10ga brass shells

[Paul Harm]

About 15yrs ago the wife and I use to shoot SASS and I wanted to use brass shotgun shells. Even went so far as to make up the tooling to prime and deprime on a Mec. Problem was that I never could get nitro powders to work, just BP. So I sold about 250 brass shells and the tooling. Now, today, a friend in shotgun bought the tooling to roll crimp 12ga brass shells with a RCBS press. Same results. We discussed this later on and I got a bright idea. Went home and measured the ID of the brass shell. It was .650. Circlefly recommends a 11ga wad - .650 and I figured this wasn't big enough. So I loaded it for a 10ga. My plastic shell 10ga load is 23grs of GD with 1oz of shot. I had to beat in the 10ga OP wad, slide in a 10ga plastic wad with a 16ga cushion wad inside and 1oz of shot. Glued in the OS wad and BANG, everything was good except a dirty barrel. Alliant list 21grs of GD/1oz of shot at 8800psi in the 12ga and 28grs/ 1 1/4oz at 8800psi in the 10ga. So because we went to a 10ga, we can load another 1/4oz of shot and 7grs of powder and get the same pressure as a 12ga. I will test again with just the 10ga plastic wad and maybe 26grs of powder but don't really like how loose the plastic wad slipped in. It would make life a whole lot easier if the 10ga OP card didn't have to be installed. Actually a 3/4" punch to make your own 750 wad would be just great. Circlefly doesn't offer that diameter wad. I feel I was finally successful because I went to a really tight wad. It gives the resistance necessary for a somewhat good burn.

[Researcher]

Back in the day the brass shells were for black powder only --

1923 Brass Shells.jpeg

[Paul Harm]

Well Dave, you know Americans. Some is good, more is better, too much is just sufficient. I just wanted a way to cram some nitro powder in those pretty looking brass shells. I got tired of cleaning them. As in most cases, a good tight fit was needed.

[Harry Collins]

With machined brass shells the .750 card and wad would work fine. 10 gauge extruded brass would take a 9 gauge wad (.815). My 10 gauge lifter has .802 bores. Are you using Ballard brass shells? I had been shooting those in 10 gauge and noticed the brass had bulged. I measured the outside diameter at the base and found that the shells were really 12 gauge despite the 10 gauge marking.

[Paul Harm]

A 12ga Magtech which is extruded brass has a .760 ID and the .750 would be just right for a nice tight fit. 11ga wads are .760 and 10ga are .791. I'm trying to remember because it's been a couple of years, maybe 12 or so, but it seems like I tried the 11ga wads and couldn't get a good load. The 10 will work, but you gotta really beat it in, or maybe use a good ol Mec 600. I'd think a 10ga OP wad if you're not gonna make a 750 wad and then a 11ga cushion wad, and then a 10ga OS wad glued in. You wouldn't have to mess with a plastic wad unless you wanted the added protection for the shot. I changed some numbers in my first post, I had screwed up somehow - imagine that.
I'm not sure about 10ga brass shells or what works. Harry, sounds like you now have some " fire formed " shells.

[Harry Collins]

Paul, I retired those shells. I thought it odd the first time I shot them the blow back of powder.

[charlie cleveland]

i bought some old but new best remington brass shells from a gun dealer awhile back..i asked what kind of primer worked in these brass shells he said small pistol primers they worked fine..found out even a lot of the old winchester brass shells even would except the small pistol primers...i loaded up some of these old winchester shells that my dad had for over 60 years and i bet they aint been shot in over a 100 years...i used reddot powder and 1 1/8 ounce lead shot they shot really well...i even loaded up a brass 8 ga winchester hull with those small pistol primers and shot it....lots of fun loading brass hulls....useding tight wads in the hulls and did not glue them and they shot well...but would recommend glueing the top wad in hunting loads....charlie

[Paul Harm]

Small rifle and pistol primers are the same, the rifle primer is just a bit harder. If you've ever ripped apart a shotgun primer you'd swear the inner part is just a rifle or pistol primer.