45 acp shot shells

[h.charlie]

I've been researching 45 acp shotshells and I would like to try the method of using 308 brass and 44 mag dies, but the part I'm hesitant on is powder and powder charge, would a good place to start be weighing the shot and reducing the charge by 10% below min for the equivalent bullet weight, and how does wading effect the pressure, I like the idea of 410 wads cut down but am I wrong that the wadding will increase pressure, and would using paper wadding be less pressure then commercial wads? The powder I have for this project is longshot, and if it's better I also have bullseye, as I'm still doing the research I thought someone on here might have some good insight thanks for time and hope to hear what some of yall think

[jericho89]

Check out this web page

http://www.ammochannel.com/45-acp-shotshells-handloaded/

They use paper wads or gas checks. They also have a formula for powder and shot load. It is an interesting idea and I would play with it, but do not have a real interest to buy the rcbs dies and do not have .41 dies. Keep us posted in what you figure out on this, it sounds like fun.

[Carcassonne]

Check out this web page

http://www.ammochannel.com/45-acp-shotshells-handloaded/

They use paper wads or gas checks. They also have a formula for powder and shot load. It is an interesting idea and I would play with it, but do not have a real interest to buy the rcbs dies and do not have .41 dies. Keep us posted in what you figure out on this, it sounds like fun.

Thanks for the video.


.

[Capybara]

Tagged

[sofbak]

haven't done this with .45 auto, but have been doing it often with .45 colt. I use .460 S&W mag cases.

Sometimes I use small frozen water balloons to amaze my friends with my marksmanship. Toss a balloon about 10 to 15 ft. in the air, draw aim and blast it out of the sky (afterwards I usually confess that I was using shotshells, but never before).

If you are cutting wads and caps from thin cardboard, here's a tip. Take a .45 auto case and chamfer the inside until you have a sharp edge. Chuck it in a drill press or hand drill (if you have a 1/2" capacity chuck), and use that to "spin-cut" your wads. Be sure the primer has been removed from your cutter shell, and use a thin punch or nail through the flash hole to push the wads out of the case after you have cut 6 or so of them. If needed, drill the flash hole large enough to fit whatever punch or nail you have.

Not sure why they picked a .41 mag sizing die. For my .45 colt shotshells, I have been using a .44 mag sizing die to neck down the front of the case. But whatever works vs. whatever you have or can find I guess.

Also, I didn't see any recommended shot size. From what I have read #12 (IIRC) is very effective, but I already had a 20lb bag of #8, and it seems to be working well enough. YMMV.

Here is the article that got me going with the colt loads:

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/6386432/1

And I don't crimp the case mouth, just use a small amount of wood glue around the perimeter to seal that cardboard cap in place.

[Ferrum]

I've done a lot of playing around with shot shells in pistols... To your powder question, yes Longshot will work, Bullseye is better and Unique I have found to be the best (700X also works well).

I've played with the different methods of making shot capsules, but always go back to the Speer shot capsules. They allow for the greatest amount of shot in a round (at least in the playing around that I have done). If you go through with the method your proposing, I would use the Speer load data for shot shells as a baseline...

I will also add that these capsules work best in revolvers. Every time I have tried any shot loads in auto loaders, it hasn't gone very well.

[CSACANNONEER]

I gave up on shotshells in semi auto handguns a long time ago. I never found a way to get 100% reliable cycling. Now, I just use them in non semi auto handguns.

[jericho89]

All I have to say is darn you...... I have found out that my buddy has 41 mag dies, and now I am thinking of trying this..... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh