[TMM]

i had an idea- i think it would only work with larger ammo, say, .38spl and larger. the case is filled with the appropriate amount of gunpowder, then, before the bullet is added, a few bits of birdshot are added in the extra space, then the bullet is put in. however:
1) i don't know if there would be enough space to put in enough shot
2) the rifling may/will spin the shot, spreading it too much
3) this might not have alot of practical use except for varminting, which seems like it'd be a good idea, if the bullet missed, a piece of shot might not...?

so, this is just a odd little brainstorm from a newbie to guns, who has reloaded not one cartridge... is it at all a good idea?

~TMM

[Kamicosmos]

I don't think it's a good idea. Putting shot through a rifled barrel at range? IF the bullet missed...no doubt the shot will WAY miss, and who knows where it went.

They make those little shot shells for .38s and some other calibers. They are rather ineffective in my experience.

Also, i don't think it'd be a good idea to drop loose pieces of shot into the powder directly. Shotgun shells have the wadding in place to keep the components seperate.

[TMM]

ok, i see. thanks.

[jamz]

Also, putting shot in there would reduce tha amout of air that is in the case. This will have an unpredictable effect on pressure buildup, I think.

-James

[stans]

And the shot can get shuffled down into the case, overall this is a real bad idea. :what:

[Rabid Rabbit]

The shot would do nothing. The reason the bullet moves is because of pressure behind the bullet, thus the reason for having a wad in a shotgun shell. I'm sure the shot would move out of the barrel but at some very low velocity. As to shooting shot in a rifled barrel, I'm not aware of any buy with a T/C 45LC/.410 barrel having any difficulty with pellets being stuck.

[longspurr]

Actually this is an old idea, it was called buck and ball in the muzzle loading days. This does work - in large cartridge cases - at short range. In straight walled rifle cartridges like 45-70 they would load powder, wad, shot,and 1 45 cal ball crimped on top. this was supposed to be an interesting small game loading for large rifles. A version might work with 44 & 45 pistol cases but there wouldn't be much shot.

[BluesBear]

The shot will exit the muzzle at the same velocity as the bullet. However, it will rapidly lose velocity.

The rifling will spin it and you'll have a very wide pattern.
If the shot was loosly packed over the powder the gases would also blow the pattern.

You have to add the weight of the shot (and any wadding) to the weight of the bullet and adjust the powder charge accordingly!

Buckshot with a large bullet (.45-.58) worked sorta, kinda good in the old lower velocity black powder guns.

Birdshot with small bullets (.35-.45) will be a big disappointment.