10ga 2 5/8” – Finally Dialing it In…
 

I had a wonderful morning experimenting with some short, short 10 loads shooting sporting clays. I had bought this $125 grade lifter last year and had only taking it out once. The 2 5/8” RST 1 1/8oz 1100 fps shells just had way too much recoil(to the point I was worried I might crack the stock, I only shot 2 shells). I suppose this wasn’t a surprise as there are sharp chamber shoulders in all of the 2 5/8” chamber 10ga. lifters I have. I usually resort to shooting black powder only in these early guns. I was hoping to find a better solution with this nice #2 frame 10ga. with 28” Laminated barrels choked cylinder/modified.

I decided to back off a bit and try some nitro 1oz loads and use a star crimp(The RST 2 5/8s are roll crimped, but was hoping for some simplicity and reloading speed). They worked just liked I hoped they would today. The load was 18 grains of Red Dot, 1oz. of 7 ½ shot, Remington SP-10 wad and 2-16 gauge 1/8” nitro cards. I put some addition spacers under my shell plate(which was set up for 2 7/8 shells) on my MEC 600 and they were easy to load and crimp. There was some recoil, but so much better, I didn’t feel like I was putting any stress on the gun. And…I was smoking clays with them.

I also loaded some black powder shells trying a different powder. I used 2 ¾ drams of Goex Olde Eynsford 1 ½ f and a 1 1/8 oz. of 7 ½ shot. These did very well also and I like this powder. I had several doubles and gathered a small crowd asking questions. I switched between nitro and black powder as I made my way through the sporting clays course.

Here you can see some loaded shells for comparison. From left to right:

New Cheddite hull trimmed to 2 5/8
Once Fired 2 7/8 RST(Cheddite) trimmed to 2 5/8 – which crimped fine
2 5/8” Brass Shell from Track of the Wolf
2 7/8” RST

Next picture you can see these star crimped 2 5/8 shells next to RST roll crimped shells. They’re a little shorter. As much as I like roll crimps I like how fast I can load these “little” smokeless shells. I tried to keep the crimp depth relatively shallow as to not increase pressure.

I will mention that the black powder shells were fun as they always are and this load worked really well. The recoil was noticeably less with the black powder shells too.

I will be loading more of both shells and get back out again soon 😊

That 18gr load is one I've used for years, but with Promo, which is the same as RD only cheaper. Years back I tried that load in 12ga brass shells without success. Now, years later and shooting my first 410 SxS with some time on my hands I tried loading 444 Marlin shells for the 410. I found after a bit, that about a 1/4" of brass left above the OS card for hot glue to adhere to worked really well. I'm just wondering if it would work for your 10ga brass shells loaded with nitro instead of BP. If you try it, bump your load up a grain to compensate for the larger capacity of the brass shell. Good looking shells. The short ten is fun. I also had a Parker lifter with the 2 5/8 stepped chamber so I had shells 2 5/8 and 2 7/8. Got tired of sorting them so all were cut to the 2 5/8 length.

I shoot the 2 7/8" plastic walled shells in my D 10 ga. Lifter with 2 5/8" stepped chambers. The step is really only the height of the thickness of the brass shell so it really makes no difference in recoil or chamber pressure.





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Dean, I am not sure what causes it, I was thinking maybe the wad, but that doesn't sound right. I can't describe how concerned I was when I shot the RST 1100fps 1 1/8oz. 2 5/8" loads. I really thought something was wrong. Maybe the 2 7/8 is a better shell those shorter chambers?

Also this is a somewhat light 10 gauge...2 frame with 28" Parker made Laminated barrels(which I know your a fan of...). I'll bring it the next time we shoot.

Paul, I remembered you had posted about liking the 1oz load with 18grns of Red Dot/Promo which is why I tried it. I would like to see if I could come up with a good Red Dot combination in a brass shell.

Have you measured the bores? In my experience guns with undersize bores tend to recoil much harder.

What Pete said. Check the bore diameter. What club are you shooting at Jay?

Pete, Thanks for the good idea. I actually don't have any good tools to measure the bore diameter, though I am at the point in my collecting where I should invest in some(and I will). That makes sense if the bores are undersized it would recoil more.

Frank, I shoot up at Addieville a few times a year though I do most of my shooting at Peace Deale Shooting Preserve in South Kingstown, RI. I was actually gong to see if there might be any interest in a shoot there in March. I'll post something about that in a different thread.

Jay, most Skeet's type of bore micrometer will not measure an overbored ten gauge. Be careful what you buy.

That’s right Bill. I have both sizes and the larger one is entirely usless for 10 ga. Barrels.

Jay, I would recommend contacting Jon Hosford and buy both his wall thickness measuring tool and his bore gauge. They’re pricey but are the best available.






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