Sponsored by the
Museum of Natural
Science, Louisiana State University
From:
Brian Schmidt <Schmidt.Brian at NMNH.SI.EDU>
Subject: [AVECOL-L] Bird Shot in small sizes
Thought this site might be
useful for those looking for reloading supplies, especially for lead shot:
http://www.ballisticproducts.com/
They sell lead shot in
sizes: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7 1/2, 8, 8 1/2, 9, 10, 11, 12
=====================
From:
"Steven W. Cardiff" <scardif LSU.EDU>
Subject: Re: [AVECOL-L] reload shotgun shells
To: AVECOL-L LISTSERV.LSU.EDU
Carla et al.-
A "quick-and-dirty" alternative (assuming that you have a supply of #12
shot....) is to buy quantities of relatively cheap factory load .410 shells,
pry open the ends, dump out the contents, refill with #12 shot, manually
re-crimp as much as possible, and then seal by adding a dab from a hot glue
gun. Another alternative for opening and re-sealing is to slice off the end of
the shell with a razor blade, fill with #12, snap in a .410 wad, and lightly
seal. Of course, this is somewhat wasteful as you are not recycling the hulls,
and you end up with quantities of larger lead shot. It's probably more
expensive in the long run, but you don't have to worry about reloading
equipment, primers, powder, wads, etc. You might need to experiment regarding
whether to completely fill the shell with #12- there's more shot and weight per
volume so you may want to underfill in order to not overwhelm the powder charge.
This is also a good alternative if you are working overseas and don't want to
deal with transport of live ammo. If you know that .410 shells will be
available, then you can just take some #12 shot and mass produce reloads while
waiting for permits......
=========
Like I said, it's a quick
and dirty method. If you want precision loads, then you need precision specs
and reloading equipment as Sam indicated. As far as safety issues, we've shot
thousands of these rounds without mishap, and I know of several other
institutions that have also been using this technique without mishap. That's
not to say that safety isn't an issue, especially if you "cement" the
end of a shell. So, extreme caution is warranted. Quality IS a problem, with
considerable variation in the effectiveness of the shot patterns. So, if making
each and every shot is critical to your needs, then don't try this. Otherwise,
I've been able to live with the occasional misses. When it comes down to it, I
use very few .410's these days. I started using a Savage .22 magnum
smoothbore/20 ga over-under, and the .22 magnum #12's are "almost" as
effective as a .410. On the rare occasions when I need to use the .410 insert,
then a factory load #9 usually suffices.