doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Questions about Magtech Brass

I ordered some Magtech 12 gage 2 1/2" brass cases today along with 11 ga nitro and fiber wads and 10 ga overshot cards. Does anyone have any tips for reloading this stuff with blackpowder?

I routinely reload their pistol shells 38spl etc. and get 20+ reloadings out of them.
Jim

I've loaded Mag Tech 16 bore, 2 1/2", with black powder, for my hammer gun for several years.Have had zero complaints with its quality. I seal the over-shot card wad with a bit of white glue as the traditional waterglass is darned near impossible to find in these parts anymore. It works just fine and kills ringnecks, grouse, and timberdoodles DEAD!

At this stage I can only offer this website: http://www.tbullock.com/bpsg.html
If you had asked for an opinion before ordering the shells I would have recommended against it. I tried it and found it to be a royal P.I.T.A. Not worth anyhere the trouble involved. JMO, of course. I hope you enjoy it.

They work great for me. I use fairly light loads, between 2-3/4 and 3 drams of FFg and an ounce to 1-1/16 oz shot. Large pistol primers fit and work perfectly. RCBS sells a 12 gauge shellholder that's not in any of their catalogs, but if you call them they've got it.

The cases will stain after the first firing pretty much no matter what you do, but if you wash them (inside and out) with _cold_ water shortly after you shoot them it minimizes the discoloration.

I've used Duco cement (the fumes are awful!) and Elmer's carpenter glue for the top wads. Both work great, but I prefer the less stinky Elmer's.

BP generates an enormous amount of heat! Take a glove for your 'forend' hand and be careful handling the cases right after they've been fired.

BP also generates an enormous amount of fun! Be prepared to have everyone around you ask to shoot a few...

I have wanted to shoot bp too, but I've heard cleaning the gun afterwards is a royal pain in the patooty. Is it worth it? I think the brass shells make a lot of sense of older doubles, one of which I am close to acquiring myself.

I'll second just about everything Steve said. I use the same light load, no problems. When you get home, throw them in some soapy water to minimize corrosion. I seal the overshot wad with waterglass, ordered through the grocery store pharmacy.

A pocketful of loaded brass hulls feels and sounds neat.

Cleaning BP out of smooth barrels is a snap once you get used to the idea that plain water sloshed all over them won't hurt a thing!

Dismount the barrels. Pour a pint or so of cold water through each bore. Use a few patches to wipe out the residue and dry things out. Dry the barrels inside and out. Smear a bit of your favorite oil inside and out. You're done. No evil chemicals and no rust from the water, honest! Now that I'm used to water on metal I much prefer cleaning BP to cleaning smokeless.

If the bores are pitted it's a bit more work as the BP fouling likes to hide in the pits. A few more moist patches and a bit of bristle brushing will help. It's a good idea to check on pitted barrels the next day, too; maybe swab and brush them a second time. Unpitted barrels really do make BP cleanup much easier.

If you think you might want to use plastic wads with BP expect a disgusting mess of melted strips of goo in the barrels. Don't do it.

Thanks for the info. I've loaded lots of plastic and paper hulls with blackpowder but I have never loaded any full brass shells so I was curious what everyone uses to seal the overshot card with. I looked at the crimp dies that are available, but figured it would shorten the life of the somewhat expensive cases too much.

The only problem I had with Magtech 12 bore shells was a reasonable amount of blowback into the action.
This was a bit of a pain as it meant removing the strikers (hammergun, so not so bad) on occasion to clean them.
However the blowback was gun dependant,my 16 bore had none so I presume they were a tighter fit in the chambers.
Circle fly is a good source of info and wads.
http://www.circlefly.com/html/bp_cartridges.html
I use duco to seal , as I could not find waterglass.
I suppose it would pay not to use any glue that might stick to the brass too well.

GDU