10 Gauge ? Winchester XBP-10 2 7/8" Hulls

[Tad Tadlock]

Has anyone tried these hulls?

I've been gathering stuff up to load short 10's for my 1890 NH with Twist barrels. I've had the gun checked over by a gunsmith that I trust.

I have a 2 7/8" Lee Loader, and various old Ideal, Eureka, BGI and Excelsior tools to include a Roll Crimper.

I have 500 once fired Winchester XBP-10 2 7/8" hulls and 3 bags of SP10 wads. Of course this is not a combination that is listed anywhere.

Red Dot and Green Dot have not been available at any of my local shops for quite some time.

For shotgun powders I do have a pound of 700x, a pound of Clays, a pound of Unique, two pounds of International, a keg of Universal, two pounds of Alliant 410, and four pounds of TiteWad.

Looking though the spreadsheet at the powders listed that are still available and that I have on hand, it appears that the lightest charge and lowest pressure loads would be using 700x and Clays. There are also one or two Universal loads listed that might work.

Since I have all of these hulls and would like to shoot my old gun I am trying to figure out a load that would work.

There is an 18 gr 1 1/8 oz. 700x load with an SP10 wad and a 6 pt crimp that is listed at 5500 psi.

There is also a 20 gr Clays load that is the same that is listed at 4700 psi.

Both of those loads are listed for Remington white letter hulls.

There are exactly 0 loads listed anywhere that I can find using Winchester XBP-10 hulls.

I was thinking about trying to load a few rounds of each of these in the Winchester hulls.

Since the XBP-10 hulls were roll crimped originally I figure that I would use my roll crimper with an overshot card to close them up.

I would like for some of y'all that know more than I do to please tell me what y'all think. You don't have to be gentle.

[Paul Harm]

I may be wrong, but at those pressures I don't believe it makes any difference what 10ga hull you use, they're all a straight walled hull, even Federal and Remington. I use Fed, Win, and Rem 10ga hulls and load them all the same. Right now I'm using 21grs of Green Dot with 1 1/16oz of shot and the SP-10 wad and a fiber spacer in the wad under the shot for correct load height for a good crimp. I've also used the 19grs of Red Dot or Promo [ it's the same thing ]. If you look up Fed 12ga loads, they being a straight walled hull like our 10ga hulls, you'll find using a Win primer, any where from 16 to 17grs of 700X with a 1 1/8oz load gives pressure from 6800 to 7900psi. That same load in a 10ga will be less because of the larger chamber diameter. Without testing, about 1000psi less, so even if it were the same, you'd be perfectly safe. A 1 1/8oz load with 23grs of Unique has 8600psi in the 12ga. With Inter'l, what you have the most of, it's 23 to 24 grs at 8000psi. And those are all with a fold crimp. Your roll crimp will have around 500 to 1000psi less. IMHO, any of the loads I wouldn't bat an eyelash of shooting. Good luck - Paul

[Paul Harm]

Not sure what you mean by overshot card. When roll crimping I just use a 10ga OS card. The 16ga cushion wads fit nice in a SP-10 plastic wad. I personal don't like roll crimps. There's more messing around to straightening them back out to accept wads. I use a Mec600 for reloading. If you really like roll crimps it can still be used for everything but the crimp part. At one time, with too much time on my hands I figured out how to roll crimp on the Mec . Everything had to be adjusted just right. I used a smooth start crimp that just barely started the shell inwards enough for the plunger in the final crimp station to catch it and push the extra down. The old Lee handloader would fold or roll crimp so I figured a Mec could also do it.

[J.B. Books]

The XBP stands for Super X Black Powder, they were originally loaded as Black Powder blanks. I am sure they are standard Winchester 10ga hulls. Given the pressures involved I would feel quite confident and safe loading 19-21 grains of 700-x pushing 1 1/8 ounce of lead shot. I believe it's a load you will like. If you don't have one you want to get a hull skiver to open up and somewhat recondition the mouth of those hulls. Reloading hulls that were previously fired as a roll crimp can be a pain because it can be hard to get the wad started, the skiver helps to resolve this problem.

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/Pow...tinfo/0740011/

[Richard Flanders]

When I've loaded Rem 10ga hulls with black powder for my outhouse shoot I found that it burned at least one small hull in each hull. I'd be certain to check the Win hulls for holes.

[OH Osthaus]

if i was shooting BP in an out house- ember burns in the hulls aren't the first thing i would worry about

just saying

[Paul Harm]

Richard is right about BP - check just above the brass [ metal case ] for pin holes. You'll notice Pete is recommending a couple of grains more than the same load in a 12ga. If you don't like the recoil try going down a grain and or lightening the load to 1 1/16 or 1oz. If you get too light a load there'll be unburnt powder in the barrel. Good luck. Let us know what you settled on and how it works.

[Mark Garrett]

FYI , when doing load development , there was quit a large pressure difference with the same load in the FED and Rem hulls . Remington have higher pressures.

[Tad Tadlock]

I appreciate all the information and recommendations.

I'll have to get one of those skivers so that I can touch up the mouths of those hulls.

I started loading shotgun with a Lee Load-All when I started shooting Cowboy Action. When I moved up and started using a MEC, I got a Grabber. Now I have three Grabbers, a 12, a 20, and a .410.

This is my first time loading for 10 Gauge and my first time user a Lee Loader. It's also my first time shooting a gun with Twist barrels.

All of the shotgun load development that I have done is to make good shooting Cowboy Action loads that are low recoil, will take down steel knockdown targets and have enough pressure to get a complete burn. All the other shotgun loading that I have done, I followed the recipes in the book.

I've never shot into or out of an outhouse, so I have never contemplated loads for such doings.

Thanks again.

[Paul Harm]

I believe if we're loading in the 4 - 5 - 6000psi range, there's still room for pressure increases between hulls. JMHO