The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Skunkworks > Handloading, Reloading, and Bullet Casting

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old November 26, 2007, 07:24 PM   #1
Joeddox
Junior Member
 
Join Date: November 24, 2007
Posts: 6
Exotic Shotgun loads

Just wondering if anyone has done any exotic shotgun loads?

I was thinking of trying a bunch of wooden match heads in a 3" shell.
Also going to try a load of 1" flechettes in a 3" shell.
Joeddox is offline  
Old November 26, 2007, 09:43 PM   #2
Chilecop
Member
 
Join Date: August 2, 2007
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 17
NO!!!

That goes beyond the Safe and Sane practices of this forum, not to mention the probabilities of landing you in hot water with the Law!
Chilecop is offline  
Old November 27, 2007, 12:16 AM   #3
WNTFW
Member
 
Join Date: August 10, 2006
Posts: 19
The only exotic thing I did was spreader wads. Not that exotic.
I always used loads posted in a reloading book. I would not clown around with anything on a shotgun reload. Same for rifle or pistol loads.

Something you never thought about could happen & result in injury, death, etc.

I wouldn't do it.
WNTFW
WNTFW is offline  
Old November 27, 2007, 12:24 AM   #4
crowbeaner
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 4, 2007
Location: Upstate SC
Posts: 1,943
DO NOT PLAY AROUND WHEN LOADING SHOTSHELLS! They operate at hand grenade pressures, and touching off a pineapple 6 inches from your face is NOT a good idea! Follow the loads EXACTLY as shown in the reloading manual. NO modern shotgun is proofed as high as a rifle! BAAD JUJU! CB.
__________________
If you want your children to follow in your footsteps, be careful where you walk.
Beware the man that only owns one gun; he probably knows how to use it.
I just hope my ship comes in before my dock rots.
crowbeaner is offline  
Old November 27, 2007, 01:09 AM   #5
Joeddox
Junior Member
 
Join Date: November 24, 2007
Posts: 6
Flechettes are legal where I live. Heck everything is legal here.

Crowbeaner how is it going to go off like a hand grenade? I'm not trying to be rude but I don't see a way of it setting itself off. It's not like I'm adding extra powder or anything.

I guess I shouldn't ask if you guys have done tracer loads...
Joeddox is offline  
Old November 27, 2007, 01:22 AM   #6
oldbillthundercheif
Junior member
 
Join Date: April 21, 2006
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 2,450
Match-heads light from friction. They could ignite while loading them if you packed them in too hard or ignite on their own at any time from rubbing against each other if you packed them in too loose.

If you want fire and such, you probably want to stick with the "dragon's breath" rounds. They are expensive and only somewhat entertaining, but they will probably not blow up before you pull the trigger.

Flechettes don't work worth a damn. The ones loaded backwards never stabilize, and even the ones loaded point-forward are too light to penetrate much. Also, unless the fins are perfectly formed (and they almost never are), they don't fly straight.

Save yourself a lot of headaches and avoid both ideas.
oldbillthundercheif is offline  
Old November 27, 2007, 01:46 AM   #7
Joeddox
Junior Member
 
Join Date: November 24, 2007
Posts: 6
Thanks oldbillthundercheif

At least some reasoning behind it. Well is there anything fun to load? Marbels? LOL jk
Joeddox is offline  
Old November 27, 2007, 01:58 AM   #8
oldcars
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 13, 2007
Posts: 375
I have never seen them shot, but my aunt has 12ga rounds with rolls of dimes, and some kind of round with two lead balls with a wire between them. I don't think she has ever shot them(and hopefully never will)
oldcars is offline  
Old November 27, 2007, 02:09 AM   #9
oldbillthundercheif
Junior member
 
Join Date: April 21, 2006
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 2,450
No problem. The match-heads would be entertaining, but just too damn dangerous.

Dimes: http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot35.htm
-Safe (through a non-full choke, anyway), but not very effective.
oldbillthundercheif is offline  
Old November 27, 2007, 02:50 AM   #10
teeroux
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 12, 2006
Posts: 1,512
i can see the head lines now MAN LIGHTS SELF ON FIRE LOADING MATCHSTICK HEADS INTO SHOT SHELLS

seriously though you could set them off and have it blow up in your face when you operate the press.
teeroux is offline  
Old November 27, 2007, 09:52 AM   #11
Mike Irwin
Staff
 
Join Date: April 13, 2000
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 41,367
Because of their thin metal barrels, shotguns are FAR less forgiving to bad loading practices than either handguns or rifles.

When I was in high school one of my classmate's younger brothers decided to try loading his own "special" dove loads.

When the left barrel let loose a piece of it removed a large portion of muscle and nerve from his left forearm. It was several years of intensive therapy before he do much with that hand.

Turns out his "special" dove loads had a standard charge of powder but nearly 2.5 ounces of shot. While the powder charge was fine the extra shot resulted in pressures far higher than what the tube could handle.

There was a recent discussion of flechettes here, maybe two or three months ago, not from a reloading standpoint but from a usability standpoint. Basic take is that flechettes are not all that effective. The military dropped them in short order after finding out that theory and practice didn't meet up in the jungles of Vietnam.
__________________
"The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza

Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.
Mike Irwin is offline  
Old November 27, 2007, 10:36 AM   #12
Edward429451
Junior member
 
Join Date: November 12, 2000
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Posts: 9,494
You want to load exotic SG loads? Gear up to load some slugs. Hardly anyone loads slugs so they are kind of exotic. Especially if you get foster slugs and the circle crimper. Midway has everything for slug loading.

Attached Images
File Type: jpg Myoldleaddrainlines.jpg (67.7 KB, 27 views)
Edward429451 is offline  
Old November 27, 2007, 11:22 AM   #13
JBriggs
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 20, 2007
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 328
Listen to these guys about playing around with fancy shotgun loads. I used to make up all sorts of loads. It took me several ruined shotguns to figure out that I should stick with normal run-of-the-mill loading data.
Things I loaded included marbles ( they do not work well), plastic bb's, rocks, dimes, and sand. (As to the sand, I thought it would be a great way to drive off annoying dogs. It just results in a big cloud of dust and a scoured barrel)
JBriggs is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:47 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.04543 seconds with 9 queries