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Reloading 410


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Hi, all. Having a growing number of 410s in the cupboard, and running out of places to look for affordable ammo, I wonder about the possibility of reloading my own shells. Where does one start with this, and what are the legalities of purchasing the components? It appears a simple enough process, once you've been shown the ropes. Any help/advice much appreciated. And since I'm self isolating with cold/flu like symptoms, it might give me something to do......,

Regards, Rob.

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I reload all of my own shells probably five hundred plus a year and have been shooting 410s almost exclusively now for three years.  It is a fairly simple job. The first thing you need is a tool to resize your cases and this is the problem because 410 tools are not readily available.  I have a Mec loader but weigh all of my powder and shot invidually as I use SP3 powder which is very fine and runs everywhere.  Pull up Folkestone Engineering on the web John there is very helpful and sells all the components you need and also some good recipes.  Clay & Game also supply.  Initial set up is not cheap but once purchased will last a lifetime.   Be meticulous with measuring both shot and powder as the 410 is prone to sharp pressure spikes being so small. I found that trying to drop powder from the Mec was no where near accurate enough so as said I weigh everything. 

You can purchase the components quite openly no problem.  I started by buying a slab of Fiocchi 3 inch #7s and then using those cases to reload but I have been lucky recently to have about a thousand once fired cases given me so ok for a couple of years.  I find 410 cases don't reload as often and probably 50% of second fired cases are not usable.  If you buy a slab of factory to start off then buy Fiocchi or Hull High Pheasant and they reload very well.  I finish all of my cases with a GAEP spinner available from Folkestone.

Hope all of this helps.

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9 hours ago, Walker570 said:

I reload all of my own shells probably five hundred plus a year and have been shooting 410s almost exclusively now for three years.  It is a fairly simple job. The first thing you need is a tool to resize your cases and this is the problem because 410 tools are not readily available.  I have a Mec loader but weigh all of my powder and shot invidually as I use SP3 powder which is very fine and runs everywhere.  Pull up Folkestone Engineering on the web John there is very helpful and sells all the components you need and also some good recipes.  Clay & Game also supply.  Initial set up is not cheap but once purchased will last a lifetime.   Be meticulous with measuring both shot and powder as the 410 is prone to sharp pressure spikes being so small. I found that trying to drop powder from the Mec was no where near accurate enough so as said I weigh everything. 

You can purchase the components quite openly no problem.  I started by buying a slab of Fiocchi 3 inch #7s and then using those cases to reload but I have been lucky recently to have about a thousand once fired cases given me so ok for a couple of years.  I find 410 cases don't reload as often and probably 50% of second fired cases are not usable.  If you buy a slab of factory to start off then buy Fiocchi or Hull High Pheasant and they reload very well.  I finish all of my cases with a GAEP spinner available from Folkestone.

Hope all of this helps.

Thanks, mate. I'll make a few calls. I was always under the impession that I would need a licence for the powder? Maybe I made that up, or possibly I got confused with Black powder? I know that you  mention to weigh everything, but where do the initial 'recipes' come from? I've read that the 410 needs a slower burning powder. Many thanks, Rob.

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8 hours ago, cervusman said:

I use a Mec press to reload my 410 cartridges and it works well. I did get people going to the State’s to bring me back bags of wads as they’re so cheap over there and easy to pack in a case. 

Afternoon, mate. The MEC press is what I was looking at. I get the impression that once you're geared up, it's the way forward. I haven't got many more kidneys to sell more the price of those little shells.....,

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Look at Johns, (Folkestone Engineering) web site, even give him a call, he is always helpful. There are a number of good tried and tested recipes on there. As said, I use SP3 but there are one or two other powders you can use.  H110 is one of them.  The only problem is getting the stuff shipped if your not close by. John does runs up north every now and then and will arrange drop offs for primers, powder but you can have the wads shipped no problem.  As I said finding the dies is a problem. I purchased a seconhand press and then a friend in the USA shipped the dies for it, for me.   I use the press to de prime and resize, put in the primer and wad and over powder card, crimp start and crimp finish, but weight the shot and powder separately as this makes sure the quantities are spot on, which is not possible dropping it through a die and the SP3 is so fine it escapes through any small joint anyway. I find it imperative to be spot on with 410 loads more so than 12 gauge which I have loaded in the past which there was a small leeway.

Edited by Walker570
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23 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

Look at Johns, (Folkestone Engineering) web site, even give him a call, he is always helpful. There are a number of good tried and tested recipes on there. As said, I use SP3 but there are one or two other powders you can use.  H110 is one of them.  The only problem is getting the stuff shipped if your not close by. John does runs up north every now and then and will arrange drop offs for primers, powder but you can have the wads shipped no problem.  As I said finding the dies is a problem. I purchased a seconhand press and then a friend in the USA shipped the dies for it, for me.   I use the press to de prime and resize, put in the primer and wad and over powder card, crimp start and crimp finish, but weight the shot and powder separately as this makes sure the quantities are spot on, which is not possible dropping it through a die and the SP3 is so fine it escapes through any small joint anyway. I find it imperative to be spot on with 410 loads more so than 12 gauge which I have loaded in the past which there was a small leeway.

Cheers for this. An obvious question, but if you don't mind me asking how much do you think it costs you to reload a box of25? (Not counting your time of course...,)

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2 minutes ago, Modafinale said:

I have the same setup in 28g and enjoy loading, it’s so therapeutic once you have it all running correctly 

my Mec is a pleasure to use, but took a while to get perfect crimped cartridges 

Yes, same here with the 410 absolute tiny changes in the settings before I found the right spot but at least no requirement to change it now.

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8 minutes ago, Modafinale said:

I have the same setup in 28g and enjoy loading, it’s so therapeutic once you have it all running correctly 

my Mec is a pleasure to use, but took a while to get perfect crimped cartridges 

 

15 minutes ago, Modafinale said:

I have the same setup in 28g and enjoy loading, it’s so therapeutic once you have it all running correctly 

my Mec is a pleasure to use, but took a while to get perfect crimped cartridges 

Evening, mate . Therapeutic. Fine word. Sounds like a perfect excuse to dissappear down to the shed of an evening!

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