Blackpowder 10 Gauge Low Pressure - Reload Info

[dfletcher]

Have set aside finding 10 gauge brass for my newly acquired Winchester 1887 and put together what I need to reload 2 7/8" plastic shells. Am looking for either blackpowder (Goex) low pressure loads or a source to find them. Thus far I've come up with 117 grains of 1F with 1 1/4 oz shot off the GOEX site and 109 grains of 2F with 1 1/2 oz shot from a Shooting Times article from Shooting Times.

I know there are low pressure smokeless loads data out there, but the powder for them is either discontinued or hard to find. I thought something like TrailBoss might work, but the general opinion is no.

Any info appreciated

[bigbossman]

Have set aside finding 10 gauge brass for my newly acquired Winchester 1887 and put together what I need to reload 2 7/8" plastic shells. Am looking for either blackpowder (Goex) low pressure loads or a source to find them. Thus far I've come up with 117 grains of 1F with 1 1/4 oz shot off the GOEX site and 109 grains of 2F with 1 1/2 oz shot from a Shooting Times article from Shooting Times.

I know there are low pressure smokeless loads data out there, but the powder for them is either discontinued or hard to find. I thought something like TrailBoss might work, but the general opinion is no.

Any info appreciated

I am not a BP expert and I've never loaded for 10 gauge, so with that as a disclaimer.......

I do have a couple of old Damascus 12 gauge guns, and have been loading for them for quite some time. I have two loads - 2 dram and 3 dram ( about 60gr and 80gr, respectively), both with 1oz of #8 lead. I've used both 1F and 2F without issue, and as I recall the 3 dram load is only about 4k PSI or so. So, I think you're in the ballpark with your stated loads.

[dfletcher]

I am not a BP expert and I've never loaded for 10 gauge, so with that as a disclaimer.......

I do have a couple of old Damascus 12 gauge guns, and have been loading for them for quite some time. I have two loads - 2 dram and 3 dram ( about 60gr and 80gr, respectively), both with 21oz of #8 lead. I've used both 1F and 2F without issue, and as I recall the 3 dram load is only about 4k PSI or so. So, I think you're in the ballpark with your stated loads.

Thanks. Evidently a dram = about 27 grains of powder and I'm seeing anywhere from 3000 to 6500 pressure with FFG. I'll probably use #6 lead. I'm thinking the "21 oz" f shot is a mistype though. 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 oz seems to be about right. And I've just figured out what a "squared charge" is - makes it easy.

[bigbossman]

Thanks. Evidently a dram = about 27 grains of powder and I'm seeing anywhere from 3000 to 6500 pressure with FFG. I'll probably use #6 lead. I'm thinking the "21 oz" f shot is a mistype though. 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 oz seems to be about right. And I've just figured out what a "squared charge" is - makes it easy.

Oops, yeah that 21 was a typo. Should be 1 oz. Just went back and edited it

[dfletcher]

A few photos of the gun. I'm guessing it was in truly terrible shape. Whoever did the refinish did a very good job.

IMG_1605.jpg

IMG_1606.jpg

IMG_1607.jpg

IMG_1608.jpg

[NapalmCheese]

What are you trying to do? If yiu just want to shoot the gun just load a 7/8 or 1oz square laod with FFg.

Whatever she'll you use:

1. Deprime
2. Trim if necessary (cut thr crimp off plastic hulls)
3. Prime
4. Use a 1oz (or 7/8 oz) SHOT scoop to throw a level scoop of FFg into the hull
5. Press in an appropriate size 0.125 nitro card with a dowel or something (9 ga for brass hulls, 10 ga for straight wall plastic hulls)
6. Press in a lubed cushion wad of appropriate size (or dab some crisco on the bottom of it before you press it in)
7. Pour in a scoop of shot
8. Press in an oversized overshot card (8 ga for brass hulls, 9 ga for plastic)
9. Run a bead of elmers glue around the card edge to glue it to the hull, or just flood a layer of elmers over the shot card

Shoot, drop the hull in water or toss if burned through, repeat. Wipe out your bore every once in a while. Clean the gu with soap and water. Blow dry with shop air if possible, otherwise dry as best as you can. Lube and protect with Ballistol. Don't use petroleum gun oils with black powder, they don't play well together.

