.410 slugs, why only 1/5 oz?

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R

Red Tornado

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How come .410 slugs dont come any larger than the 87.5gr (1/5 oz) available? By my reckoning, if you can get a 185 gr bullet in a 40s&w, you should be able to get at least a 200 gr. slug.

Is it a pressure thing? That doesn't make sense to me because you can get birdshot in 1/2 or 11/16 oz.

Anyone got an answer?
Thanks,
RT
 
I think the answer probably lies in the fact it has to be a hollow-base slug design to expand and fit the smooth bore in order to get any kind of accuracy & power.

(Shotgun slugs are like Badminton Shuttlecocks. They only fly point first because they are heavy in the front and light in the back)

A solid bullet that would weigh much more, and still fit inside the .410 case would leave a lot of room for escaping gas around it, just rattle down the barrel, and start tumbling on exit.
 
Think of a slug as a badminton shuttlecock. It stays accurate by being heavy at the front and having a wad at the back that is light and catches the air. You can only have so much head to the shuttlecock (I'm starting to chuckle at my own terminology, here...head...shuttlecock) before it starts to get unstable. More lead means it'll need more wad behind it to keep it stable and there's only so much room in a shotgun shell.
 
Since nobody has mentioned it yet, you can think of a shotgun slug as a badminton shuttlecock. ;)
 
You know what just dawned on me? A shotgun slug works kinda like one of those badminton shuttlecocks.


Just didn't want to miss out on being able to type "shuttlecock". Reminds me of when I was in the badminton championship at Lake Titticaca.:neener:
 
Okay, so it acts like a shuttlecock?

Thanks for the replies. I figured there was something I had to be missing, but I never would have come up with the shuttlecock analogy.

Once again, the THR collective delivers the goods.
Thanks,
RT
 
SHUTTLECOCK!!!

I wanted to get in here before the thread gets closed. Don't know when I may get the opportunity to type it again.

It could be a pressure thing, too. Pushing a heavy slug down the barrel requires more pressure. I would think though that the slug could be a little heavier, maybe 1/3 of an ounce, but who knows.
 
Sabot shotgun slugs will only work in rifled shotgun barrels.

And nobody makes a rifled .410 barrel, so it is doubtful anyone makes sabot .410 shells.

1224.jpg
rcmodel
 
A couple things before this this degrades further.....

410 slugs were developed for stuff like hares and foxes. 1/5 oz works there. For Elk, do not use a 410.

Ballistic Products carries a Euro slug for reloading that's more like 1/2 oz, IIRC,

As always, BP will furnish loading data for their stuff.

A few decades ago, American Rifleman had a thing where they used a 3" 410 case and loaded up a heavier custom slug to about 1800 FPS without blowing up a cylinder bore B/A 410 shotgun.

They concluded it was more trouble than it was worth.
 
.410 sabot slug question please...

i have a Springfield Armory M6 with a full choke barrel that i use regular shotshells, #3 000 buck with. have been very reluctant to use any slugs with the full choke.

my question is, is there a decent sabot slug that will work ok out of the full choke; like a smaller slug with a plastic sabot? thank you! - Eric
 
I guess I will have to seriously re-think elk season this year.


Probably Rabbit and Fox as well.....

i have a Springfield Armory M6 with a full choke barrel that i use regular shotshells, #3 000 buck with. have been very reluctant to use any slugs with the full choke.
Click to expand...

Ahh let me guess the guy at the gun shop said something along the lines of "You firin' them slugs through here will get the choked all blowed out..." or words to that effect right? Don't worry under normal circumstances not an issue. I have probably put 200 slugs through my 1100 w/full choke and still tight as a drum.
 
borrowedtime69
Hollow-base rifled-slugs will not hurt any choke, in any shotgun, including your M-6.

Sabot slugs will not stabilize in smooth-bore shotgun barrels like your M-6.
They have to be fired from a rifled shotgun barrel, or at least a rifled choke tube to work right.

1224.jpg
rcmodel
 
Looked around and found some 1/4 oz slugs at 1775 fps. I played with them some this weekend, and I must say, it's quite a respectable loading. If I go outside with the old .410 single shot and a slug loaded up, I'm ready for anything I might encounter in my area. That would be a coyote or stray dog, and I think the 1/5 oz at 1800 fps will also be sufficient.

I calculated the 1/5 oz at 611 ft/lbs and the 1/4 oz at 762 ft/lbs. That's a bit more than I was expecting, and it's enough to make any invader, canine or human, stop all agressive activities.

I can easily hit COM offhand at 50 yds, and that's all I can imagine ever needing for this gun.
RT
 
Shuttlecock

I know that the F-15 uses a shuttlecock in the switching valves for the PC1 and PC2 hydraulic systems.

But I'm assuming that not the analogy to which you were referring. :D

(I snuck it in)
 
Millions of comedians out of work and all us folks standing around trying to be funny. You can't buy an act like this in Vegas. Ask yourself why.


LONG LIVE THE SHUTTLECOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
"If I'd known what it would lead to, I'd have become a watchmaker" - paraphrased, Albert Einstein.

I was just curious about .410 slugs, but what have I started here?!?:(

I swear it wasn't my fault, I'm just the innocent OP, rcmodel and MCgunner, if you'd only said birdie instead of shuttlecock! :D
RT
 
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