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Handloading Handgun Shotshells

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Load Development Handloading Handgun Shotshells By John Haviland f the occasional snake is the .38/.357 capsule, but after awhile only vermin you want to hand- I became pretty precise at filling a Iily dispatch with a handgun, capsule just short of full so the shot look no further than CCI’s shot- in the capsule was tight with the shell loads. However, handloading base wad snapped into place. shotshell cartridges for handguns is Speer suggests using .38 Special much easier on the pocket if pack cases originally factory-loaded with rats continually build haystack nests wadcutter bullets, because those in the barn, or if you’re like me, you cases have straighter internal side- enjoy shooting airborne targets. walls that better accommodate the CCI’s .38/.357 and .44 Spe- long capsules. The loaded capsules cial/Magnum shotshell loads were can be seated to nearly the correct recently used, and the No. 9 lead depth with thumb pressure in those shot they fired produced dense pat- cases. Using a seating die was much terns 12 feet from the muzzles of my easier and precise. Plus, the capsules revolvers. The shooting costs $1 per require a crimp to keep them locked shot for the .38/.357 shells and half in place during recoil produced by again as much per round for the .44 Unique is a great powder for loading handgun shooting other cartridges. Special/Magnums. Speer Bullets, shotshells in .38 Special and .357, .41 and .44 The first time I loaded .38 cases Magnums. CCI’s sister company, sells the same I set the seating die to apply a roll shotshell capsules used in CCI loads. sulted in 55 pellet holes in a pattern crimp on the capsules, but the crimp At the loading bench, these plas- shot 12 feet from the muzzle. The wasn’t tight enough because two of tic containers were filled with my pattern shot with the .44 load con- the capsules pulled out of the case own lead shot and loaded much as tained 119 hits. Both pattern targets when the first shot was fired. Back at I would a regular bullet in .38 Spe- had two holes in them from the shot the bench, I cringed turning in the cial and .44 Magnum cases. These capsule and base wad. The papers seating die a smidgen at a time to in- capsules are still a bit pricey, about were big enough to catch all the pel- 15¢ apiece for .38s and twice that lets, so perhaps some of the pellets for .44s. To lower that cost, I started remained inside the container. searching for commonly available wads that would allow me to make Speer Capsules handgun shotshells on the cheap. The Speer Reloading Manual #14 contains instructions and powder CCI Shotshells and shot weights for loading empty CCI’s .38/.357 load contains ap- shot capsules. Unique powder was proximately 135 No. 9 pellets, and used for all the loads. The only trick the .44 Special/Magnum, 170 pel- to loading the capsules is to put in lets. The capsules are designed to the correct amount of shot, so that break on contact with the rifling. when the base wad is snapped into Shooting the .38/.357 loads through place, the shot is tight in the con- Ballistic Products’ .410, .125-inch thick Nitro a Smith & Wesson Model 19 .357 tainer. I cut off a .38 Special case to Cards, split in half, make great, inexpensive wads Magnum with a 4-inch barrel re- hold 109 grains of No. 9 shot in the for the .41 Magnum. 1 LOAD DEVELOPMENT • June-July 2013 loaddata.com I made wads for the .357 case by using a chamfer tool to sharpen the case mouth rim of .357 Magnum and .35 Whelen cases, and then drilled out the primer pockets to in- sert a drill bit to push out the wads. I hammered the case heads to cut the wads out of cardboard. That worked to make a few dozen wads, but even- tually the case mouths bent, and I had to sharpen and drill another case. If I were going into production of .357 shotshells, it would be much easier to order .360-inch diameter cardboard wads from Track of the Wolf (trackofthewolf.com). They cost only about a penny apiece. CCI 44 Spl/Mag shotshells are loaded with No. 9 lead shot. They fired dense patterns 12 feet from the muzzle of a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum