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.410 BNP = standard steel?


BobbyH
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Hey all,

I’m about to go shoot my Webley and Scott .410, and looking on the proof marks, it says BNP with some others.

Does this mean I can shoot steel through it? I know the whole no tighter than 1/2 choke, but I assume it’s choked quite tight?

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Steel proofed is a Fleur De Lys symbol.

 

Do not use steel bigger than uk no7  in a 410.

Due to 410 choke constrictions being so variable. Measure your chokes. Anything tighter than 0.400 will not be suitable for steel.

Most USA YouTube videos shooting steel in 410 are using Cylinder choke and shot  sizes 7, 8 and 9

 

Above all, pattern your gun at 25 yards before going into the field!

Edited by Stonepark
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BNP means merely that it was proved with modern smokeless powder at Birmingham Proof House after 1955. In simple parlance the two pre-1955 stamps NP and BP of what would then have been three BV, BP and NP  became one stamp BNP for Birmingham Nitro(cellulose) Proof. 

Now it is said by some that any post-1955 proved gun of up to half choke is suitable for standard steel cartridges (not "high performance" steel but "standard" steel) as long as the size of shot used is less that a particular diameter.

However as others say I would not want to use any steel in a 2 1/2" chambered .410" with the believed choke that these bolt action Webley guns were nominally made in. Either use lead or if what you shoot or where you shoot requires, nay mandates, non-lead then put the .410 away and use a suitably choked 20 bore or 12 bore with standard steel.

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12 minutes ago, Scully said:

I was under the belief standard steel can be fired through ANY choke. 
Isn’t there a ‘pinned’ list regarding steel shot, submitted by David BASC at the top of the ‘Wildfowling’ section? 

 

Hope this helps.

NOTE WELL - SEE LINK - THAT THE "PROOF SYMBOLS" REFERENCED ARE FOR 1954 RULES OF PROOF AND SUBSEQUENT ITERATIONS.

I've cut and pasted the wordage and then below a link to the actual resource.

Use  of  Steel  Shot  Ammunition

There  is  much  confusion  over  what steel ammunition  can  and  can’t  be  used  with  shotguns bearing  both  CIP  proof  marks  and  historic national  proof  marks,  or  “proof  symbols”  as  we  prefer  to  refer  to  them.  We  will  attempt  to  explain in  the  simplest  terms  possible  what   ammunition  may  be  used  with  the  relevant  proof  symbol.

It  must  be  understood  there  are  two types of  steel  ammunition,  Standard  Steel  &  High  Performance  Steel.

Standard  Steel ammunition  can  be  used  with  any  shotgun (other  than  Damascus/twist  barrelled  guns),  in  good  order,  bearing  any of  the   above  CIP,  London or  Birmingham  symbols,  provided  the  ammunition  is  of  the  correct length  for  the chamber and  the  barrel  choking  is   less  than  half  choke  (some  small  cosmetic  choke  damage  may  still  be  incurred, even  under  these  conditions). Ammunition  packaging   should  denote  that  the  ammunition  is  Standard  Steel.  However, if  at  all  unsure  whether  your  ammunition  is  Standard Steel,  please   consult  the  manufacturer.  If you’re  unsure  whether  your  shotgun  is  suitable for  use  with  Standard  Steel  ammunition please  contact  a   competent  gun  dealer,  gunsmith  or  the  British  Proof  Authority  for  advice,  this  may  involve  the  submission  of  your  shotgun  for   inspection.

High  Performance  Steel ammunition  can  only  be  used  with  shotguns  bearing  a  CIP  fleur  de  Lys mark,  as  represented  in  the  above table.  The  ammunition  should  be  of  the  correct  length  for  the  chamber.  The  CIP  recommends  less  or  equal  to  half  choke  in  relation  to  a   given shot  diameter  for  the  Bore,  please  see  the  table  below  for  clarification.

