Magtech brass hulls & basewads

[offshore44]

Anyone else use Magtech brass hulls and put a basewad in them?

[longbow]

No... but I have to ask why you would add a basewad rather than make up the space with a longer wad column?

I ask because I am thinking about ordering some brass hulls.

Longbow

[barnetmill]

No... but I have to ask why you would add a basewad rather than make up the space with a longer wad column?

I ask because I am thinking about ordering some brass hulls.

Longbow

It might be done to exactly duplicate a published load. I have not heard of people selling base wads for shotguns and I can see some reasons for not using one. If the base wad gets loose after firing, I wonder if it could lodge in the barrel or action of the gun.

[longbow]

My thoughts exactly. I have read that the Federal Field hulls with fiber basewads sometimes lose the base wad or part of it and that it can become a bore obstruction. I have not experienced that... yet, and am currently using Federal Field hulls because that is what I have.

I'd suspect that a base wad pushed into a brass hull could easily be lifted by gas pressure getting behind it.

Since brass hulls are straight walled and large volume I have to think that load data for Federal Gold Medal or similar hulls would be safe to use, then make up the wad column to suit payload length to position it correctly. That is speculation on my part and it would be nice to have some pressure tested loads to compare between brass hulls and plastic hulls with all else the same.

Longbow

[offshore44]

The closest I've come is a CBC reloading brochure from Brazil. CBC powder in brass hulls. No idea what the equivalent powder here is, and I don't read Portuguese.

I have discovered that RIO base wads fit exactly, and the tapered lip seems to lock into the balloon head on the rim.

[megasupermagnum]

I really doubt anything would work. The ID of a brass case is considerably larger than a plastic case. The best solution is to get data specifically for brass shells. I'm surprised how limited it is still. Apparently Winchester did a run of brass shell buckshot recently. If I get my hands on some I might play around with those cases. It would be cool to have a 2 3/4" case for buckshot, not that there is anything wrong with the 2 3/8" Magtech, but I'd rather have the larger case.

[GhostHawk]

My experience with Brass hulls says you need to go up a size. Or your likely to end up with a sloppy fit that could cause problems.

I think I went with Circlefly products for my 20 ga punkin balls.

https://circlefly.com/wad-sizing-chart
https://circlefly.com/products

[offshore44]

It would be outstanding if there was pressure tested load data available in the US for Magtech brass hulls. There is data available in Brazil from the manufacturer, though that data only tells us that you can use smokeless powder to reload Magtech hulls. The question of can you vs should you is valid. I'm going to set that one aside for the moment.

The circle fly tables linked above are totally valid. They have forgotten more about shotgun wads than I'll ever learn.

We can all agree, I think, that reloading Magtech brass hulls is going way off the reservation. It falls squarely into the realm of play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

With all of that being said...here's what I've found and here's what I'm looking at.

Magtech brass hulls are good quality and last essentially forever. Reloading them can be done safely and effectively. There is some tuning involved in working up a safe and affective recipe. It would be pretty easy for a careless or inexperienced reloaded to kill or maim themselves or someone else. Use your best reloading practices if you decide to attempt this.

[offshore44]

Contrary to popular belief, the Magtech hulls are not straight sided for their full length. If you have some, go ahead and check, I'll wait...

...If you take a dowel that fits snugly but not tightly into one of these hulls, you'll find that about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way down the case starts to taper.

The base of the case has a raised "wart" that is machined for the large pistol primer.

The rim is folded, like a balloon head case. Not exactly, but close.

The hull length is very close to the same length as a standard 2 3/4 inch loaded shot shell.

More to come...

[Chena]

Magtech is outside my experience except for some 30 year old experiments with the old style CBC hulls with berdan primers for which I no longer have my notes. In later years I obtained 50 original REM-UMC brass 2 1/2 inch hulls and have developed low pressure smokeless powder loads with them for use in a twist barrel Remington 1889 double. Following a 1990’s era article by Ross Seyfried, I first used SR-7625 data for the Federal paper target cases, at the lowest charge weight. The barrels on the 1889 were honed to even out some pitting, after which I switched from eleven gauge to ten gauge cards and wads which eliminated bloopers. After 7625 was discontinued I laid in a supply of PB for which low pressure data also exists, but which is now sadly also off the market. Searching about for a substitute, I was surprised to discover low pressure target loads using Bullseye in an 1980’s vintage Hercules manual. Other details: a large pistol primer only, followed by the powder charge, sealed by two nitro over powder cards seated with very heavy hand pressure (call it 50 pounds) using a 3/4” wooden dowel, then two 1/2” fiber wads, 2 nitro card wads, and a 1 ounce lead shot charge sealed by 1 thin over shot card. Duco cement or lacquer is used to form a tight seal over the shot card and to water proof the card. I again heavily press the entire wad column into the hull before adding the shot. All of the wads and cards are from Circle Fly. In my early experiments I found that water glass was poor as a long term seal because it slowly absorbs water from the air. The Duco and lacquer sealed shells have withstood several years of storage and being carried loose in a coat pocket while hunting. The entire load column is recessed well below the case mouth when sealed. In the Bullseye load the shot weight is reduced to 7/8 ounce. These have proven adequate for grouse and hare hunted in tight forest cover. With a little searching, the Double Gun Forum is a useful resource. I have left it up to the curious to track down the powder charges and pressure data from the original sources. Pressures produced in my 1889 are sufficient to obdurate the hull and the wad column, but I have yet to resize a hull after three loading cycles. The handloading tools are improvised from parts of an old Lee Loader 12 gauge set, a Lee Loader rifle decapping rod and the 3/4”’ dowel. If and when the hulls need resizing I have an RCBS die on hand. My disclaimer: this information is intended for discussion purposes only and I do not recommend that my loading procedures be used by others. They are strictly experimental and have been tried only in one specific firearm. They are not guaranteed as safe in any other firearm.

[john.k]

Some time ago,mythbusters tried to burst a damascus Remington double......simple fact is they couldnt...finally they welded up a muzzle ,and fired a 3" mag ......it blew off the weld and unravelled about 3" of the end .