8 gauge/bore shooting

[George M. Purtill]

I know it is mentioned here and there on our forum but I need up to date 8 bore shell information:
Is there a source for new loaded shells?
BPI sells industrial hulls- will they fit/work in a british 8 bore- WC Scott?
Are there any other hulls besides Remington industrial?
Are there any sources for light load recipes?

Thanks in advance.

[charlie cleveland]

george there is lots of info for the 8 ga shell...yes there are light loads....winchester makes 8 ga industrial hulls...precision reloading and ballictic both offer hulls and componets to load with....you can buy ammo loaded lite or heavy loads...but best to learn to load your self not really much to it....theres a fellow named TOM ARMBRUST that has a fine book about loading 4 bores and 8 bores got a lot of info in it...punch in TOM ARBRUST NAME ON THE COMPUTER AND YOU CAN GET HIS TETEPHONE NO.hes a great guy to talk too a busy man and he will return your call if you leave your no... you will enjoy shooting the old 8 ga...i hunt a lot with my old 8 ga s turkey crows squirls deer with buckshot and round ball loads...theres several folks that can help with your 8 bore on this site... charlie

[charlie cleveland]

george have you measured your chamber lenths of your w c ive never seen or heard of a 8 ga with chambers under 3 1/4 inches and some of these old 8 s chambers are up to 4 1/4 inch...the winchester or remington hulls should be fine for your gun...i dont think they will be shorter than 3 1/4 inch if they are it would surprize me...you can also shoot modern smokless powder instead of the old black powder stuff if you want to by following reloading instructions...tell us something about your gun ...my old lifter parker is 3 1/4 inch chambers and my old f a loomis gun has 3 1/2 inch chambers wish they were 4 inch.... charlie

[Bill Murphy]

What is the latest tech for resizing industrial shells to fit in sporting gun chambers?

[Bill Murphy]

What is the latest tech for resizing industrial shells to fit in sporting gun chambers? Are the latest industrial shells compatible with 209 size primers?

[charlie cleveland]

yes bill the 8 gauge industrial shell that is made now accepts the 209 primer....ALLEN MYERS MAKES A 1 PIECE resizer to re shape the hull in 1 swift motion using a press... dont know the price...you can resize yourself also by using the pipe squezers i used it is told how here in one of the old threads about 4 6 months back..it does not make a pretty factory look like mr allen myers...tom arbrust uses mr myers dyes for this...the brass hull looks factory and it slips the brass into a old 8 like it was made for it....once you resize a industrial hull all you need is a set of the old lee hand loader tools in 10 ga they work fine...buy a roll crimp from ballastic products in 8 ga and your in business...in fact some one was making a reloading kit outof the mec 10 ga magnum reloader..i want one of the reloading of the old 8 ga is prettthese but have not found one...mr myers also made these but has quit making them...reloading and shooting the old 8 ga is as easy now to reload as the 10 ga... charlie

[George M. Purtill]

Charlie
You are a fricking encyclopedia.
That's a complement.

[charlie cleveland]

i said that it was ALLEN MYERSwho made the one step 8 ga resizing dies but i have to correct myself it was JOHN MILLAR WHO MADE THEM... A 1 1/2ounce load is in TOM ARMBRUST RELOADING BOOK... at 6800 lb s of pressure... you could shoot these lite loads all day... charlie

[Bill Murphy]

Charlie, how do we contact John Millar? I am using my RMC brass shells now, so don't really need to resize the industrial shells, but it would be nice to have one of those dies. For our information, the 8 gauge MEC conversion loader was priced like it was made of gold and would not have been of interest to anyone I know. My factory loaded Gamebore and Eley Bismuth loads are loaded in Remington and Winchester industrial hulls and are very attractively resized. I guess there is a possibility that the British companies talked Remington and Winchester into selling them commercial sized hulls without the ring.

[George M. Purtill]

Mr. Murphy
How/where do you get 8 bore commercially loaded shells?

[charlie cleveland]

BILL heresJOHN MILLARS address and phone no.... JOHN MILLAR PO BOX 65 DANVILLE WA. 99121 PHONE 250 442 5616...... THERE IS ALSO A 2 PIECE SET OF DIES MADE BY C H TOOL AND DIE 711 NORTH SANDUSKY STREET PO BOX MT. VERNON OHIO 43050-0889 PHONE740 379 7214.... LETus know how you come out.....bill i talked to some of the fellows a few years back about the mec loaders being turned to 8 ga and they said in the few hundred dollar range but i never could get one.... george call tom arbrust about shells....even i can help you but my squezing of the brass is not as pretty as toms but they work fine in my guns.... charlie..

[George M. Purtill]

here are pictures from my iPhone
what is this monster?

[charlie cleveland]

nice gun GEORGElooks to be in good shape...have you fired this gun....these old field pieces were the long range guns in there hey day...i bet she still locks up like a bank vault and love those straight up rabbit ears....charlie

[Destry L. Hoffard]

The loaded shells from Tom Armbrust are excellent, he loads in the clear Winchester hulls which are far superior to the other types. He'll do anything you want from heavy hunting loads to light target loads.

