410 ga. shot shells question...

[DammitBoy]

Is it possible to find 3" 410 shells that load single aught buckshot or is that a pipe dream?

Does anybody load their own 410 shells?

I found 000 buckshot and even a little 00 buckshot in a 3" shell, but no 0 buckshot. Is there a reason for this?

I have a 3" judge and while I think #4 shot is an okay defense round, I think single aught buckshot would be the bomb diggity.

 

[loadedround]

I believe you will have to stuff your own if you want single 0 buckshot in 410 shells.

 

[NCsmitty]

There's no advantage with 0 buck because of the shot column dia. 000 stacks well with a full length wad.
I load my 410, 2.5" with 3 cast .380 balls with fiber spacer wads, over a Gulandi powder wad and it is equivalent to 0000 buck loads. Each one is hand stacked.
It will cover a 12" pattern at 50 yds. out of my NEF pardner, and hits like 3 +p 38 special slugs.


NCsmitty

 

[dannyabear]

Yep, I use AA HS hulls, win 209 primers, 12.5 grs 2400 and 4 each 000 hornady buckshot in 2 1/2" shell; If you use H110 like winchester factory load you can only fit 3; Federal loads 4

 

[DammitBoy]

I'd read that you can fit 3 '000' shot in a 3" 410 shell, 5 '00' shot and 7 '0' shot - is this true?

Has anybody here tried loading single aught shot in a 3" 410 shell?

 

[FROGO207]

I am starting to load 444 Marlin brass with shot loads.You need special cardboard wads available from Circle Fly.com. I tried all the above mentioned shot size combos and find the #1 shot gives the best pattern in my Savage 24. I would think that it would also work OK in a short barrel for defense rounds. I am trying to get away from replacing the hulls so metallic and a set of dies to me was the easiest. Magtech also makes .410 shotshells in brass but I wanted to use available tools to remove primers and size the shell. If you do stack shot in a column you need to use separator wads or buffer material. I use cream of wheat as a buffer and seal the top wad with Duco cement.

 

[DammitBoy]

Froggo - are you talking about using a 444 shell casing in a 410??

 

[FROGO207]

I shore am. It works real well for me. You don't have to worry about packing the powder in as there is no shot cup to deal with. Every thing compresses well. On some shotguns the 444 Marlin will not eject well as the rim is not the correct size. It also works OK with my nef pardner. If you reload metallic this is the way to go. All you need is a set of dies and your set. You will need to get special wadding as the plastic wads will be way too loose and give squib loads. Guess how I know. I use #1, #4, and 36 cal lead ball.

 

[Remo-99]

I've also loaded 3" with 000 and full length wads, but found 36 calibre(.375") revolver roundballs and carboard wads worked great.

And like NCsmitty said they'll reach out to 50yds and still have plenty of sting, not bad for the little fourten.

 

[suemarkp]

Cheaper Than Dirt and a few other places carry Golden Bear 2 3/4" all brass 410 shotshells. They say they are #4 buck, but in actuality they are size O (.30 to .31 cal). I guess the Russians don't know our Buck sizes. There are 5 of those pellets per shell. I still have 29 rounds left with no gun to shoot them. Was hoping they would fit my 2.5" chambered Judge, but they won't chamber (they are too fat -- didn't get to see if length was even going to be an issue).

So you may want to buy a box of 5 and see if they work.

 

[suemarkp]

FROGO207, what size wad do you use? Standard 410 wads have been used for shot loads in 45 Colt, and I don't think have blow by issues (maybe you're loading hotter or not hot enough. I think you also need to seat the wad onto the powder to semi expand it initially)?

I thought about using the nitro wads, but none of the sizes seemed right. A .450 wad would seal the barrel, but you can't get than into a 410 or 444 case. A .430 wad would fit the case, but still be smaller than barrel diameter. These are, however, larger than a 410 wad. The Ballistic Products stretch wad is a bit longer and seems to have a larger base in the powder area -- seems like it would seal better than the other common wads.

You may also want to try some of the shells from http://www.paraklesetechnologies.com/products.asp?cat=13
They have OOOO, OO, and BB loads for both the 2.5" and 3" Judge. If they work that well in a handgun, they shoudl be awesome in a longer barreled shotgun.