Should 3" magnums melt?

jonathon · June 19, 2005, 09:19 PM

Should 3" magnum shells melt?

I shot up the 2 boxes of Sellier and Bellot 3" magnum buckshot and its some hard kickin stuff, but I noticed that the shells came out mostly melted?!

Going to stick with the 2 3/4" stuff from now on though..

sm · June 19, 2005, 09:40 PM

Define "melt"

Heavy loads are hard on hulls no matter the length.

I have reloaded Target loads , 2 3/4 dr eq, as many as 20 times. Reloading a heavy load in same hull - lessens the number of times that hull can be reloaded. Stresses the paper/ plastic, and the ends lose elasticity and ability to hold a crimp. This also explains why some hull designs are better for reloading than others.

For heavy loads, the opening under heavy loadings can greatly diminish the opened end of hull.

Just look at various fired hulls, notice the construction from say a STS, dove/ quail load, and a slug...

HTH

jonathon · June 19, 2005, 11:07 PM

The shells lost ALL shape and were mushy and some plastic was in the chamber

Lycanthrope · June 19, 2005, 11:27 PM

How hot WAS this gun?

Shooting hundreds?

Nnobby45 · June 20, 2005, 12:17 AM

I'd say hot enough to melt the plastic shells.

What do you want-- actual degrees? Most guns don't have a built in barrel thermometer.

Hey, I'm sorry. I couldn't resist that, and I haven't had any fun all day-- ya did sorta leave yourself open on that one

I've seen some small amount of melting on cases, but nothing like that.

jonathon · June 20, 2005, 12:55 AM

I shot a 10 round box up in about as many minutes.

Gun got really hot after the first shot...

dfaugh · June 20, 2005, 06:22 AM

and never had a problem with hulls melting, in my Mossberg 500...What kind of gun? OTOH, I rarely fire more than 2-3 in rapid succession.

Lycanthrope · June 20, 2005, 08:07 AM

Quote:

I'd say hot enough to melt the plastic shells. What do you want-- actual degrees? Most guns don't have a built in barrel thermometer.

Easy tiger. I've shot 50 at a time (rapid fire) and never had melting in my 1100. I've never seen a hull melt induced by firing, but run 100 through the gun and then park a round in the barrel and I'm pretty sure it'd get soggy....that would beconsidered normal.

bclark1 · June 20, 2005, 05:36 PM

sheesh. when i shoot trap downstate there's rarely anyone around, so i'm pretty much just blasting as fast as i can switch stations or recenter my aim. sometimes 2 or 3 rounds of 25 at a go. and i've never melted any hulls. i guess the wisdom of running 50, occasionally 75 shells through a gun without a cleaning is debatable... but i'm pretty confident in my mossberg as long as i pamper it after i leave the range.

jonathon · June 20, 2005, 05:49 PM

I'm using a Winchester Defender 1200. Like I said, it was HOT after the first shot, and the first one was melted(as in the shape was LOST after firing and it was.. mushy?)

I should have saved some shells and taken pics.. I still plan to stick with 2 3/4" though.

sm · June 20, 2005, 06:06 PM

I am still confused.

Yes the gun gets hot , I don't deny that.

I have shot 16 rds of skeet in one day that is 400 rds using the same gun. I have also run 200 rds of slugs or buck personally thru the same gun. My guns have also not only had me shooting them - but others as well.

I know for sure my SX1 has had 1k rds fired in one day, so has various 870s.

NO biggie for me to run 2K rds in a week, out of the same gun, without cleaning and no malf's.

Now granted after the chamber gets a bit dirty, there may be more residue on spent hulls , be they new shells [ slugs, buck, target] or reloaded shells.

"Melting" ...no. I have had the end where crimps are blown off, get a hole burn thru, and such - these were reloaded quite a few times and probably I should not have reloaded them "one more time".

Then again I have not shot some of the new stuff, I do not like the new AA for instance- so perhaps standards have changed for the worse.

LHB1 · June 20, 2005, 06:33 PM

Jonathon,
Does that Win Defender by chance have a 2 3/4" chamber? I think 3" inch shells will fit into a 2 3/4" chamber but then there is no place for the crimped portion of hull to open into when fired and pressure/heat may jump quickly.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

sm · June 20, 2005, 06:59 PM

Great Catch!

If that bbl is marked 2 3/4" , you were damn lucky to have fired 3" shells in it.

Have that gun and bbl checked before firing again.

The length of a shell is its FIRED length. There has to be room for that shell to open up.

