410 reloading

[Phantom30]

Ballistic Products has a Small Bore Manual with lots of 410 loads for various kinds of payloads. They favor Cheddite and Fiocchi 410 hulls but have some other brand loads included. Finding Primer hulls in 2.5" is my problem.

[G W Wade]

The 444 brass really look cool coming out of my Bond derringer GW

[W.R.Buchanan]

One thing I didn't mention is that when applying the crimp to once fired hulls you need to align the Pre-crimper with the existing folds in the crimp to avoid smashed crimps. The Pre-crimper on 12 ga machines has enough diameter/leverage to rotate into alignment by itself just about 100% of the time. The .410 sized one doesn't, so you must help it by aligning the folds in the hull to the ribs on the outside of the Pre-crimp die.

It took me a while to figure this out and I was getting smashed crimps on about 1 out of every 10 hulls. After I figured out that the ribs on the outside of the Pre-crimp die correspond to the ribs inside I could load 100 in a row with no smashed crimps. I still get one once in a while but that is usually with a hull that had been previously ruined.

My machine is a Pacific DL266 but I've seen too many bad crimps on reloaded hulls to know that they could have benefitted from this trick. It only takes a second to align the hull with the Pre-Crimper as you put it into that station. As long as it is close the Pre-Crimper will rotate into the correct position. The only time it won't is when the internal ribs align with the high spots on the previous crimp. There isn't enough leverage to rotate the tool into alignment at that point.

Hope this helps.

Randy

[Greg S]

Lil Gun is also an excellent 410 powder. Loaded alot of 1/2 ounce 2.5" x 8.5s and 9s for skeet. In 2.5" shells, there is a diminishing return in shot size below 7.5s.

[cwlongshot]

Lil Gun is also an excellent 410 powder. Loaded alot of 1/2 ounce 2.5" x 8.5s and 9s for skeet. In 2.5" shells, there is a diminishing return in shot size below 7.5s.

I am NO FAN of lil gun... Generally speaking. BUT I 100% agree and it has been a great 410 shotgun powder for me!!
Love it for my .390 ball loads!!

CW

[AndyC]

I love the gun and the .410 shotshell. I just have to figure out the lead for stations 3,4 and 5 a little better.

I'm figuring it out myself - here are the leads as I "see" them:
Station 3 High: 3 ft
Station 3 Low: 3.5 ft
Station 4 High and Low: 3 ft
Station 5 High: 3.5 ft
Station 5 Low: 3 ft

Here's a little Shotkam video of me on Station 4 last week, trying out a new O/U - freeze-frame it and you'll see the lead I use:

One thing I didn't mention is that when applying the crimp to once fired hulls you need to align the Pre-crimper with the existing folds in the crimp to avoid smashed crimps. The Pre-crimper on 12 ga machines has enough diameter/leverage to rotate into alignment by itself just about 100% of the time. The .410 sized one doesn't, so you must help it by aligning the folds in the hull to the ribs on the outside of the Pre-crimp die.

It took me a while to figure this out and I was getting smashed crimps on about 1 out of every 10 hulls. After I figured out that the ribs on the outside of the Pre-crimp die correspond to the ribs inside I could load 100 in a row with no smashed crimps. I still get one once in a while but that is usually with a hull that had been previously ruined.

I'm going to try this because my crimps are ugly - thanks, Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

I am just relearning how to shoot skeet. Thought I knew, but found some big gaps in my working knowledge of the game. I have a new gun and am having problems getting everything sussed out. I got a book entitled Mastering Skeet by King Heiple (Amazon) and it explains every aspect from the simple shot, to all the physics and math behind all aspects of the game.

One thing I have learned is that ALL the leads on every station on the field are the same 3 1/2 feet. That because the bird is traveling the same speed on every offering. Your shot string is also going the same speed with every shot. What changes is "the angle" you view each station's presentation. For example 7 low you shoot directly at the bird, but you need to get it while it is still on your side of the field, or before the center stake, after that you have to compensate for the target dropping. Sit the bird on top of the Front Bead and let fly! I can hit this one almost every time but it still amazes me when I miss, which right now is way too often. I suck outright on 3,4,5.

This new gun is a 12 ga. Citori CXS with 32" bbls. and doesn't move as fast as my Citori Sporting Clays Edition .410 with 32" bbls. So I'm ending up behind the birds lots of times and especially on stations 8 high and only slightly less so on 8 low. I've got a few more weeks and then I'm going to go to a Skeet Clinic or school and get some Professional Training. I learned how to shoot a Tactical Shotgun at a school and I can learn this too! Just need to find the right teacher.

Youtube Videos by Todd Bender are good too, but he is way above where I'm at.

Randy

I still haven't gotten my Starting hold points down for every station but I am getting better. Right now I'm almost a solid 12 Shooter which if you can divide 24/12 comes out to 50% ! So I've got a ways to go, but I am shooting almost once every week and will improve. I like the gun and I hit the first target with the first shot I took with it, so that's encouraging.

[AnthonyB]

Randy, I was fortunate enough to shoot a lot of skeet with government ammo. That 3.5 feet lead has me shaking my head - the required lead changes depending on the speed the shooter swings the gun.
Tony

[AndyC]

One thing I have learned is that ALL the leads on every station on the field are the same 3 1/2 feet.

Well, assuming each bird was shot at the center-stake, yes it would be (40 mph bird vs time taken for the pellets to reach there 1/20th second later at 21 yards away, the bird travels 3.5 feet) - but many incomers (as well as Sta 8, obviously) are shot far closer.

Anyway, good luck in your journey - I have never shot a 25, but I've had 1x 24 and a few 23s (I've always shot international-style "gun down" so now I'm going to be starting every round with the gun pre-mounted).

[AndyC]

I had been getting inconsistent crimps on my .410 shotshells and finally realized that it was caused by inconsistent lengths of the cases.

So, I gave it a thunk and whipped up a little trimmer using a 3/8" dowel, Xacto blade tapped in at an angle and an eyelet-screw at the bottom so I can adjust length without a screwdriver:



I'll snap off the excess blade but it works pretty damn well - just plop a case on and turn it.

[Faret]

I'm figuring it out myself - here are the leads as I "see" them:
Station 3 High: 3 ft
Station 3 Low: 3.5 ft
Station 4 High and Low: 3 ft
Station 5 High: 3.5 ft
Station 5 Low: 3 ft

Here's a little Shotkam video of me on Station 4 last week, trying out a new O/U - freeze-frame it and you'll see the lead I use:




I'm going to try this because my crimps are ugly - thanks, Randy

You are getting beat by the targets. Never let the barrel get behind the bird. To overcome this start your hold point out further from the house but not so far that you have to wait for the bird to come into your lead.

[AndyC]

I'm trying

[bcp477]

If anyone would rather, waterglass is defintely not necessary. Plain old paraffin wax will do the same thing. Just dribble in melted wax, on top of the OS card, making sure to use enough to get a good sturdy seal. I've been using the wax in my 20 ga. loads since the beginning, with nary a problem. The wax is cheap - and a lot easier to find than waterglass - as well.

[turtlezx]

speed you swing the gun will determine the lead if you swing 2x faster than the bird is traveling little lead
if you using a maintained lead which most use which is swing same speed as bird speed lead will be longer

for me 2-1ft 3 2ft 4- 3ft 5 - 2ft 6 - 1ft ( fast swing)

your results may vary but will get you close