Bore                  Maximum  Recommended  Choke Restriction   Shot  Diameters  

10  &  12 bore Half  choke  or  less  (≤  0.5mm)                          For  shot  larger than  4mm  (>  4mm)

16  bore          Half  choke  or  less  (≤  0.5mm)                          For  shot  larger than  3.5mm  (>  3.5mm)

20  bore         Half  choke  or  less  (≤  0.5mm)                          For  shot  larger than  3.25mm  (>  3.25mm)

28  bore         Half  choke  or  less  (≤  0.5mm)                          For  shot  larger than  3mm  (>  3mm)

.410  bore      Half  choke  or  less  (≤  0.5mm)                           For  shot  larger than  2.5mm  (>  2.5mm)

Ammunition  packaging  should  denote  that  the  ammunition  is  High  Performance  Steel.  However,  if  unsure  whether  your  ammunition  is   High Performance  Steel,  please  consult  the  manufacturer.  If  unsure  whether  your  shotgun  is  suitable  for  use  with  High  Performance Steel  ammunition please  contact  a  competent  gun  dealer,  gunsmith  or  the  British  Proof  Authority  for  advice,  this  may  involve  the   submission of  your  shotgun  for inspection.

https://www.gwct.org.uk/media/1106151/Proofing.pdf

Edited by enfieldspares
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Got it. I have, sat next to where I am sat, a MEC 600 for 2 1/2" .410 and my intention for live quarry shooting would be to load my own bismuth for my AYA No4 .410" in the future. For I believe that we have an advantage! The cost of the bismuth used to handload compared to the cost of the factory loaded product in .410 loaded with bismuth makes the saving worthwhile. In 12 bore and such it doesn't but, at least it seems to me, that in .410 it does. The only problem seems to be getting any sort of fibre wad here in the UK in .410!

Edited by enfieldspares
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5 minutes ago, BobbyH said:

I’m only thinking about it because of the whole potential lead ban, and I reload my own steel carts anyway, both 2.5inch and 3 inch. So I saw some proof marks on it and just was curious is all. 

I can’t believe you don’t understand proof marks but think yourself competent to load ammunition!

What could possibly go wrong?

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1 hour ago, enfieldspares said:

Got it. I have, sat next to where I am sat, a MEC 600 for 2 1/2" .410 and my intention for live quarry shooting would be to load my own bismuth for my AYA No4 .410" in the future. For I believe that we have an advantage! The cost of the bismuth used to handload compared to the cost of the factory loaded product in .410 loaded with bismuth makes the saving worthwhile. In 12 bore and such it doesn't but, at least it seems to me, that in .410 it does. The only problem seems to be getting any sort of fibre wad here in the UK in .410!

Hello, Could you not make your own fibre wad or maybe cork , I am sure i have seen someone using cork sheet for wads, you can get round cutters like a saddler uses

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57 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, Could you not make your own fibre wad or maybe cork , I am sure i have seen someone using cork sheet for wads, you can get round cutters like a saddler uses

I have loads of .410 Fibre wads sat here, overshot cards too.

.410 is cheap to reload, I load both lead and steel with huge savings!

Im going to try fibre steel loads soon

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2 hours ago, BobbyH said:

Thankyou enfieldspares, I need to find out what choke it has on it now.

I can’t find a choke gauge for .410 sadly, as I believe that choking is quite a mystery in the works of small calibres!

The Teague website gives the full range of choke dimensions for the 410. If it's for just a one off check then a competent RFD should be able to give you your answer, but thanks to the Chinese and with some practice a long reach telescopic bore gauge/micrometer is perfectly capable of giving the answer plus or minus the odd thou' should you need to do it on occasion and without costing the earth.

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2 hours ago, enfieldspares said:

Hope this helps.

NOTE WELL - SEE LINK - THAT THE "PROOF SYMBOLS" REFERENCED ARE FOR 1954 RULES OF PROOF AND SUBSEQUENT ITERATIONS.

I've cut and pasted the wordage and then below a link to the actual resource.

