shooting black powder cartridge shotguns

[catnthehat]

Okay, here we go with the cartridge guns!
There are four basic types of shell type these days, all brass, paper, and plastic cases .


I will start off by stating that you do not want to shoot plastic wads and back powder without using a card wad over the powder, and even then ypou are going to run into trouble with pllastic build up.

i use either paper shells or all brass, the brass being my main choice.
In the brass, there are also two main ones available, .
The first is a drawn case made by Mag tec, and these are the most prolific in Canada.
NOTE: Because the case walls are thinner than a plastic case, the wads used in these cases are actually a larger guage, so a 12 bore case would actually use 11 or even 10 gauge wads.
These cases also use pistol primers.

The second is a case that is machined by Rocky Moutain cartridge company, and uses the standard 209 primer and gauge specific wads.
I have never used them however, so will concentrate on the Mag tec and paper cases.
Cat

[catnthehat]

Loading the brass cases is a pretty easy thing, all you need are a small punch and hammer to knock out the primer, a short piece of dowel and a loonie to seat the new primer and wads, and some Elmer's glue or other glue to keep the over shot wad in place- more on this later.
I hold the fired case in my left hand and put the punch into the flash hole, and tap out the spent primer.
I then put the loonie on a table , place the new primer on it, and center the case on top od=f it, tapping it in wit the dowl and hammer.

NOTE ON SEATING PRIMERS!:
It is quite easy to put the case on top of the primer and feel it center on there, but a quick spin in the flash hole wit a rifle case deburring tool adds just a little bt more chmfer to it!
cat

[catnthehat]

So, after we seat the primer (this can be done on a single stage press as well , as long as you have a quarter or loonie on the die base), it's time to put in the powder.
On a 12 bore gun, most fellas load between 80 and 90 grains of FFG or FG and an equal amount of shot.
The difference betwen FG anf FFG is the burn rate, FFG burns faster and many shooters like the slower powder but put more in.
There are tables availabe through Lyman, Hodgdon, BPI, and other sites as well.

I will post some data later on that.
I also use the same amount of shot by volume, and an easy way to figure out what you want to use is take the powder charge, and weigh the shot that will go into the same charger.
That will give you a good idea of what you are shooting.

After we drop in the powder charge, a nitro card wad goes on top, and I also use a lubed cushion wad here.
On top of the lubed wad palce a .035 wad to stop the inbedding of shot intro the cushion wad, same as the muzzle loaders.
thge wad is then compressed with the dowel, and the shot charge measuered and dropped in.

After tha, another .035 wad is placed over the shot , pushed down with the dowel, and if am shootign right away ,i don't glue it.
HOWEVER, if i am goig to shoot the shell later, the overshot wad will be glued.
Now have used almost everthing under the sun to glue these in, for the old waterglass glue to the newest hi-tech stuff, and have found Elmer's white glue about as good as anything.
Spray contact cement is also good, as is the Tremclad primer paint spray - one shot and let it sit.

After the glue has dried the shell can be bounced around in the shll bag or your pocket without fear of losing the shot.

DEBATES ON WAD COLLUMS:
Now some shooters say that you MUST make up all the difference you can in the case with wads, and they say this for several reasons.
te first, and like;ly the most resonable, is so that the powder charge does not enter the chamber of the gun until the shot charge is into the forcing cone of the barrel, the idea being that a loss of woer results.
The second, is that you need to cushion the shot.

I have shot both full brass cases, and cases with only a small wad collumn and have seen no difference in the killing power of either.
As far as the second idea goes, it's pure hogwash IMO, because if you look at the modern ammo , the pressures are far greater, and many of the wad cups have a base that is not cushioned AT ALL!
The federal top Guns and winchester Universals are examples of this
The biggest reason for exact wad height is to make up the difference for when we load the paper cases, but more on that later..

[catnthehat]

Note the green paint in the case to seal the wad.

The case looks half empty, that is because even though there is 80 grains of powder and an equal amount of shot, there is only one nitro card wad to sea the powder and one cushion wad .
Cat

[catnthehat]

Cleaning the brass cases aftwerwards, if you are at the range , is as easy as dropping them into a bucket of soapy water , then drying them off ater and tumbling them, or washing them with a small brush.

out in the field, i drop them into a seperate plastic bag in my hunting bag and clan them up when i get homw.

VERY IMPORTANT!!
You MUST clean tese things out, otherwise you will get crud build up in them and the brass will get deteriorated from the sulphur and stuff in the black powder!!
tumbling after drying them works great, but an automatic dishwasher is da bomb!
NOTE: make sure it is okay with the war department, or put the cases in the dhishwasher when she is off visiting her sister, gone on a trip, or otherwise out of town for a day or two - and DON'T forget to take them out after!!!

Cases can get dented at times especially around the mouth, andthey can e carefully peined back out with a small dowel or other type of mandrel.

If taken care of , they will last for many many years!

Cat

[catnthehat]

Case avalability and components"
get most of my stuff inclding the cases in 5 guages from Will Bilozir at Bilozir.net
But Circle Fly in the states also slls compoments, as do many of the shops around Alberta.
A BP rendezvous always has trade blankets that have stuff for the old guns as well.

One thing should ention here is the primers on some of the older cases that are actuall BERDAN type, NOT boxr.

Berdan primers are easy to deal with , the only difference is de-capping.
You can buy a speical de-cappping tool for them but IMO they ae a collosal waste of money.
all one needs is a sharp ice pick.
The cups are very soft, and it is only a matter of digging the pick into the edge f the copper primer cup and flicking out the primer!!
berdan primers, for those not aware, have a different way of igniting, the navil is actually part of the cartridge case, it's ot built into the primer itself.
There are two flash holes in a Berdan type case, not one normally, although have heard of some with only one flash hole .
Cat

[fish_e_o]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

I then put the loonie on a table , place the new primer on it, and center the case on top od=f it, tapping it in wit the dowl and hammer.

of course i need to reinvent the wheel.

here it is. magtech 12g brass will shoulder out in the top of my rcbs press and i made this little bit to put a primer into and press it in
a shell holder that holds primers!!

[The Flint&Fly Guy]

So do the magtech brass shells need to be resized before use? I'm planning to get some brass shells before long but I am worried that they might not work out of the box, so what's the deal?