40 S&W Shotshells from 6.8 Remington SPC cases?

Kuyong_Chuin · May 12, 2014

CCI makes a shotshell for the 40 made out of not reloadable aluminium cases, and they are as hard to find as finding gold in your back yard. Looking at the specs of the 6.8 Remington SPC and the 40 the heads or very close to the same. So close in fact that some companies use the same shell holder for both. With them being so close in specs why couldn't you cut the cases back to the proper long length of the CCI shot shells and make a reloadable shotshell from the 6.8 case? Or would you end up with the same problem they had with the original development of the 40 and have to use smaller primers do to the ejector?

jameslovesjammie · May 12, 2014

I think you would be better off using cut back 10mm brass. It's cheaper and more readily available than 6.8 brass. It will also fit your extractor better.

Kuyong_Chuin · May 12, 2014

jameslovesjammie said:
I think you would be better off using cut back 10mm brass. It's cheaper and more readily available than 6.8 brass. It will also fit your extractor better.

I have been told that the 10mm case is too short to use for the shotshell. There is also the fact that in the original development of the 40 S&W when they used cut down 10mm cases that had the large pistol primers the ejector would strike the primer of the fresh round causing an out of battery firing of the round.

cfullgraf · May 12, 2014

Forming 40 S&W shot shell cartridges is a possibility but whether it is worth the effort or not is the question. This assumes a case is available with the appropriate head size.

A simple internet search brings up lots of information, or lack of information on the subject.

I did not find any 40 S&W shot shell forming dies in my brief search. Call RCBS, they may have design in inventory and just need some cash to get one set on the production schedule.

RCBS makes 45 ACP shot shell from 308 Winchester forming dies. These dies could be copied and resized appropriately for 40 S&W. (Some body makes blank die bodies for custom work).

See here.
http://www.huntingtons.com/store/product.php?productid=17967&cat=875&page=1

Here is a web site talking about making a variety of handgun shot shell cartridges. I just scanned it quickly but it may have some useful information.

http://www.gunweek.com/2005/feature1001.html

If you are only making a relative few shot cartridges, the home made custom dies do not need to be hardened but be aware they are damaged easily.

Then, you have to come up with under and over shot wads.

If you like doing this kind of stuff, a worth while project. If you are trying to circumvent the shortage of factory shot shells, maybe not so worth while when other options are available.

Hope this helps.

rcmodel · May 12, 2014

In the past, I have made .45 ACP shotshells from .308 rifle brass.

And more recently, made some .380 ACP shotshells from .223 rifle brass.
.223 cases were turned down in a lathe to thin the mouth and create the headspace shoulders.

.380 ACP shotshells from .223 cases:

One other possibility might be gelatin pill capsules wrapped in scotch tape to keep them from breaking so easily.

I have used them years ago in .38 Spl revolver shot loads with some success.
But again, they would not stand the slam-bang feed cycle of an auto-loader..

rc

Kuyong_Chuin · May 13, 2014

cfullgraf said:
Forming 40 S&W shot shell cartridges is a possibility but whether it is worth the effort or not is the question. This assumes a case is available with the appropriate head size.

A simple internet search brings up lots of information, or lack of information on the subject.

I did not find any 40 S&W shot shell forming dies in my brief search. Call RCBS, they may have design in inventory and just need some cash to get one set on the production schedule.

RCBS makes 45 ACP shot shell from 308 Winchester forming dies. These dies could be copied and resized appropriately for 40 S&W. (Some body makes blank die bodies for custom work).

See here.
http://www.huntingtons.com/store/product.php?productid=17967&cat=875&page=1

Here is a web site talking about making a variety of handgun shot shell cartridges. I just scanned it quickly but it may have some useful information.

http://www.gunweek.com/2005/feature1001.html

If you are only making a relative few shot cartridges, the home made custom dies do not need to be hardened but be aware they are damaged easily.

Then, you have to come up with under and over shot wads.

If you like doing this kind of stuff, a worth while project. If you are trying to circumvent the shortage of factory shot shells, maybe not so worth while when other options are available.

Hope this helps.

As for cost effectiveness, being reloadable will save a ton of money in the long run if you shoot very many of them. A 10 rounds box of the CCI shot shells in 40 S&W cost $15.00 plus tax locally when they have them.
If they would work I wouldn't really have to find any used brass after the first few for design and testing purposes. I could just buy a box of 6.8 Remington SPC loaded rounds, pull the bullets for use in 270 loads, and store and label the powder and how much was in each round for future use if I ever get a 6.8. As for the wadding material, some thicker card stock would work. The old 45 shot shells we have around here somewhere look like a normal 45 round but a little longer with the bullet removed and a piece of red wax covered cardboard on top and the edge of the mouth roll crimped enough to hold the cardboard in place. The head on a 6.8 is 0.002 of an inch smaller a round than the 40 and the rim is 0.006 of an inch thinner. Both Lyman and Redding both use the same shell holder for both rounds while Lee and the other companies use separate holders.

Potatohead · May 13, 2014

Nice snake drawing RC. You shoulda been an artist :neener:

40 S&W Shotshells from 6.8 Remington SPC cases?

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