Tell Me About Trimmed 460 S&W Mag for .45 Colt Cylinder

[Liberty1776]

Over at https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...ghlight=chrony Mr. Littlejack bemoaned killing his chronograph with a single errant #9 shot pellet while testing a trimmed .460 S&W Mag he had made into a shot shell that fit into his .45 Colt revolver.

So what is this 460-for-45-Colt shot shell?

(I did multiple searches looking for "460" and nothing came up, not even Littlejack's post, and I knew it existed. I had to use "chrony" to find his post.)

I have a few 460 S&W Mag shells I found at the range. They do indeed fit into a 45 Colt cylinder and employ the same shell holder, but they are like 5/8" longer than a .45 Colt shell.

Why not just make .45 Colt shot shells from .45 Colt brass? What's the advantage using 460 S&W?



Sounds like an interesting project.

What's the process? There must be empty .45 shot containers out there somewhere for reloading. I bought some for .357 four decades ago. Still have them....

[lar45]

If you run the 460 brass partway into a 44-40 size die... It will magically fit into a 45Colt cylinder all the way to the end and stick out just a little bit. So give it a little trim and now you can fit up to 5/8 ounce of no.8 shot in there.
I wrote an article a few years back and submitted it to Handgunner. They were interested, but it was a little long on words.
I dusted it off this morning and I'm trying to trim the fat a little bit. We'll see if Handloader will bite.
You can also fit 3 000 buck into your new case.

[Liberty1776]

If you run the 460 brass partway into a 44-40 size die... It will magically fit into a 45Colt cylinder all the way to the end and stick out just a little bit. So give it a little trim and now you can fit up to 5/8 ounce of no.8 shot in there.
I wrote an article a few years back and submitted it to Handgunner. They were interested, but it was a little long on words.
I dusted it off this morning and I'm trying to trim the fat a little bit. We'll see if Handloader will bite.
You can also fit 3 000 buck into your new case.

Ah. Interesting. Do you use an over-powder wad or card, and how do you seal the end? One article I found had copper gas checks over the powder and again over the shot, roll crimped to hold it together.

Here's the article: https://americanhandgunner.com/ammo/...lt-shotshells/

Could you use .45 cal Speer shot capsules and seat them deep, with more shot under them?

[lar45]

I used a BPI 410 over powder wad and also used a sharpened case to cut wads out of heavy cardboard and milk jugs. A roll crimp on top holds the shot and wad in place.
The different wads can make a difference in pressure. The tighter the seal on top of the powder, the better the powder burns.

[Meatpuppet]

In the 460 case you can use this as a shot cup/overpowder wad:

Harvester Premium Sabots for 45 cal (H4540B & H14540BR) from Ballistic Products. They push down into the .460 case and seal the base of the shot with the sabot fingers. In a standard length case you can get close to 300gr of #11 shot before adding a 45 cal gas check to top it off.

Im working up a load in a Bond Arms Derringer, so I dont have a cylinder length issue.