Bill I seriously doubt that Remington or Winchester did a special run of hulls for Gamebore. The amount of loaded 8 gauge shells they sell is tiny. They're actually loaded as an almost cottage industry, they don't load them at the factory. They approached my friend Barry several years ago about doing a run of short 10 gauge shells for them.

As far as loading gear from Alan Myers, anything me makes or sells is very expensive. It's top quality, but he's proud of it to say the lead. Just as an example, his loaded 4 gauge shells are something like 250 pounds for a box of 25. Plus he's in England and doesn't have a website last account I had.


Destry

[Phillip Carr]

Destry is spot on Tom's shells are excellent. I shot my first Turkey with my 8 gauge on Thursday in NEW Mexico. This is the best picture you get when you leave your data card in the computer instead of having it in the camera.
PS ( no one tell my wife she is a celebrity on the Parker Forum. I told her to hold the gun while she was on the phone with my daughter.) Looks like I will be cooking dinner tomorrow night.


http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss14/Philcarr/WCS%208%20ga/DSCF0261.jpg


http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss14/Philcarr/WCS%208%20ga/067.jpg

[George M. Purtill]

The loaded shells from Tom Armbrust are excellent, he loads in the clear Winchester hulls which are far superior to the other types. He'll do anything you want from heavy hunting loads to light target loads.

Destry

Destry
where does one shop for Tom's shells. I googled him but came up with nothing but archived articles. Thanks in advance.

[charlie cleveland]

phil lovely picture....what brand of gun is the 8 ga..looks to have 32 inch barrels...you are rite tom arbrust shells are really great ive also killed turkey and even a deer with his shells...i now load my own but use his info on loading....dont a turkey just have the best looking breast meat... at what range did you shoot this turkey and what load did you use... i like to hear of other fellas usingtheir 8 gas on game.... charlie

[Mills Morrison]

This is making me hungry :corn:

[Phillip Carr]

Charlie somehow I missed your question when you posted. This WC Scott and Son has 34 1/2 inch barrels. I used number 4's in the right barrel and number 2's in the left. It was a Jake, but the calling was hard. So I was happy just to have an opportunity to take a bird. Warm weather seemed to have shut them down. I took the bird at an estimate of a little over 40 yards. I had a tough shot but I felt confident I could take the bird. I shot the right barrel with the 4's as he came down a brushy ridge line. As soon as I fired he took to fight off the little ridge. Not sure if it was really needed but he dropped immediately upon firing the left barrel. The shells were loaded by Tom and I believe were loaded with 1 7/8 of shot.
I cooked the breast in a Cranberry Port wine reduction sauce. Turned out wonderful with Some Garlic mashed potatoes, and a nice garden salad

[charlie cleveland]

george there was some one on here that had several boxes of 8 ga for sale not long ago maybe they will speak up...if you want to load your own its easy and does not cost very much after you have the hulls....look under some of the old 8 ga reload stuff here andmaybe youll find who had the shells and read some of the reloading tips if you decide to reload...i will also look at the old files on the 8 ga...maybe bill can help us.... charlie

[Bill Murphy]

Destroy is right that is very unlikely that WW or RP ran any batches of Gamebore tens or eights. My Gamebore eights were clearly loaded in England. Only the hulls are made in the US.

[charlie cleveland]

LOOK IN THE BACK PAGES OF THIS THREAD THERE IS SOME GOOD STUFF ON 8 GA S ... CHARLIE

[charlie cleveland]

well i was reading this and i just had to get the old 8 ga parker out and put a4 rounds of them punkin ball loads through her...recoil not bad 5 gallon can was target at 35 steps 3 hits were made on the can it had holes that could be seen from where i stood shooting..if i can get to where i can hit something at 50 steps ive got a winner.. should just about flatten a deer for sure.november is not to far away...got to get me some more lead to melt down it sure does go fast when a little over 2 ounces leaves the barrel at a time...can not hardly wait to see what this old gun and punkin ball load do to a deer... charlie

[Richard Flanders]

You could scratch out 'deer' and insert 'hippo' in your last post Charlie...!

[charlie cleveland]

you think she would make a good hippo gun... charlie

[Fred Preston]

I decided to do a little toying around like Charlie does, except I went the other way. A .410 lead round ball is about 60ga., around 130 grains. I loaded some .44mag cases with 8gr Unique, an over powder card, 130gr of 8&1/2 and an over powder card to close it off. The first shot sounded weak and left a lot of unburnt powder in the bore. The second likewise. I then went from Unique to 6gr. of Solo1000 and things got crackin'. The primers show no sign of over pressure and the bores were clean. A beer can at 23 yards took 10 hits per shot. Now I'm going out to try the load with my little string pull trap. Charlie, this stuff is great fun.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Charlie I wish I could get you some of this lead I've got. Ran into a horde awhile back at an estate sale and got it essentially for free. I've got about 300 or more pounds!

DLH

[charlie cleveland]

yep this shootin tin cans become addictive be it a 410 or a 8 bore....lots of fun not to costly..now you got me wanting to shoot the 410... destrey wish you were closer id be glad to send some of your lead down the barrel of this old 8 ga..maybe somethin will turn up... charlie