Possible to convert Lead shot to Slugs??

[MihajloSimsic]

I saw an interesting video of someone cutting off the tops of 2 3/4" target load 12 gauges and replacing the shot with a 1oz slug.

I have never reloaded before. But wouldn't you theoretically be able to take a 3" .410 with 300gr of shot and replace the shot with a 150gr or 200gr slug? Considering that you provide sufficient wadding and re-crimp it. I'm interested to hear your opinions

[lucky07]

Wad + spacers + powder charge (grains and type) + projectile all go hand in hand in order to get your pressure and muzzle velocity where it needs to be.

It is possible but you'd almost be better off starting from scratch. Then at least you'd be working towards specific charge and velocity figures and know what you're ending up with. Just loading a buffered load of shot vs unbuffered for example can cause overpressure if powder and wad aren't adjusted accordingly. That's why we have reloading manuals. Shoot the birdshot and reload the hulls with slugs.

Way back when jesus was a cowboy during the depression poor folk used to pull the shot from shells and put it back in slowly while melting candle wax into the shell at the same time. They'd end up with a makeshift slug that could knock down big game in order to feed their family. When you have no other choice anything goes I guess but I don't think we're at that point yet.

[MihajloSimsic]

Wad + spacers + powder charge (grains and type) + projectile all go hand in hand in order to get your pressure and muzzle velocity where it needs to be.

It is possible but you'd almost be better off starting from scratch. Then at least you'd be working towards specific charge and velocity figures and know what you're ending up with. Just loading a buffered load of shot vs unbuffered for example can cause overpressure if powder and wad aren't adjusted accordingly. That's why we have reloading manuals. Shoot the birdshot and reload the hulls with slugs.

Way back when jesus was a cowboy during the depression poor folk used to pull the shot from shells and put it back in slowly while melting candle wax into the shell at the same time. They'd end up with a makeshift slug that could knock down big game in order to feed their family. When you have no other choice anything goes I guess but I don't think we're at that point yet.

Gotcha. That makes a lot more sense now. Would there be any way to match the slug weight with the powder weight already in the shell with a loading manual? Thanks!

[greatwhite]

My Grandfather use to cut 3/4 of the way around the hull with a knife and about 1 inch up from the brass and shoot it, was called the poor mans slug. Never heard of cutting the tops off.

[js4fn]

We use to play with shotgun shells open up crimp dump out shot. Put some shot back in while melting wax candle with shot gradually putting shot wax back in shell recrimp worked pretty good actually

[greatwhite]

I always wanted to filled with string to give my buddy.

We use to play with shotgun shells open up crimp dump out shot. Put some shot back in while melting wax candle with shot gradually putting shot wax back in shell recrimp worked pretty good actually

[lucky07]

Gotcha. That makes a lot more sense now. Would there be any way to match the slug weight with the powder weight already in the shell with a loading manual? Thanks!

Yes, but you'd have to know what type of powder is in the shell initially (they're not all the same) and how much of it there is. From there you check loading data and see what types of load are in that ballpark. Thing is with a slug the wad would have to change as well ... unless you fill the void in the existing shot cup with something it's not going to work. By that point all you're saving is the powder and primer. Whatever you use as filler would have to be accounted for as well. Same idea as buffered shot increasing pressure over unbuffered if fired from the same powder charge. Not much weight in buffer but it can make a difference in pressure which means you generally have to cut down on powder, or go to a slower burning one to alleviate that. In 99% of those cases the overpressure wouldn't cause any type of catastrophic failure ... but IMO it's not worth the risk.

Long story short, easier and safer to load from scratch. You almost realistically need a press to accomplish what you're after right now anyways. Reloading birdshot is hardly worth it given the price of shot or the PITA of making it yourself if you don't want to buy it. Reloading buckshot and slugs however (more so buckshot) can end up saving quite a few pesos. That said, I'm not too sure which presses will roll crimp a .410 as I've never been down that road.

I used to reload a while back, about to get set up for that again soon. I can't find the 12 gauge buckshot loads I want (and what's out there is in short supply anyways, and expensive) so I guess I'll have to make my own lol

[MihajloSimsic]

Yes, but you'd have to know what type of powder is in the shell initially (they're not all the same) and how much of it there is. From there you check loading data and see what types of load are in that ballpark. Thing is with a slug the wad would have to change as well ... unless you fill the void in the existing shot cup with something it's not going to work. By that point all you're saving is the powder and primer. Whatever you use as filler would have to be accounted for as well. Same idea as buffered shot increasing pressure over unbuffered if fired from the same powder charge. Not much weight in buffer but it can make a difference in pressure which means you generally have to cut down on powder, or go to a slower burning one to alleviate that. In 99% of those cases the overpressure wouldn't cause any type of catastrophic failure ... but IMO it's not worth the risk.

Long story short, easier and safer to load from scratch. You almost realistically need a press to accomplish what you're after right now anyways. Reloading birdshot is hardly worth it given the price of shot or the PITA of making it yourself if you don't want to buy it. Reloading buckshot and slugs however (more so buckshot) can end up saving quite a few pesos. That said, I'm not too sure which presses will roll crimp a .410 as I've never been down that road.

I used to reload a while back, about to get set up for that again soon. I can't find the 12 gauge buckshot loads I want (and what's out there is in short supply anyways, and expensive) so I guess I'll have to make my own lol

That clears it up very well. If I was going to start loading I was going to load .410 slugs anyways. Seeing as how it's easier to get prohibited ammo than it is .410 slugs lol.

[Gun Nut]

I saw an interesting video of someone cutting off the tops of 2 3/4" target load 12 gauges and replacing the shot with a 1oz slug.

I have never reloaded before. But wouldn't you theoretically be able to take a 3" .410 with 300gr of shot and replace the shot with a 150gr or 200gr slug? Considering that you provide sufficient wadding and re-crimp it. I'm interested to hear your opinions

By cutting the top of I presume you mean removing the fold crimp. Why not just pry the crimp open and pour out the shot and replace it with a slug and refold the crimp. In order to hold the pressure on the load you may have to cut some filler wads for under the slug to fill in any space. You are talking a 150 or 200 grain slug or are you talking a bullet. They have .40 caliber bullet moulds up to 288 grs. However slugs and bullets are designed different in a slug the center core is hollowed out which gives them more stability in flight, where as a bullet is solid through out and in flight will tend to tumble when shot from a smooth bore shotgun, this decreases their range and accuracy. A single loaded round ball load might give you good accuracy up to 50 yards, but the ball would be relatively lighter than a conical bullet of the same caliber so might not develop enough killing energy unless you can raise its velocity to a considerable height. Again raising the powder charge might create some dangerous chamber pressure, most 410 loads top out at just over 10,000 LUPS. But if you are only driving a single ball, might result in a higher velocity than a full load of shot. Possibly raising the velocity of the ball to 1500 fps, as oppose to 1200 fps of a full shot load.
A pure lead .40 caliber round ball tops out at around 175 grains so at 1500 fps would yield around 875 ft-lbs that at the muzzle, down range 50 yards your velocity is going to decay to around 1200 fps dropping the energy down to around 560 ft-lbs. Hope this helpful.

You don't stop hunting because you grow old. You grow old because you stop hunting.
- Gun Nut

[Fox]

Seeing as how it's easier to get prohibited ammo than it is .410 slugs lol.

What prohibited ammo? There are not very many, armor piercing pistol ammo is all that comes to mind.