doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Source for 10 Gauge 2-7/8 Inch Shells

Does anyone have a reliable source for 10 gauge 2-7/8 inch shells? I'm particularly interested in lighter loadings for relatively light 10 gauge gun. Thanks.

RST, now back in busness full swing, offers several 10-gauge options, 1, 1 1/8, and 1 1/4 ounce -- http://www.rstshells.com/shells-best.htm

If you reload, take the longer ones and cut them down to 2 7/8. That's what I do for the English Damascus sidelock that I take dove hunting.

RST also catalogues one ounce tens, but the 1 1/8 ounce loads were the lightest available at the Vintagers. The pressure figures shown to me (not yet shown on the website) were very low, as were the velocity specs. This is what we have been looking for. Prices are in the neighborhood of a buck a shell which is not unreasonable considering that no one else feels that tens are proper for their catalog offerings. Hooray for RST. Murphy

Paul: Sherman Bell wrote a couple of articles on low-pressure ten loading a few years ago in DGJ that are useful if you'd like to roll your own. One cool thing I've found is that the Federal plastic hulls (wish there were some papers!) will hold a slight roll crimp very well - by this I mean using an old 10 gauge hand-cranked roll crimp tool, just turning the mouth in a bit, without a full roll, will securely hold a top card under recoil.

Short tens are also excellent for BP loads! The typically thicker barrels on a ten mitigate the vast amout of heat put out by BP so asbestos gloves are not a necessity like with 12s. The Fed cases usually hold up for three BP loads, though a few will 'hole' on the first firing. Short tens are great!

Paul,
Steve and Gil are absolutely right. I cut down the 3-1/2" Federals using a retail tool (B&P or Precision Reloading?) and stuffed the hulls with Hodgsdon Longshot, some overpowder cards, a Remington SP-10 shotcup with 1-1/8 oz of lead, some fiber wads in the shotcup (cards and wads to make appropriate column length and to bring shot level to top of shotcut, respectively) then an overshot card and used an antique tool to give about a 1/4" roll crimp. Had Tom Armbrust guide me, testing early load. Load worked brilliantly on dove (when I could hold straight) and on guinea fowl (#7-1/2 and #6 respectively) in Namibia two months ago.

Also Found in Namibia that I was not quite burning all the Longshot and solicit comment on that from the Board.
Regards, Tim

I don't even know what Longshot is, but it sounds like a slow burning powder for heavy loads, explaining the poor combustion. A 1 1/8 ounce ten gauge load would seem to call for a fast powder like the Red Dot (maybe 19 or 20 grains) that you probably have 30 pounds of in the house somewhere. An even faster powder like Bullseye would probably also work in very light ten loads.

1. Remington 3 1/2" hulls trimmed to 2 7/8"

. 30 gr of 7625

4. SP-10 wads

4. one 20ga 1/8" cardboard wad in bottom of shotcup.

5. 1 1/8 or 1 1/4 oz of shot

6. recommended shot buffering used in the Bismuth

7. assmeble in MEC 10 ga press that has the shell plate jacked up with a 3/8" plywood shim.

NOTES: some adjustments in shot weight or internal cup filler wad may be necessary,
"depending on", to get a nice folded crimp. Also, this same basic load will propel Bismuth shot, in a quantity to fill the cup, vy nicely. Can't cite the pressure offhand, but pubished as relatively low.

Some time ago, Russ Gray and Jerry Lape, among others, formed a Ten Guage group, about the time Armbruster was running his published Ten experiments in DGJ. My copy of the TenGA group's data -- which ballistic pressure testing was paid for by it's members -- is AWOL in the loading room.

However, it's possible that someone still has it. The 7625 load I listed was published by Ross Seyfried [and others], and was my standard Light Ten load. I bought mass quantities of the components from Ballistic Products, which simplified production. When I sold my last Ten, the remaining balance went with it.

Lead or Bismuth, 30 gr of 7625 in that wad/hull combo, and some willingness to adjust the shot weight/internal shotcup fill-up wads, and you can keep those Tens rolling, with nice tight star crimps and sized hulls..

Thanks for comment, Eightbore, and load, John M. Yes, bought the Longshot for Paradox loads with the 750 gr. head. Will try some 7625.
Regards, Tim

http://www.republicmetallic.com/

They also have bismuth if you are inclined to waterfowl hunt with your Double.