). Asside from that difference, they are identical, only a length adjustment needed to convert one to the other. An ajustable charge bar from multi-scale should give you a machine to do both, or just buy an extra charge bar.

I have had good luck using 44 mag and 44 special cases as shot dippers, especially when loading up the larger sized shot (anything above #7.5 or #8) as bridging becomes a problem in my MEC 600. If I start having trouble with crimps, I 'll invest in a roll crimper.

Ever since I picked up a litle H&R topper in .410 bore, I have almost stopped shooting anything else. I actually hit more with the .410 than with the 12 ga. :???: I am now on the lookout for a nice sxs or even a pump in .410 bore, but whatever you save by reloading will be more than eatten up by the price of those guns!

[jason f]

My 410 rifled slug gun is a 444 handi rifle and the chamber is reamed with a straight reamer so you can load 429 pistol bullets in 410 hulls.

[Swamp Man]

The 2-1/2" loader comes with the 1/2 oz charge bar, and the 3" loader comes with an 11/16 oz Charge bar
(IIRC). Asside from that difference, they are identical, only a length adjustment needed to convert one to the other. An ajustable charge bar from multi-scale should give you a machine to do both, or just buy an extra charge bar.

I have had good luck using 44 mag and 44 special cases as shot dippers, especially when loading up the larger sized shot (anything above #7.5 or #8) as bridging becomes a problem in my MEC 600. If I start having trouble with crimps, I 'll invest in a roll crimper.

Ever since I picked up a litle H&R topper in .410 bore, I have almost stopped shooting anything else. I actually hit more with the .410 than with the 12 ga. :???: I am now on the lookout for a nice sxs or even a pump in .410 bore, but whatever you save by reloading will be more than eatten up by the price of those guns!Thanks that's just what I needed to know.