444 marlin for .410 shot shells

I have dabbled with Magtech .410 brass hulls. I use 444 Marlin dies to assist in the reloading of the hulls.

I believe you can also make .410 brass hulls fro 303 Enfield.

I have single loaded them in my pump .410 shotgun and used them for critter control. Since I last loaded the brass hulls, I have obtained a .410 O/U but have not tried the brass shells in it.

Loading the brass hulls was more of a novelty of reloading for me than something really useful.

I make loads for my kids with them. I can't find the brass without paying a Buck a piece for them.

Don't waste good 444 brass.

I do it also. The thing is some shotguns will not eject the spent casings due to the narrow rim of the 444. All mine do but I have a sister that has an off brand shotgun and she has this problem. Otherwise it works well. I usually can reload them 4-5 times before I need to resize them to fit easier.

If I run the numbers, it looks like a good fit.
Maybe I have found a use for all the 444 Marlin brass I thought I could neck down


2.5" 410 SAAMI chamber:
Rim dia .536" - .541"
Rim thick .0532" - .0672"
base dia [@ .0627"].4780" - .4830"
mouth dia [@2.5"] .4630" - .4680"

444 Marlin SAAMI brass:
Rim dia .504 -.514"
Rim thick .053" - .063"
base dia [@ .2"].4618 - .4698"
mouth dia [@2.24"] .4469" - .4549

444 brass in 410 chamber clearance
Rim dia .022" - .037"
Rim thick [interfere .0098"] - .0142"
base dia .0082 - .0212"
mouth dia .0081 - .0211"

grubbylabs said:

Don't waste good 444 brass.

Click to expand...

+ 1. The .444 is such a wonderful caliber, it would be a shame to "waste" the brass on a simple .410. Just my opinion since I love my .444.

I have been there and done that with 444 cases, and even bought a 444 Marlin classic Lee loader to help out, but the cases do bulge a bit and the smaller rim is an issue in my Pardner 410 and IMO, there is no advantage to using them. It was just something to mess with.


NCsmitty