Sixgun Shotshells

[markp]

  Are speer shot capsuls the best way to go? I want to load shot in 45 colt or 44 mag.
  If you dont use capsuls how do you seperate the shot from the powder ? How do you seal the end
  of the caseing ?  I have used  22lr and 22mag commerical shotshells on snakes which worked well
  at close range but the cost of any other commerical sixgun shotshell cartridge is too steep.
 
  Questions are is speer shot shell capsuls the way to go or are other options as good and how to
  do the other options ?

 Thanks

[stimpylu32]

You can either just use the shot caps or you can buy or make some over powder / shot wads from a old cardboard ammo box and make your own shot shells .

Making your own takes a little work to find the proper powder charge for the weight of the shot load being used , were as with the shot caps , they tell you what the weight will be for a given shot size .

stimpy

 

[45-70.gov]

i   like them

i  tried  the gas check over and under the shot too

speer capsule is better

9 shot is better than  the 22  with  11 or 12 shot

try buck shot for fun.....drip in candle wax  or they break from recoil
the back pellet will be on target

have fun

[Savage]

There are two other threads currently running on handgun shot threads. Lots of info there for reading. Must be lots of people interested in them.
Savage

[GameHauler]

There are two other threads currently running on handgun shot threads. Lots of info there for reading. Must be lots of people interested in them.
Savage

I think it's one of those items that everyone has though about having or doing
but gets put on the back burner easily until something sparks the interest again
and the embers are warmed.
I can not see any reason to mess around with other methods other than the
Speer capsules since they are cheap enough and very easy to use.

[stimpylu32]

burch , sweetwater and myself spent some time on this subuect awhile back , working up diffrent ways to make shot shells for the 45LC .

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,141281.0.html

May be some helpful info here for you Markp .

stimpy

[markp]

Thanks for all the info guys. This sounds like fun !!


Your link had lots of info stimlylu32  thanks !

I m going to track down some speer shotcapsuls and give it a go. I imagine shot comes in hudge bags.
How hard would it be to slice open a few 12 gauge shells for the bb's?

[markp]

Also where can I order some speer shot capsules ? Midway is on back order and cabelas dosnt show this product at all.

[Savage]

markp,
If you just need a few shot shell loads, the shot from one 1 1/8 12 ga field load will load several. Cut the shotgun shell open while holding it down in a bowl, or you might have a mess on your hands. Check your local gunshops for shot capsules. They frequently have a box or two back somewhere out of sight. Or------------a 25# bag will load a LOT!!
Savage

[Lead pot]

The Judge is my Snake gun!!!

[Blackhawk44]

Also check Midsouth and Natchez Shooters Supply.  Shot capsules are the way to go.  With a little search, shot can be found in 5# bags.  Remember, the smaller the shot, the better they work.

[markp]

Thanks Savage and Blackhawk44.

I cut the top off of 4  12 ga light loads and have a baggie with the 7 1/2 shot bbs waiting until I can get to the store for shotcapsules. We  will see it I can get a  fairly even pattern at close range. Shot Size 9 or 12
would probally be beter but 7 1/2 was the smallest  I could purloin from the shotgun shells I had on hand.

[markp]

  I found 44 caliber shot capsules locally for 14.00/50 I thought this was a bit much considering you can buy loaded ball ammo of severl calibers for this price or less  if you can avoid the scalpers. but midway and natchez prices are about the same  for this product so I guess this is what it goes for.

seems pretty steep but I got the bug to load some so what's a guy gonna do.

[Redcap]

You can but shot all the way down to size 12 from Ballistic Products. 

[Sweetwater]

As to the 25# bags of shot; I recently picked up a plastic bottle of #5 shot at Cabelas in Post Falls, Id. It's a Knight product and is 3.5lbs net weight. I forgot the price, but it will undoubted last me the rest of my natural life unless I get inundated with pests. I use it in my 41mag and 45Colt in both the short (normal) version and the long version as Stimpy guided you to the link. No capsules available for the 41mag so I use the gascheck method for all of them. The long version is a bit tedious, but when I build them, I have nothing but time. Enjoy! They are a blast!

Regards,
Sweetwater

[41 mag]

As mentioned the bug hit me years ago, and I did quite a bit of experimenting with both the .357's and the 44's. Some test went well, some didn't, but over all it was a hoot anyway. One of the better loads I came up with for the 44mag used 2 Speer .350" round balls. It was great for use when we headed to central Tx for the rabbit population. It was very good out to 25yds and fair out a bit further.



My initial loads used some thick 1/8" felt for wadding, but after running out of it I simply swapped over to some thin I had on hand. I used a 357 case for a punch and it worked out great. For thick felt it only took 2 pieces, but for the thin stuff I had to use 4 pieces. The charge was the standard charge of Unique listed on the box. The load would shoot both balls to around 2-3" at 25yds and about 6 or so at 50. It put many cotton tails and jack rabbits in the supper pot and didn't ruin much if any meat doing it.

[GameHauler]

41 Mag,
What are you using the wadding for?

[markp]

Thanks Redcap and Sweetwater.

Interesting stuff  41 Mag. Thanks.