10 gauge RCC brass

[Milton C Starr]

Think I may order some of them to play with
The brass looks pretty clean and well machined .
I thought of reloading brass shells as it wouldnt take up as much space .

I have read loading smokeless in all brass hulls can have ignition problems ?
They only do orders of 50 cases , but I suppose 50 all brass shotshells would last a lifetime .

[Harry Collins]

I purchased 50 10 gauge from Ballard Brass. Their production was taken over by Rocky Mountain Cartridge. Unfortunately, mine were stamped wrong and were actually 12 gauge. I can't use them for either as they are bulged. I wouldn't let this scare you off because I had the same thought as you. I loved them until the bulges became apparent and I plan to replace them at some point.

[Milton C Starr]

I purchased 50 10 gauge from Ballard Brass. Their production was taken over by Rocky Mountain Cartridge. Unfortunately, mine were stamped wrong and were actually 12 gauge. I can't use them for either as they are bulged. I wouldn't let this scare you off because I had the same thought as you. I loved them until the bulges became apparent and I plan to replace them at some point.

That picture is what I had in mind getting a 10 ga hammer gun and some brass cases . Ive been reading alot of contradictory information when it comes to reloading brass shotshells .


This probably seems nit picky but the head stamps on the RCC cases to me look alot nicer than what ive seen on RMC cases .

[Harry Collins]

My turned brass hulls took 209 primers. I loaded them on a MEC Jr with SP-10 wads then hot glued the over shot card. I was using Sherman Bell data with IMR 7625. That powder is unavailable so whatever a good low pressure powder you want will work.

[Eric Johanen]

Harry, if the brass hulls are in otherwise good condition see if you can find a 12 gauge sizer die. Possibly from a cowboy die set Lyman or RCBS. I found mine in a box on a gun show table many years ago. Solid brass cylinder with a rim cut. Lube the hull and drive in with a raw hard mallet and push out with a dowel. i have one hammer gun dedicated to these shells and even so they benefit from a resizing every now and then. They last a very long time and may need to be annealed occasionally. When the mouths start to split the can be trimmed and continue in use. I only use black powder with these loads and the perform very well.

[Milton C Starr]

Harry, if the brass hulls are in otherwise good condition see if you can find a 12 gauge sizer die. Possibly from a cowboy die set Lyman or RCBS. I found mine in a box on a gun show table many years ago. Solid brass cylinder with a rim cut. Lube the hull and drive in with a raw hard mallet and push out with a dowel. i have one hammer gun dedicated to these shells and even so they benefit from a resizing every now and then. They last a very long time and may need to be annealed occasionally. When the mouths start to split the can be trimmed and continue in use. I only use black powder with these loads and the perform very well.

I dont know how this applies to shotshells but ive read with blackpowder rifle cartridges you want a good gas seal to keep fouling from blowing back in the action as cleaning the bore is easier then taking the action apart after every shoot . Is that a problem when reloading black powder in brass shotgun cases ?

What brand of bp do you use ? seems alot of guys really like the swiss stuff .

[Milton C Starr]

My turned brass hulls took 209 primers. I loaded them on a MEC Jr with SP-10 wads then hot glued the over shot card. I was using Sherman Bell data with IMR 7625. That powder is unavailable so whatever a good low pressure powder you want will work.

I kind of want to try fiber wads , Ive read that brass hulls usually have less pressure compared to modern plastic hulls as they have no base wad .

I seen a bluedot load for the 10 gauge it was 8500 psi , I wonder in a brass hull and with fiber wads what the psi would drop to . I suppose I could load those and have them pressure tested .

[Harry Collins]

Yes! A good seal is important. The first time I fired these shells it was with Black Powder and the action looked like there was a fire inside with the all the smoke coming out of it after each shot. The smaller gauge fire formed itself to the action. I shot smokeless powder after that and had no problems until after I had shot them a number of times and the bulge became apparent. I just looked through all the load data I have for turned brass cases and nitro powder. All loads were with SP10 wads.

[Milton C Starr]

Yes! A good seal is important. The first time I fired these shells it was with Black Powder and the action looked like there was a fire inside with the all the smoke coming out of it after each shot. The smaller gauge fire formed itself to the action. I shot smokeless powder after that and had no problems until after I had shot them a number of times and the bulge became apparent. I just looked through all the load data I have for turned brass cases and nitro powder. All loads were with SP10 wads.

From my understanding these milled/turned cases are not as elastic as drawn brass cases , RCC does offer making cases from chamber cast from your specific gun .

The lightest load Ive seen for Bluedot was 1 5/8 oz it was 7200 psi but I was looking at primers and reloading data it seems you could lower that a bit with a different primer . I was reading a book on reloading brass shotshells and it had reloading data for smokeless RMC 12 gauge loads but didnt have any pressures listed .

Is there any books that has data for 10 gauge brass cases ?

[Harry Collins]

Most of the data I have is from 2005 Ballistic Products plus some from Tom Armburst's Ballistic Research. There may be some newer information out there. I'll try to look.