Use  of  Steel  Shot  Ammunition

There  is  much  confusion  over  what steel ammunition  can  and  can’t  be  used  with  shotguns bearing  both  CIP  proof  marks  and  historic national  proof  marks,  or  “proof  symbols”  as  we  prefer  to  refer  to  them.  We  will  attempt  to  explain in  the  simplest  terms  possible  what   ammunition  may  be  used  with  the  relevant  proof  symbol.

It  must  be  understood  there  are  two types of  steel  ammunition,  Standard  Steel  &  High  Performance  Steel.

Standard  Steel ammunition  can  be  used  with  any  shotgun (other  than  Damascus/twist  barrelled  guns),  in  good  order,  bearing  any of  the   above  CIP,  London or  Birmingham  symbols,  provided  the  ammunition  is  of  the  correct length  for  the chamber and  the  barrel  choking  is   less  than  half  choke  (some  small  cosmetic  choke  damage  may  still  be  incurred, even  under  these  conditions). Ammunition  packaging   should  denote  that  the  ammunition  is  Standard  Steel.  However, if  at  all  unsure  whether  your  ammunition  is  Standard Steel,  please   consult  the  manufacturer.  If you’re  unsure  whether  your  shotgun  is  suitable for  use  with  Standard  Steel  ammunition please  contact  a   competent  gun  dealer,  gunsmith  or  the  British  Proof  Authority  for  advice,  this  may  involve  the  submission  of  your  shotgun  for   inspection.

High  Performance  Steel ammunition  can  only  be  used  with  shotguns  bearing  a  CIP  fleur  de  Lys mark,  as  represented  in  the  above table.  The  ammunition  should  be  of  the  correct  length  for  the  chamber.  The  CIP  recommends  less  or  equal  to  half  choke  in  relation  to  a   given shot  diameter  for  the  Bore,  please  see  the  table  below  for  clarification.

Bore                  Maximum  Recommended  Choke Restriction   Shot  Diameters  

10  &  12 bore Half  choke  or  less  (≤  0.5mm)                          For  shot  larger than  4mm  (>  4mm)

16  bore          Half  choke  or  less  (≤  0.5mm)                          For  shot  larger than  3.5mm  (>  3.5mm)

20  bore         Half  choke  or  less  (≤  0.5mm)                          For  shot  larger than  3.25mm  (>  3.25mm)

28  bore         Half  choke  or  less  (≤  0.5mm)                          For  shot  larger than  3mm  (>  3mm)

.410  bore      Half  choke  or  less  (≤  0.5mm)                           For  shot  larger than  2.5mm  (>  2.5mm)

Ammunition  packaging  should  denote  that  the  ammunition  is  High  Performance  Steel.  However,  if  unsure  whether  your  ammunition  is   High Performance  Steel,  please  consult  the  manufacturer.  If  unsure  whether  your  shotgun  is  suitable  for  use  with  High  Performance Steel  ammunition please  contact  a  competent  gun  dealer,  gunsmith  or  the  British  Proof  Authority  for  advice,  this  may  involve  the   submission of  your  shotgun  for inspection.

https://www.gwct.org.uk/media/1106151/Proofing.pdf

Thanks, but I’ve been using HP steel shot through non steel shot proofed guns for years with no ill effects, but here’s the advice from BASC as pinned in the Wildfowling section. 
image.jpeg.d92e51301d7547b330ec81c276c62b42.jpeg

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1 hour ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, Could you not make your own fibre wad or maybe cork , I am sure i have seen someone using cork sheet for wads, you can get round cutters like a saddler uses

Natural cork if not squeezed or compressed radially needs an obturator, be that card or plastic, as it isn't airtight. Good news for the wine industry for wines that need to age condition but not good news for the reloader as we cannot radially compress our cork wads. It is also, supposedly, for shotgun cartridges therefore not consistent in what pressure it allows to develop as the powder ignites. It used to be thought that cork wads are a thing associated with cheap cartridges or low quality.

Edited by enfieldspares
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