Want to use plastic wads? Go ahead. Clean the plastic fouling with day old coffee or so e version of windex. I don't remember which version, I just use fiber wads. That 7/8 oz load in a 12ga will knock down cowboy targets and clays and make plenty of smoke.

Ballistic Products has a brass shotshell loading book with lots of black powder recipes.

A 7/8oz shot scoop of FFg is about 60 grains by weight of Goex, about 2 drams.

[dfletcher]

What are you trying to do? If yiu just want to shoot the gun just load a 7/8 or 1oz square laod with FFg.

Whatever she'll you use:

1. Deprime
2. Trim if necessary (cut thr crimp off plastic hulls)
3. Prime
4. Use a 1oz (or 7/8 oz) SHOT scoop to throw a level scoop of FFg into the hull
5. Press in an appropriate size 0.125 nitro card with a dowel or something (9 ga for brass hulls, 10 ga for straight wall plastic hulls)
6. Press in a lubed cushion wad of appropriate size (or dab some crisco on the bottom of it before you press it in)
7. Pour in a scoop of shot
8. Press in an oversized overshot card (8 ga for brass hulls, 9 ga for plastic)
9. Run a bead of elmers glue around the card edge to glue it to the hull, or just flood a layer of elmers over the shot card

Shoot, drop the hull in water or toss if burned through, repeat. Wipe out your bore every once in a while. Clean the gu with soap and water. Blow dry with shop air if possible, otherwise dry as best as you can. Lube and protect with Ballistol. Don't use petroleum gun oils with black powder, they don't play well together.

Want to use plastic wads? Go ahead. Clean the plastic fouling with day old coffee or so e version of windex. I don't remember which version, I just use fiber wads. That 7/8 oz load in a 12ga will knock down cowboy targets and clays and make plenty of smoke.

Ballistic Products has a brass shotshell loading book with lots of black powder recipes.

A 7/8oz shot scoop of FFg is about 60 grains by weight of Goex, about 2 drams.

That mirrors what I've read on line. And the loaded shells from Buffalo were good enough to list the load specs on the box. Shot a few this weekend in my back yard - they're 2 5/8" with a roll crimp. I'm going to do the roll crimp rather than glue. Bought a tool for power drill use and an antique hand type. 100 hulls will last me pretty much forever.

[NapalmCheese]

That mirrors what I've read on line. And the loaded shells from Buffalo were good enough to list the load specs on the box. Shot a few this weekend in my back yard - they're 2 5/8" with a roll crimp. I'm going to do the roll crimp rather than glue. Bought a tool for power drill use and an antique hand type. 100 hulls will last me pretty much forever.

Nothing wrong with roll crimping, except you have to have the right column height. If you glue the overshot card you can have any column height you like. Roll crimping is much better looking and just a touch easier to get in the chamber. With black powder in plastic hulls you'll burn through the hull long before you split the crimp. You can star crimp too, though roll crimping gives lower pressures IIRC.

Have fun, old shotguns are great!

Edit to add, I guess you could roll crimp just about anywhere anyway, column height be damned.

[bigbossman]

I'm not the BP expert that NapalmCheese is..... in fact, he helped me get right loading for my 12ga BP shotguns. Having said that.......

I used to glue mine on top of the over-shot card, but since I was using modern plastic shells with only 2 drams of BP and 1oz of shot, the case was always way longer than it need to be. Functionally finer but aesthetically unpleasing, so after I settled on my powder/wad/shot/card length, I just made a trim jig out of a piece of PVC. Insert case in one end, a wooden dowel in the other, and then trim with a utility knife. I just have to do it once, and I have a nice pile of ready to load hulls. In addition, I switched to a roll crimp because it looks so nice and I was afraid the glue might give u[p the ghost if the shell was dropped. I did inherit a bunch of Federal paper hulls, and those get star crimped on the MEC press.

I have found that the hulls with the flat internal bases work best for BP, and coincidentally all the HD fellows at the range leave 00 buckshot hulls laying all over the place. I like the Fiocchi clear ones best. Also - I use the slightly oversize euro primers to load for BP. I don't think is makes any difference, but I won a bunch of them in a raffle and don't have any other use for them.