[Paul Harm]

From a couple of years old, an Alliant handbook shows: Rem hull, 1 1/4oz of shot, CCI209M primer, 31grs of Unique, SP-10 wad and six .135 fiber spacers has 7500psi at 1265fps. Using a Win 209 primer, all else the same had 7600psi. Go figure. Now, loading those nice looking brass shells with nitro. Man, I've never had any luck, others have. I believe it's in the crimp. My older Accurate Powder reloading handbook has a paragraph or two on the importance of the crimp, and how it effects pressure. They claim it's one of the most overlooked items when reloading. The depth of the crimp effects pressures more than the type of primer. The military had brass shotgun shells that were used during the Vietnam war. They had a rolled crimp. There was a fellow on another reloading forum that hunted with brass shells and nitro powder but he also roll crimped them. I believe the roll crimp along with the weight of the load gives the necessary resistance for the nitro powder to burn properly. I'd like to see some reloading recipes for brass shells and nitro powders, and if they're roll crimped. At one time, I was up to 30grs of PB and was only getting bloopers with glued in OS cards. This was with the Magtech drawn brass shells. I've shot many a BP shell in my doubles and only cleaned what I could see.

[Milton C Starr]

From a couple of years old, an Alliant handbook shows: Rem hull, 1 1/4oz of shot, CCI209M primer, 31grs of Unique, SP-10 wad and six .135 fiber spacers has 7500psi at 1265fps. Using a Win 209 primer, all else the same had 7600psi. Go figure. Now, loading those nice looking brass shells with nitro. Man, I've never had any luck, others have. I believe it's in the crimp. My older Accurate Powder reloading handbook has a paragraph or two on the importance of the crimp, and how it effects pressure. They claim it's one of the most overlooked items when reloading. The depth of the crimp effects pressures more than the type of primer. The military had brass shotgun shells that were used during the Vietnam war. They had a rolled crimp. There was a fellow on another reloading forum that hunted with brass shells and nitro powder but he also roll crimped them. I believe the roll crimp along with the weight of the load gives the necessary resistance for the nitro powder to burn properly. I'd like to see some reloading recipes for brass shells and nitro powders, and if they're roll crimped. At one time, I was up to 30grs of PB and was only getting bloopers with glued in OS cards. This was with the Magtech drawn brass shells. I've shot many a BP shell in my doubles and only cleaned what I could see.


I was watching a video on BP rifle cartridges and the fellow said the key to keeping BP residue/fouling from blowing back in the action , was to anneal the case mouths so they can seal in the chamber . I wonder if this is the case with brass shotshells as well .

I also read a method for reloading them was to use a press or wood dowel to exert 100lbs of downward force on the last overshot card when you glue it in place .


On the roll crimping I wonder if thats possible with machined cases ? I guess someone could try mocking up a load and trying it to see how the brass responds to it .

Theres a box of new 10 ga Alcan brass cases on GB but I dont think its possible to get primers for them anymore .

[William Davis]

Turned brass does not spring back like drawn, and can be very difficult to size. Single shot rifle many have given up on RMC turned, only using it if drawn not available. Aneling may help Turned but I doubt it, it can improve seal in drawn cases as long as you don’t overdo it.

No matter who sells them Source for most brass shot shell and unusual sizing dies is CH4D die company. They are the experts call them at 740 397 7214. Google search for CH4D polluted by paid ads use www.ch4d.com to go direct to their site

William

[CraigThompson]

No matter who sells them Source for most brass shot shell and unusual sizing dies is CH4D die company. They are the experts call them at 740 397 7214.

I've dealt with CH-4D a number of times and as expected they are great !

The guy that owns the company is a wealth of knowledge in his own right !

Looks like each time I call and he answers the phone or I get transferred to him my simple question turns into an enjoyable one hour conversation on the initial question and a bunch of other stuff :cool:

[Paul Harm]

When I shot Magtecks and BP I used the cheapest I could find - believe Grafs is the cheapest, next is GOEX. A 3 dram [ 82grs by volume ] load of 2F can be reduced to 70grs if using 3F. I liked 70grs of 3F and 1oz of shot in the 12 or short 10. 1 1/8oz would work also with that powder charge. I used a Mec 600 Jr to reload em. That way a 10ga OP wad and 11ga cushion wad could be used for plastic shells, 10ga OP, OS, and cushion for brass shells. I got a good tight seal with them. A 46 bushing gives around 70grs, one cut in half about 80, and no bushing 105. I plugged the inspection hole with a dowel. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to clean a double. Use two buckets of hot water, one soapy. A rod with a cleaning jag and patch to pull and push the water up and down, a couple of patches to dry the barrels, one with WD-40 and another with Rem-oil and you're done.

[Harry Collins]

I used Ox-Yoke Wonder lub, but would find rust when checking. I now use Fluid Film. https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/a-little-experiment.823209/