Brass shells, buck shot, sort of...

N

noelf2

New member
Ok so I got a bit bored and decided to make some BP buckshot loads (Pyro RS actually). Not sure how these will shoot, pretty sure they will suck :D. I kind of threw them together with the stuff you see in the photo. Used 75 gr Pyrodex RS; didn't have any over powder cards that would fit these 20 gauge magtech shells so I cut some out of my stash of cork (still had to smack them a little with mallet get them to fit snug in the shell, but hey, it worked!); put a 1/4" felt wad over that (not lubed); then 8 .32 cal round balls ; then another smacked cork wad and Elmers glue around the overshot cork to hold everything in place. I set the primers and compressed the powder and overshot/cushion wads with the tools shown. The .32 caliber balls didn't stack perfectly as they would only fit 2 by 2 for a total of 8 (390 grains by weight I reckon). I used no buffer and they are soft lead so I'm not expecting much out of these.

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Unusual to see Pyro and #0 buckshot used. Those Mag Tech's they sure filled up nicely. That's a pretty serious charge of RS you seem to be using there. Curious: How did you come by your 20 gauge's recipe noelf2?

Been toying with #6 and 444 brass here in my 410. Been trying to find some 9.3X74R brass since last Fall. But its just not available as usual. (use for/ 3" 410s)
 
I read somewhere that 65 grains ffg and 1oz shot is a good load. These are 75gr ffg equivalent and 7/8 oz shot. Pressures shouldn't get too high for a single shot shotgun capable of 3" magnum loads. I have no expectation for these beyond 15 yards. I plan to make up some loads with #4 shot (not buck) soon. I'll use 60gr ffg and 7/8oz shot in them.
 
When loading effective buckshot, I'd try to use hardcast, or commercially available buckshot instead of muzzleloading balls, which are very soft, and can slightly deform upon firing.

The one other thing that I can suggest is taking either a paper milk carton or a cereal box and cutting it into strips so you can curl a bit of it into the shell so it can act as a shotcup.

I can attest to the above crude shotcup, as it now makes my Husky shoot like a rifle, and I have to be dead on on anything less than 20 yards, or I'll miss it.
I NEVER would have thought it would make that big a difference.
 
brass

As described, they should work pretty well. That 75 grain volume load of purpose - 65 hrs. actual is a standard two and three quarter dram loading.
Duco cement.works better than any plastic.

Pete
 
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They should work pretty good. I think you're going to be surprised. I've used good ol Elmers glue on overshot cards for years. It works. There may be better but it cant be much better.
 
I've been shooting those magtech brass 20 gauge cases loaded with black powder for 3 years or so. I tried several different methods to come up with wads, all of which worked, sort of, but the easiest by far is to just use pre-cut 16 gauge wads. The thin walls of the brass 20 gauge cases make 16 gauge wads a good press fit. On the over shot wad, I seal it with fingernail polish. (The wife sells cosmetics, so I get her old fingernail polish at a much faster rate than I can shoot it up) I tried using Elmers but found the fingernail polish to dry faster and perhaps be a little less brittle over time. And it's free.

Here's a link to where I got my wads from. There may be others around, I just stopped looking when I found these.

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/170/1
 
Steve I checked out those circle fly wads a few times, just didn't buy any. Do the 16 gauge nitro card wads fit in the 20ga magtech? On the circle fly site (maker of the wads) they say the 18ga over powder cards and 17 gauge over shot cards are best in the magtech 20ga brass hulls. By the way, TOTW is out of all the wads so I've been looking for a hollow or arch type wad cutter in 16 gauge so the wads fit more snug.
 
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The 16 gauge wads fit my brass cases perfectly.I also have a wad cutter, actually several, but I like the pre cut wads better than anything else I tried.

As I said, I really didn't look around for any more. I bought enough to probably last me the rest of my life at the rate I shoot them. I only use the 20 gauge for rabbit hunting, 4 or 5 times a year, probably don't shoot more than 6 or 8 times per outing, so I'm only going through a couple boxes a year.

For what it's worth, I only bought 50 rounds of cases. I have one box I haven't loaded and the other 25 have been loaded multiples of times. I have had no case failures so far. If you wash them as soon as you get home from a hunt, I think they might last a long, long time.
 
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