revolver. For wads in the .41 Magnum, Ballistic Products .410, .125-inch crease the crimp, for fear of breaking second gas check, lip down, over the thick Nitro Cards were used. I split the plastic containers. But the con- shot. A crimp on the case mouth the thickness of the cards in half and tainers held up, and the next time out held everything in place. However, seated one piece over the powder the capsule stayed in place in the last the cost of gas checks has skyrock- with the flat end of a drill bit. Then cartridge remaining in the revolver’s eted in recent years to the point I added the shot, placed the other cylinder after firing five rounds. they add nearly a dime to the cost piece of the card on top of the shot of each cartridge. Plus, gas checks and finished with a roll crimp on Cheap Shooting will punch right through half-inch the case mouth. The nice thing about Speer cap- thick plywood at 20 feet. That rules The .410 cards were a slip-fit in sules is they extend beyond the case out pack rat shooting inside a shed sized .44 Magnum cases. I thought mouth to hold more shot compared or barn. Hard, cardboard wads work they might not seal the powder gases to what only a case will hold. Using just as well, and they’re cheap. in the case and bore, but they worked a thin wad to separate the powder and shot and another wad on top of the shot, only 92 grains of No. 9 shot fit in a .357 Magnum case, 110 grains in a .41 Magnum case and 122 grains in a .44 Magnum case. Copper gas checks intended for cast bullets make good wads, because they are thin, take up little space and tightly seal the bore. I used to load 5.0 grains of Unique in a .44 Magnum case, seated a gas check with its lip up over the powder, added shot to just below the top of the mouth and seated a loaddata.com June-July 2013 • LOAD DEVELOPMENT 2 fine. I don’t know what the shot charge’s velocity was because I’m not about to subject the thin skin of my chronograph to such widely scat- tering loads, but the No. 9 pellets packed enough speed to punch clear through an aluminum can at 12 feet. Shooting The CCI factory-loaded .38/.357 shotshells had a pattern diameter of 11 inches, and the .44s, 13 inches on a pattern board 12 feet from the muzzle. The handloaded .38 capsule produced an 11.5 inch wide spread of shot. The pellets printed a spiral pattern, no doubt from the capsule Handloaded Speer shot capsules filled with No. 9 shot in a .38 Special case shot this pattern 12 feet from the muzzle of a Smith & Wesson Model 19 .357 Magnum. turning in the rifling and applying centrifugal force to the pellets. The patterns, though, contained only a few gaps. The handloaded .44 cap- sules also threw their shot in a spiral with spreads of 12 to 13 inches. A Trio of Ta r g e t s Shoot Yours Today! • $3.00 ea. • 2 = $5 • 4 = $10 The .41 Magnum shot this pattern with an even spread. There was little fouling in the .41’s bore after shooting a dozen shots. The .357, .41 and .44 shotshells up and gripping the gun with both with cardboard wads shot patterns hands, and using the sights to aim from 9 to 11 inches wide. They at the bottom of the can when it seemed to have a more even spread stopped momentarily at the top of with no gaps compared to the cap- its rise worked best. Then I knocked sule loads. But they are still short the can out of the air on a regular + Shipping & Handling = $3.25 range loads; at 17 feet the .41’s shot basis. The Ruger Blackhawk .41 (1-4 targets) spread increased to 19 inches. Magnum is my favorite for this, be- AZ Tax 8.35% So far I’ve shot hand-thrown cans cause it points so smoothly. on two occasions with the capsule This shooting is so easy on my and cardboard wad shotshells. The pocket, I can stop at the gas station Wolfe Publishing Company 2180 Gulfstream, Suite A • Prescott, AZ 86301 first time I threw the can with one on the way home to buy myself a 1-800-899-7810 hand and with a revolver in the soda pop and save the can to shoot www.riflemagazine.com other hand, snap-shot at the can. I the next time I’m out with my finally figured out tossing the can handgun shotshells. 3 LOAD DEVELOPMENT • June-July 2013 loaddata.com.
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