What one has in a shot shell is akin to a grenade in b/t their hands. 3" shell may "fit into" , there is NO room for the fired shell to open...pressures soar and hell yes if the gun does not blow up - it will kick like a mule.

Have that gun checked pronto! Read that bbl for what length shell is supposed to be used in it.

jonathon · June 20, 2005, 07:38 PM

Nope, the barrel is marked 3".

When I say hot, I got a BLISTER from touching the barrel.. I just now got to cleaning the gun(we had a massive range trip which means 8 guns to clean..), and there was a ton of plastic crap in the chamber...

Lycanthrope · June 20, 2005, 07:55 PM

Try different ammo. If it's melting the first round every time, there is NO WAY I would be shooting that gun without it being checked out by a good gunsmith or the manufacturer. I've shot at least 50 3" mags hunting geese and never saw that.

I've run 10-12 high brass through the 1100 in 3 seconds and never saw that either.

johnbt · June 21, 2005, 04:18 PM

I'm betting on cleaning solvent left in the chamber vs. heat. Or maybe solvent plus heat.

Strange.

John

jonathon · June 21, 2005, 05:34 PM

Decided it was worth using the "good stuff"(federal 00 buckshot 3" magnums, at 10 bucks for 6...) to compare.. they didn't melt.. infact, they didn't even deform to any extents. Did kick pretty hard, but yeah.

They also didn't smoke as bad as the S&B stuff did...

June 19, 2005, 09:19 PM	#1
jonathon Senior Member Join Date: March 14, 2005 Location: Washougal, Washington. YEHAW! Posts: 1,872	Should 3" magnums melt? Should 3" magnum shells melt? I shot up the 2 boxes of Sellier and Bellot 3" magnum buckshot and its some hard kickin stuff, but I noticed that the shells came out mostly melted?! Going to stick with the 2 3/4" stuff from now on though.. __________________ Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good More CZ M52 info than you can shake a stick at!

June 19, 2005, 09:40 PM	#2
sm Senior Member Join Date: February 5, 2002 Posts: 1,819	Define "melt" Heavy loads are hard on hulls no matter the length. I have reloaded Target loads , 2 3/4 dr eq, as many as 20 times. Reloading a heavy load in same hull - lessens the number of times that hull can be reloaded. Stresses the paper/ plastic, and the ends lose elasticity and ability to hold a crimp. This also explains why some hull designs are better for reloading than others. For heavy loads, the opening under heavy loadings can greatly diminish the opened end of hull. Just look at various fired hulls, notice the construction from say a STS, dove/ quail load, and a slug... HTH __________________ Use Enough Gun TFL Alumni

June 19, 2005, 11:07 PM	#3
jonathon Senior Member Join Date: March 14, 2005 Location: Washougal, Washington. YEHAW! Posts: 1,872	The shells lost ALL shape and were mushy and some plastic was in the chamber __________________ Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good More CZ M52 info than you can shake a stick at!

June 20, 2005, 12:55 AM	#6
jonathon Senior Member Join Date: March 14, 2005 Location: Washougal, Washington. YEHAW! Posts: 1,872	I shot a 10 round box up in about as many minutes. Gun got really hot after the first shot... __________________ Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good More CZ M52 info than you can shake a stick at!

June 20, 2005, 06:22 AM	#7
dfaugh Senior Member Join Date: January 17, 2002 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 1,715	Been using these for some time now and never had a problem with hulls melting, in my Mossberg 500...What kind of gun? OTOH, I rarely fire more than 2-3 in rapid succession. __________________ "If you Listen to Fools, the Mob Rules" "No one has the answer, but one thing is true. You'e got to turn on evil, when its coming after you. You've gotta face it down,and when it tries to hide, you've got to go in after it, and never be denied. Time is running out...Let's roll. Let's roll for freedom, let's roll for love. We're going after satan, on the wings of a dove. Let's roll for freedom, let's roll for truth. Let's not let our children grow up fearful in their youth."

June 19, 2005, 11:27 PM	#4
Lycanthrope Senior Member Join Date: October 1, 2001 Location: PA Posts: 1,752	How hot WAS this gun? Shooting hundreds?

June 20, 2005, 12:17 AM	#5
Nnobby45 Senior Member Join Date: November 20, 2004 Posts: 3,150	I'd say hot enough to melt the plastic shells. What do you want-- actual degrees? Most guns don't have a built in barrel thermometer. Hey, I'm sorry. I couldn't resist that, and I haven't had any fun all day-- ya did sorta leave yourself open on that one I've seen some small amount of melting on cases, but nothing like that.

