Jackarunda
Member
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2018
- Messages
- 3
Hey folks, I have two 12-gauges and I decided it might be fun to get a 410 so that my girls and other recoil-sensitive folks I shoot with can enjoy busting things with shot as much as I do. Yes I'm aware you can load and buy low-recoil 12ga but a 410 weapon would be lighter weight and there's just something cute about 410 shells.
So as a plinker, 410 is great, assuming you're handloading to cut down on the ridiculous ammo cost. But then I got to overthinking it, as I do with everything, and started searching to figure out how powerful I could make a 410 safely. Everything I've found has indicated that for a 2-1/2 in shell, a half-ounce of shot at 1800fps is about the hottest you'll ever get. That's about 800 joules of energy.
Why is 410 ammo so weak in general? Even a 2-1/2 inch cartridge is larger than a .44 Magnum cartridge, and yet no one loads them hot it seems.
I really think that I could put 300 grains of lead into a 410 and propel it to 1200+ fps out of a long barrel, thereby effectively matching .44 Magnum energy, and it wouldn't generate unsafe chamber pressures. The 44 Mag has a much higher chamber pressure limit, but it's a pistol cartridge and has to reach that speed out of a pistol barrel. I'm talking about reaching that power out of a full-length shotgun barrel.
Is it just tradition that everyone loads them so light? Are manufacturers worried about old firearms that are operating on the edge of the chamber pressure limit? Is there some unspoken wisdom about not loading a 410 hot lest you blow your fingers off? It can't be a recoil thing, as a 44 Magnum out of a Henry lever gun is very manageable, much more so than a 12ga. I'm just a kid, so please forgive my naivety.
Yes, I know that loading things hot is not how you achieve accuracy. This is a question about power and safety.
So as a plinker, 410 is great, assuming you're handloading to cut down on the ridiculous ammo cost. But then I got to overthinking it, as I do with everything, and started searching to figure out how powerful I could make a 410 safely. Everything I've found has indicated that for a 2-1/2 in shell, a half-ounce of shot at 1800fps is about the hottest you'll ever get. That's about 800 joules of energy.
Why is 410 ammo so weak in general? Even a 2-1/2 inch cartridge is larger than a .44 Magnum cartridge, and yet no one loads them hot it seems.
I really think that I could put 300 grains of lead into a 410 and propel it to 1200+ fps out of a long barrel, thereby effectively matching .44 Magnum energy, and it wouldn't generate unsafe chamber pressures. The 44 Mag has a much higher chamber pressure limit, but it's a pistol cartridge and has to reach that speed out of a pistol barrel. I'm talking about reaching that power out of a full-length shotgun barrel.
Is it just tradition that everyone loads them so light? Are manufacturers worried about old firearms that are operating on the edge of the chamber pressure limit? Is there some unspoken wisdom about not loading a 410 hot lest you blow your fingers off? It can't be a recoil thing, as a 44 Magnum out of a Henry lever gun is very manageable, much more so than a 12ga. I'm just a kid, so please forgive my naivety.
Yes, I know that loading things hot is not how you achieve accuracy. This is a question about power and safety.
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