Razzle
.410
Since I've finally gotten my Shockwave, I've been wanting to shoot minishells. I bought a few boxes of Aguila slugs, but couldn't find any buckshot - because they're apparently made of pure unobtanium. So I decided (with the help of a YouTube video) to make a few of my own.
To do this, I picked up a few boxes of 12 gauge #8 shot and cut them down. I replaced the shot with #4 buckshot. I left the powder in place, so I would be using the same reduced recoil field shot. I also had to cut down the shot cup. Not too much of a problem.
At first, I made them too long...so I cut them down. Then they were almost right. The problem was that they were not crimped flatly - and that caused a feeding problem. Once I solved this problem, the shells began cycling properly and the recoil was very light. The original shells that I cut were 1 1/8 load, but I found that I couldn't get enough #4 buckshot into the shell. So I put fewer into them, and they worked just fine.
I haven't patterned the shells, as I'm still trying to perfect them. But as I get better at this, I'll update this thread for those who are considering doing the same.
A final thought: Shooting the homemade loads was a lot of fun. The light recoil and noticeable accuracy put a big goofy grin on my face. Eventually, I'll go with primered hulls and packaged powder (when they're readily available. But for now, I'm having a lot of fun rollin' my own with the Shockwave.
To do this, I picked up a few boxes of 12 gauge #8 shot and cut them down. I replaced the shot with #4 buckshot. I left the powder in place, so I would be using the same reduced recoil field shot. I also had to cut down the shot cup. Not too much of a problem.
At first, I made them too long...so I cut them down. Then they were almost right. The problem was that they were not crimped flatly - and that caused a feeding problem. Once I solved this problem, the shells began cycling properly and the recoil was very light. The original shells that I cut were 1 1/8 load, but I found that I couldn't get enough #4 buckshot into the shell. So I put fewer into them, and they worked just fine.
I haven't patterned the shells, as I'm still trying to perfect them. But as I get better at this, I'll update this thread for those who are considering doing the same.
A final thought: Shooting the homemade loads was a lot of fun. The light recoil and noticeable accuracy put a big goofy grin on my face. Eventually, I'll go with primered hulls and packaged powder (when they're readily available. But for now, I'm having a lot of fun rollin' my own with the Shockwave.