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| A few .38 Special loaded with MBC semi-wadcutters. |
Nothing fancy. Nothing radical. No surprises. Given their 12 BNH hardness and low impact velocity, these bullets will not expand. A penetration of 20" in ballistic gelatin is a realistic guess for this kind of load.
I like the fact that the powder-coating color matches the brass. It makes them look plumbing parts or parts for a gas-stove.
2-1/2" shotgun shells
One of my fishing buddies has an old shotgun that is chambered for 2-1/2", 12 gauge shells. Since the 2-3/4" length was standardized some time in the 1930s, most of the weapons that specify 2-1/2" long shells are old and were manufactured before steel chemistry and heat-treatment was universally understood.
The reloading data 2-1/2" shells from Hodgdon's is purposely low-pressure out of respect for the limitations of those older firearms. While the maximum SAAMI allowable pressure for a 2-3/4", 12 gauge shell is 11,500 PSI, the Hodgdon data for their 2-1/2" reloads is in the range of 7,000 PSI.
What that means in practical terms is that since the fatigue-life of most types of steel is cut in half with every 15%* increase in stresses, a 60% increase in stresses (directly related to peak pressures) while shorten the life of the shotgun by roughly 95%.
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| 6k-to-7k PSI is in the range of what blackpowder shells generated |
So here I am, staring at some Fiocchi hulls and trying to figure out an efficient way to shave 1/4" from their height. If I can't find an efficient way, then I will cut a length of PVC to use as a gauge and shave each one to length using a box-cutter.
Any ideas?
Delayed onset muscle pain
Ooof!
I got busy and stopped hitting the gym. Working out, whether walking or running or biking or lifting weights is good for stress relief.
Based on what hurts, dead-lifts worked most of the muscles in my body. Today, my quads and traps are barking at me.
*For service lives where over one-million cycles are anticipated, the rule of thumb was every 10% increase in stresses halved the life and for service lives of less than 100k cycles 15% was a closer fit. It is hard to imaging a shotgun that has more than 100,000 shells run through it during its lifetime.
I wore out a Winchester 1200 over about 10yrs shooting skeet & dove. The receiver was aluminum.
ReplyDeleteI have [had] some old 21/2 " chambered shotguns and I had them re-bored to 2 3/4" and just loaded the shells light and put in more wad.---ken.
ReplyDeleteYou could get some of the new short 1.75 inch shells. They also work at lower pressure.
ReplyDeleteJonathan
You may need to skive the new case mouth , or try roll crimping.Ballistic Products has tooling either way.
ReplyDeleteRoll-crimp and over-shot card are in the plans. 7/8 oz of #7 shot. My Lee Load-All 2 doesn't handle 2-1/2" crimping elegantly.
DeleteFind a bolt or round bar (booker rod? threaded rod?) that fits snug in the case, cut halfway through so a hacksaw blade fits in the slot (sand or peen an identical blade to get just undersize), screw down on top of that with two nuts to lock (bash up the threads here a bit so you can fine adjust against a light resistance). Grind the hacksaw blade to get the best cutting result. Drill and tap a screw at the very end, with a locknut, to adjust depth, or grind a shim to drop in. Just some ideas to jerry-rig a case length trimmer....
ReplyDeleteYou can buy 2.5 inch cases. Still a standard load overseas. I prefer them in my 12 bore sxs. Less is more. I bought a case, not a box, in the states. Now if l could just find them.
ReplyDeleteI think they are also available in paper hulls for reloading.
DeleteI think 100 shells would set up my buddy for life. I don't even know if he will ever go hunting with it. It is more about the idea that a firearm without ammo is nothing more than a poorly designed club.
You can buy 2.5 inch cases. A typo. I meant shotshells by the box.
DeleteKim Rhode, Olympian Shooter: “Never Give Up.”.....
ReplyDelete“I shoot 800-1,000 rounds a day,” she told us. “I drill stations instead of shooting full rounds of skeet..
That means in 4 months or so she has her 100,000
WOW! That is a lot of shooting.
DeleteAt $90 for a case of 250 shells, that is over $300 spent every day on just the ammo.
Clearly, she is an outlier.
If you're roll crimping them, a bandsaw works just fine to shorten your shells. I used a piece of 2x4 with a groove and a stop as a jig to hold the shells. You want a relatively fine blade, but you don't need to go crazy.
ReplyDeleteIf you're roll crimping them, you don't even need to deburr the cut edge as long as your wad will go in, since the roll crimp smooths the edge just fine.
I've made and shot a few hundred 1.75" short shells doing this. It works great.
~Squire