A thread in the Reloading Forum discussed making shot shells for the 44 Mag out of 303 Brit cases. The blown out case would be trimmed to cylinder length and shot would be placed over some kind of wad.
I have some of those Speer plastic shot cups that hold about 130 gr of #7 1/2 shot. It was easy to test these against some shot shells made from 303 cases.
The walls of the plastic cup are fairly thick, so a lot of potential volume is lost. The 303 case holds about 220 gr of shot, a more useful load and potentially a denser pattern.
I recall experimenting years ago. I determined that once velocity exceeded a certain amount, the pattern was blown. I test at 10 feet, and want to see a dinner plate sized pattern. For energy, my definition of “enough” velocity is the double penetration of a steel soup can. I recon this would be enough to dispatch a partridge.
To make the 303 cases, I chambered the 303 cases and marked the cylinder length with a marker, and then trimmed them with a hacksaw. They were then trimmed neatly with a case trimmer. To fire form the cases, a 40 S&W lead bullet was shot over 5 gr of 231. The bullet was a round nose, inserted upside down, so it would stick in the case. This blew the case out to a cylinder shape, instead of the tapered 303 shape.
As you can see in the picture, the blown out case has a very slight bottle neck in it.
For wads, I chamfered the mouth of a 44 mag case and used it as a punch to punch wads out of a paper plate. When the case was full of wads, I pushed them out with a small allan key stuck through the primer flash hole.
To test the loads, I taped a soup can to the back of a target and placed an aiming mark on the front. Shots were fired at about 10 feet.
The plastic wad cup worked perfectly. The pattern was on POA and nice and round. One side of the can was punctured, but not both. 4 gr of 7625 was not enough. 5 or 6 would probably be about right.
The 303 case produced a much denser pattern, but the velocity was just enough to dent the soup can with both a 4 gr test and with 6 gr of 7625. I suspect that the single wad of paper plate is not enough to take the pressure. I will test with more bottom wads before upping the powder charge.
The same cases could be made for 44 Spl. I am sure another parent case could be found to make tall shot shells for the 45 Colt, too.
If you carry a 44 in the bush, one cylinder loaded with shot would be an ideal partridge getter.
I have some of those Speer plastic shot cups that hold about 130 gr of #7 1/2 shot. It was easy to test these against some shot shells made from 303 cases.
The walls of the plastic cup are fairly thick, so a lot of potential volume is lost. The 303 case holds about 220 gr of shot, a more useful load and potentially a denser pattern.
I recall experimenting years ago. I determined that once velocity exceeded a certain amount, the pattern was blown. I test at 10 feet, and want to see a dinner plate sized pattern. For energy, my definition of “enough” velocity is the double penetration of a steel soup can. I recon this would be enough to dispatch a partridge.
To make the 303 cases, I chambered the 303 cases and marked the cylinder length with a marker, and then trimmed them with a hacksaw. They were then trimmed neatly with a case trimmer. To fire form the cases, a 40 S&W lead bullet was shot over 5 gr of 231. The bullet was a round nose, inserted upside down, so it would stick in the case. This blew the case out to a cylinder shape, instead of the tapered 303 shape.
As you can see in the picture, the blown out case has a very slight bottle neck in it.
For wads, I chamfered the mouth of a 44 mag case and used it as a punch to punch wads out of a paper plate. When the case was full of wads, I pushed them out with a small allan key stuck through the primer flash hole.
To test the loads, I taped a soup can to the back of a target and placed an aiming mark on the front. Shots were fired at about 10 feet.
The plastic wad cup worked perfectly. The pattern was on POA and nice and round. One side of the can was punctured, but not both. 4 gr of 7625 was not enough. 5 or 6 would probably be about right.
The 303 case produced a much denser pattern, but the velocity was just enough to dent the soup can with both a 4 gr test and with 6 gr of 7625. I suspect that the single wad of paper plate is not enough to take the pressure. I will test with more bottom wads before upping the powder charge.
The same cases could be made for 44 Spl. I am sure another parent case could be found to make tall shot shells for the 45 Colt, too.
If you carry a 44 in the bush, one cylinder loaded with shot would be an ideal partridge getter.