June 20, 2005, 05:36 PM	#9
bclark1 Senior Member Join Date: January 5, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,531	sheesh. when i shoot trap downstate there's rarely anyone around, so i'm pretty much just blasting as fast as i can switch stations or recenter my aim. sometimes 2 or 3 rounds of 25 at a go. and i've never melted any hulls. i guess the wisdom of running 50, occasionally 75 shells through a gun without a cleaning is debatable... but i'm pretty confident in my mossberg as long as i pamper it after i leave the range.

June 20, 2005, 05:49 PM	#10
jonathon Senior Member Join Date: March 14, 2005 Location: Washougal, Washington. YEHAW! Posts: 1,872	I'm using a Winchester Defender 1200. Like I said, it was HOT after the first shot, and the first one was melted(as in the shape was LOST after firing and it was.. mushy?) I should have saved some shells and taken pics.. I still plan to stick with 2 3/4" though. __________________ Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good More CZ M52 info than you can shake a stick at!

June 20, 2005, 06:06 PM	#11
sm Senior Member Join Date: February 5, 2002 Posts: 1,819	I am still confused. Yes the gun gets hot , I don't deny that. I have shot 16 rds of skeet in one day that is 400 rds using the same gun. I have also run 200 rds of slugs or buck personally thru the same gun. My guns have also not only had me shooting them - but others as well. I know for sure my SX1 has had 1k rds fired in one day, so has various 870s. NO biggie for me to run 2K rds in a week, out of the same gun, without cleaning and no malf's. Now granted after the chamber gets a bit dirty, there may be more residue on spent hulls , be they new shells [ slugs, buck, target] or reloaded shells. "Melting" ...no. I have had the end where crimps are blown off, get a hole burn thru, and such - these were reloaded quite a few times and probably I should not have reloaded them "one more time". Then again I have not shot some of the new stuff, I do not like the new AA for instance- so perhaps standards have changed for the worse. __________________ Use Enough Gun TFL Alumni

June 20, 2005, 06:33 PM	#12
LHB1 Senior Member Join Date: March 25, 2005 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 1,545	Jonathon, Does that Win Defender by chance have a 2 3/4" chamber? I think 3" inch shells will fit into a 2 3/4" chamber but then there is no place for the crimped portion of hull to open into when fired and pressure/heat may jump quickly. Good shooting and be safe. LB

June 20, 2005, 06:59 PM	#13
sm Senior Member Join Date: February 5, 2002 Posts: 1,819	Lhb1 Great Catch! If that bbl is marked 2 3/4" , you were damn lucky to have fired 3" shells in it. Have that gun and bbl checked before firing again. The length of a shell is its FIRED length. There has to be room for that shell to open up. What one has in a shot shell is akin to a grenade in b/t their hands. 3" shell may "fit into" , there is NO room for the fired shell to open...pressures soar and hell yes if the gun does not blow up - it will kick like a mule. Have that gun checked pronto! Read that bbl for what length shell is supposed to be used in it. __________________ Use Enough Gun TFL Alumni

June 20, 2005, 07:38 PM	#14
jonathon Senior Member Join Date: March 14, 2005 Location: Washougal, Washington. YEHAW! Posts: 1,872	Nope, the barrel is marked 3". When I say hot, I got a BLISTER from touching the barrel.. I just now got to cleaning the gun(we had a massive range trip which means 8 guns to clean..), and there was a ton of plastic crap in the chamber... __________________ Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good More CZ M52 info than you can shake a stick at!

June 20, 2005, 07:55 PM	#15
Lycanthrope Senior Member Join Date: October 1, 2001 Location: PA Posts: 1,752	Try different ammo. If it's melting the first round every time, there is NO WAY I would be shooting that gun without it being checked out by a good gunsmith or the manufacturer. I've shot at least 50 3" mags hunting geese and never saw that. I've run 10-12 high brass through the 1100 in 3 seconds and never saw that either.

June 21, 2005, 04:18 PM	#16
johnbt Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 1999 Location: Richmond, Virginia USA Posts: 6,004	I'm betting on cleaning solvent left in the chamber vs. heat. Or maybe solvent plus heat. Strange. John

June 21, 2005, 05:34 PM	#17
jonathon Senior Member Join Date: March 14, 2005 Location: Washougal, Washington. YEHAW! Posts: 1,872	Decided it was worth using the "good stuff"(federal 00 buckshot 3" magnums, at 10 bucks for 6...) to compare.. they didn't melt.. infact, they didn't even deform to any extents. Did kick pretty hard, but yeah. They also didn't smoke as bad as the S&B stuff did... __________________ Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good More CZ M52 info than you can shake a stick at!