doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com .410 shotgun shell sensitivity?

Stan, I have factory old and new AA #9s, and Super Sports in #8.5, #8, #7.5. To date have not tried the #8. P-gun tubes are Briley M/IM and the repro-42's Briley IM has 0.014" constr.

The #7.5s fail at distance b/c of pattern density. #8.5s and, believe it or not, #9s are better. HS factory #9s work reliably to 30 yds plus through tight chokes. The #8.5s give better breaks beyond that. Again, have not yet tried #8s. Saving the rest of the #7.5s for rabbits under 25 yds.

Balancing percentage of "long" .410 shots vs the aggravation of loading even #8.5s on my 9000 - and wondering if they are as good as factories - decided to just buy factory HS in #8.5 from here on. I get by with factory HS and reload #9s for anything less than 25-30 yds.

Jon, You're right on all points. I shoot very little skeet now, except as practice for sporting. Also, have several lifetimes worth of Yellow Dusters and CF AA hulls (plus cases of factory AAs). Getting even a legit 1/2 oz in them makes me wonder how Winchester did it. The 205 gr drop works fine both in practice and for anything under 25 yds, so hogging out the bar is probably not worth the hassle for me.

If you load Federal 2.5 hulls you can fit in 9/16 oz no problem, I have no idea what it does to pressure.
bill

Does NSSA allow for steel pellets?
#7 steel, same mass as a lead 9? Incompressable,etc.
Just curious.

Gentlemen: thank you all for that input. I see the .410 in a very different light now. You folks are a treasure-trove of information.

The most interesting powder for the .410 is Alliant 300-MP. I loaded shells with 1300 fps with pressures in the <7,000 psi range. It even patterns well and does not burn up the case mouth.

On the Mec bridging shot I heard two "cures". One was to drill a small hole in the drop tube to allow air to escape under the dropping shot. The other was to take a three corner file and put a notch on the end of the drop tube to allow air to escape. The claim was that the air was being trapped under the shot, which slowed it down and it would then bridge. I wonder if it's not just a sudden taper with too much roughness on the inside of the drop tube.

Don't know if either was a cure but I tried the notch approach. I've polished the inside of the tube to make it as smooth as glass and put a small notch on the end of the drop tube. After that I have not had any bridging except when I tried recovered shot. That's stuff not worth using in small bores to me.

Bill, Loaded Federals in years past, but need/want to stick with CF AAs. Have a couple 20mm ammo cans full.

Jon, Thanks. What shot sizes are you able to use now after modifying the drop tube?

CZ, Yes, sez the NSSA rulebook anyway. Not certain how sizes equate, but NSCA allows steel #6 as max.

I load 7 1/2 and smaller. If I need anything larger in shot I grab another, larger, gauge.

Jon, I'm liking your notch idea. Does the notch go full thickness through the drop tube at bottom. Ie., is it visible like the gaps between wad fingers, or more an internal relief cut?

Also, single notch? Thanks.