Pinfire Reloading!
- Thread starter cyclone
- Start date
Definitely an instructive video
some pinfires have very strong hammers and it is important to use brass or bronze pins in those guns to prevent damage to the hammer face and to the tumbler. Some of the smaller pistols have very weak hammers and for those I think the recess that the #11 cap sits in, needs to be flat bottomed in order to get enough of a blow to ignite the priming. I will admit I haven't tried making up shells with a square recess yet but the hammer blow would not ignite shells with a round recess (in weak hammered guns)
I also found that when shooting a double pinfire shotgun, the hammers limit your vision quite a bit because unlike centerfire guns, the hammer is right up on top of the center of the barrel
cheers mooncoon
some pinfires have very strong hammers and it is important to use brass or bronze pins in those guns to prevent damage to the hammer face and to the tumbler. Some of the smaller pistols have very weak hammers and for those I think the recess that the #11 cap sits in, needs to be flat bottomed in order to get enough of a blow to ignite the priming. I will admit I haven't tried making up shells with a square recess yet but the hammer blow would not ignite shells with a round recess (in weak hammered guns)
I also found that when shooting a double pinfire shotgun, the hammers limit your vision quite a bit because unlike centerfire guns, the hammer is right up on top of the center of the barrel
cheers mooncoon
- Location
- Kitscoty Alberta
Great video thanks for sharing
I think the risk of accidental detonation of pinfire shells is greatly overblown, particularly for small pistol shells. Also forgot to mention that when priming and loading pinfire shells, I put a drop of airplane glue on the outside of the shell, at the base of the pin. When dry, it shrinks to nothing and more importantly, it keeps the pin in place while finishing loading and afterwards. In my experience, if the pin moved up a bit and I pushed it back down, the shell would not fire
cheers mooncoon
cheers mooncoon
NorthCoastBigBore
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Northwest BC (Rural) 103-I-##
I've got a 7mm and was looking at making shells and using powder scraped from paper cap guns as a primer, little bit of tissue paper on top or something. Haven't got past the planning stage, been a busy last few months despite all the craziness.
It is my understanding that caps intended for use in pinfire cartridges were small diameter to fit on the pin. Pinfire shotgun reloading tools had a jig that positioned the cap while the pin was pressed into place. Doubt that there is anything like that available now, so standard caps are the default.
I have used the European all brass 16ga pinfire cases which are available. The fit of the pin in the case is important. If the pin requires a firm push to move it, misfires can occur. You'd think that the hammer striking the pin would guarantee ignition, but not necessarily, unless the fit is just right. If the pin is loose, it could fall out (unless retained by a touch of cement) or perhaps be blown out when the gun fires.
I have used the European all brass 16ga pinfire cases which are available. The fit of the pin in the case is important. If the pin requires a firm push to move it, misfires can occur. You'd think that the hammer striking the pin would guarantee ignition, but not necessarily, unless the fit is just right. If the pin is loose, it could fall out (unless retained by a touch of cement) or perhaps be blown out when the gun fires.
I made my 16 guage cases out of a turned brass base with an expanded piece of 1/2" copper pipe soldered into it for the body of the case. I did try gluing a plastic case into the turned base but that didn't work out. I do have 4 or 5 modern reloadable pistol shells which use a threaded insert to hold the primer but they seem awfully fiddly to duplicate. It is a challenge to prime my home made cases but is do-able. As before, if the pin is loose and you push it back down, for some reason the #11 cap will not fire
cheers mooncoon
cheers mooncoon
