- Mar 9, 2011
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I've been tinkering with these for the last couple weeks. I started with British 303 and 30-40 Krag brass, and fireformed them in a single-barrel 410 gauge shotgun. The first thing I did was to anneal the case necks and shoulders by rotating them with my fingers in the flame of a propane torch, then dropping them in cold water when the case necks turn a dull cherry red. I hold them by the case head so I know when to drop them in the water. You don't want to heat the lower part of the case body and the head, because you want that brass to be hard. Annealing the case neck and shoulders makes the brass more maleable, and keeps them from cracking.
After annealing the cases, I primed them with large pistol primers (not magnum). I used Federal #150, but any standard large pistol primer will do. Next I charged them with 7 grains of Hodgdon HP-38, a fast-burning pistol powder, followed by a small wad of cotton to keep the powder in. The case is then filled to the neck with Cream of Wheat or corn grits, followed by a small wad of cotton to keep the filler in. I shot them in the shotgun with the barrel pointed up, and the cases expanded to fit the .410 shotgun. I did notice that sometimes they don't expand all the way, and found that 11 grains of Alliant Blue Dot worked better.
There's not much published reloading data for brass .410 shells, so I gleaned what information I could on the web, from several sources. These three links were of particular help...
Ed Harris: How to Make and Load All-Brass .410 Shotshells. – www.GrantCunningham.com
Using Brass.410 Gauge Shotshells
https://www.endtimesreport.com/410reloading.html
Using the materials I had around the garage, I found an old cardboard box that came with a powder measure. The cardboard measured 0.126" thick, which was perfect for the wad that goes over the powder. That wad has to be solid cardboard, not the corrugated type of cardboard used in most modern boxes. The wads were cut with a 7/16" steel punch and a 5-pound hammer.
I decided to use 11.5 grains of Alliant Blue Dot powder, followed by the thick 0.126" over-powder wad. The was was driven down onto the powder with a wooden dowel and a rubber mallet, to get a good compressed load. That was followed by two 0.146" thick, 7/16" diameter felt wads that I cut with a punch. Those wads were pressed in with a dowel, using hand pressure. On top of those two wads I poured in a measured 1/2 ounce of #6 lead shot, which is perfect for rabbits or squirrels. I then topped off the shot with 0.029" thick, 0.445 diameter wad of cardboard that I cut with another punch. The the last wad can either be sealed by running a bead of Elmer's Glue around the rim, or sealed with paraffin wax.
I tested several of them with the single-barrel .410 a couple days ago, and had pretty good results. I made a heavy cardboard baffle to put in front of the chronograph, in case an errant pellet tried to destroy it...
The results were as follows, so I'm right in the ballpark.
# FPS FT-LBS PF
4 1040 0.00 0.00
3 1014 0.00 0.00
2 1060 0.00 0.00
1 1136 0.00 0.00
Average: 1062.5 fps
I'm probably going to work up the loads to 1200 fps, and have been tinkering with fabricating some shot cups out of thin flexible plastic. I also tried one round using 13 grains of Alliant 2400 powder earlier this evening, and didn't see any signs of excess pressure on the case.
After annealing the cases, I primed them with large pistol primers (not magnum). I used Federal #150, but any standard large pistol primer will do. Next I charged them with 7 grains of Hodgdon HP-38, a fast-burning pistol powder, followed by a small wad of cotton to keep the powder in. The case is then filled to the neck with Cream of Wheat or corn grits, followed by a small wad of cotton to keep the filler in. I shot them in the shotgun with the barrel pointed up, and the cases expanded to fit the .410 shotgun. I did notice that sometimes they don't expand all the way, and found that 11 grains of Alliant Blue Dot worked better.
There's not much published reloading data for brass .410 shells, so I gleaned what information I could on the web, from several sources. These three links were of particular help...
Ed Harris: How to Make and Load All-Brass .410 Shotshells. – www.GrantCunningham.com
Using Brass.410 Gauge Shotshells
https://www.endtimesreport.com/410reloading.html
Using the materials I had around the garage, I found an old cardboard box that came with a powder measure. The cardboard measured 0.126" thick, which was perfect for the wad that goes over the powder. That wad has to be solid cardboard, not the corrugated type of cardboard used in most modern boxes. The wads were cut with a 7/16" steel punch and a 5-pound hammer.
I decided to use 11.5 grains of Alliant Blue Dot powder, followed by the thick 0.126" over-powder wad. The was was driven down onto the powder with a wooden dowel and a rubber mallet, to get a good compressed load. That was followed by two 0.146" thick, 7/16" diameter felt wads that I cut with a punch. Those wads were pressed in with a dowel, using hand pressure. On top of those two wads I poured in a measured 1/2 ounce of #6 lead shot, which is perfect for rabbits or squirrels. I then topped off the shot with 0.029" thick, 0.445 diameter wad of cardboard that I cut with another punch. The the last wad can either be sealed by running a bead of Elmer's Glue around the rim, or sealed with paraffin wax.
I tested several of them with the single-barrel .410 a couple days ago, and had pretty good results. I made a heavy cardboard baffle to put in front of the chronograph, in case an errant pellet tried to destroy it...
The results were as follows, so I'm right in the ballpark.
# FPS FT-LBS PF
4 1040 0.00 0.00
3 1014 0.00 0.00
2 1060 0.00 0.00
1 1136 0.00 0.00
Average: 1062.5 fps
I'm probably going to work up the loads to 1200 fps, and have been tinkering with fabricating some shot cups out of thin flexible plastic. I also tried one round using 13 grains of Alliant 2400 powder earlier this evening, and didn't see any signs of excess pressure on the case.
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