Loading 12ga Magtech brass hulls

Newbie here to shotshell loading, with a many decades background in rifle and pistol cartridge loading for both smokeless and holy black.

Got a Henry 12ga single shot coming along with 50 Magtech brass hulls. Have 2K of Federal LPPs for priming

Want to load 7.5 to #4 buck or Lee 7/8oz slugs, and to use an over-shot wad glued in, no crimping.

For loading the above with black powder, fiber wads only, no plastic wads should be used as they'd gunk up the bore ... correct?

For loading the above with smokeless and plastic wads, what's a good smokeless powder? Would Trail Boss work?

TIA!

Frank, I am starting the same only with 410 Magtech and smokeless. They do require a larger diameter wad due to thinner walls and a larger ID. It is frustrating that there is very little data available for Magtech hulls as far as powders .

Hey I’m also having magtech adventures but with different parameters. Your project has been done before. From my limited experience I would start with a 1300ish fps trap load of fast powder and increase until it approaches 1200-1250ish? The brass shell being 11g inside seems to eat up a good amount of pressure but I still wouldn’t be cavalier about running the charge up near max right away.

recommendations for wad materials for the buffer wads, I have two methods for cutting them at my disposal sharp punches and lazers.

I see two potential safety issues here. Magtech lists thier brass shells for black powder only, and Hodgon warns NOT to compress Trial boss loads, so shotshell loading is out.

There is smokeless data out there for brass hulls, but you won't find it published.
Not sure if it is a liability issue or what.

Google is your friend. Be safe, start small, work up. Shotgun will NOT show pressure signs like pistol and rifle do.
It blows guns up before it reaches that point.

I have loaded both .410 and 20 ga, but have decided to wait to test them until I have an actual need, not just a want.
I have gotten more cautious as I approached the top of the hill, and much more so as I go down the far side.

I understand the desire. But loads for plastic hulls and brass are so different you really can't extrapolate anything from one to the other. Be safe out there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GhostHawk

But loads for plastic hulls and brass are so different you really can't extrapolate anything from one to the other. Be safe out there.

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I’ve only loaded a minimum of shotshells, but why are they so different? Is it the difference in the pressure required to open them up?


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What about using Triple Seven?

You might check with Ballistic Products for 11 gauge wads for brass shotshells, maybe load data. Certainly brass shotshells can be loaded with smokeless powder(WW1,WW2). Since there is usually no crimp, wad column height is not a real problem, just enough for over powder and some cushion, then something to keep everything in the shell. Plastic shells need specific wad columns to meet crimp requirements, both rolled and folded, and some shotgun powders need to be loaded with some compression for consistent performance in plastic/paper shotshells.

I've been using 777 for a couple years now in these. works great

With BP most use a square load. Equal volumes of powder and shot.
Powder
Over powder card
Filler/cushion wad
Shot
Over shot card, glued in with water glass, Elmer’s glue, etc.

Not complicated with BP. I’d stay away from smokeless unless you find and follow an “exact” recipe. That means every component, from primers to powder to wad to shot load. Smokeless pressures are way higher than BP and can get you into trouble very easily.

Be careful.
Sam Sackett

I use Unique in 16 gauge, SR 4756 in 20 gauge, and 2400 in .410 Magtech Brass Hulls, Track of the Wolf is where I get all cards and wads. C.E. Harris has some great information on loading the .410 hulls. I use Elmers glue over the overshot card. Just don't want to leave plastic wads where I bunny hunt. I just looked up low pressure loadsand went from there. When I run out of SR4756 I will probably try Unique. Good Luck and Good Shooting Chris

Also as a PS on the previous message, I drill the 16 and 20 gauge cases out for 209 primers.

google search "everlasting .410" and you should find where kiwi fella is using brass cases that are rifle of some sort adapted..weird euro chambering.... the brass shells will be similar.if going brass shells in .12ga in THEORY you will have more tolerance for pressure. be easier to just go old school over n under card wads if using lead shot.

Lower pressure in the magtech brass cases with smokeless could just be from the lighter energy from a large pistol primer a 209 shotshell primer has more energy. If you look though enough reloading books you can find that even among 209 primers each brand ignites the load at different pressures .

The pistol primers are great for black powder it ignites easy .

Once I loaded up some federal cases with 1 3/8 oz. shot over Blue Dot powder and used Winchester 209 rather then Federal 209 primers a third of the shells did not go off correctly and I even had wads stuck in my barrel . It was amusing seeing the slow load of shot flow from the muzzle and go a few yards .

I just use black and forget it. It's no more of a task with single or double shotguns to clean, and even easier when considering having to brush plastic out of smokeless bores. I also just use wads from TOTW. I know most like to punch or cut their own, perhaps for fun, I don't know, but it's just so much simpler to reach into a bag of 500 that work perfectly. Worth every cent, compared to how valuable time is. After a day of dove hunting, I go to the water hose in back yard, and let my barrels have a drink, then swab out to mirror shine and oil. The smokeless guys still brushing out plastic. Plus, I love the booms. They do as well. Across field I can hear little smokeless 'pow'....then I grin and signal back with 'BOOOOM'....makes the day better for everyone. I used to use the square load for simplicity, but I copy the old commercial loads nowadays. In most cases it helps the pattern.

look under: https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...a-slug-loading
in my experience the Brass-shells need a crimp to getting the right "starting Pressure" with smokeless,
with BP they work fine just with a wad and some glue....

If you're going to load brass shotshells, I highly recommend you spend $15 to get the manual listed below. It's the closest thing I found that provides published data and detailed loading instructions for Black, Pyrodex, and Triple 7.
https://www.ballisticproducts.com/Re...info/00MBRASS/

I got bit by the brass shotshell bug a few years ago when most loading components started to get scarce. I was amazed at how easy it was to concoct working buckshot and slug loads...until something else to occupy my time and funds caused me to go off on another reloading tangent in a completely different direction.

I purchased a stock of both Magtech and somewhat expensive Rocky Mountain Cartridge (RMC) lathe turned "everlasting" brass cases. The RMC cases are expensive, but are little works of art that should last several lifetimes. The benefit of Magtech cases are they are relatively cheap, and require 10 or 11 gauge wads since their internal dimensions are greater than plastic or RMC brass. However, a side benefit is that you have room to load more buckshot. I don't remember exactly how many pellets, but remember it was about what you'd see in plastic 10 ga loads. I used either 10 ga plastic obturator gas seals or 11 ga fiber wads over the powder and found no problem using plastic internal components with BP and Pyrodex. The RMC brass is so strong, I'd have no problem loading published smokeless data in them.

Since you're using a single shot, you won't have any problem with cycling (or clean up), but I found the blunt, sharp edged, brass cases didn't want to reliably cycle. Russian Paradox slugs worked though my Mossberg 500 action fine though.

The RMC cases are quite stout and are designed to take regular modern 12 ga plastic wads. I recommend you shop around for components. With ongoing shortages you'll probably have to do this anyway. BPI has everything you need, if it's in stock, but comparison shopping at Midway, Grafs and others could get you the same product for less.

The is Red Dot data for 12 ga brass. I just saw it last week but can't recall where. It specified Red Dot. I just got the brass load manual which is useless, it only covers 12, 16 and 20. I'm experimenting with 410 right now using MP 300 and Lil-Gun in 2.5 and 3" 410s. The 3" are 9.3x74R fireformed.

I suggest looking at shotgun world if looking for data for smokeless in brass hulls.