Success!!! 45acp Shotshell Loads (M-15 Cartridge)

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Bwana John

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Starting with 308 Win brass
Cut and trim brass to 1.18"
Anneal front 1/3 of brass
Resize and deprime brass with 45acp die
Start shoulder forming with 41 mag seating die and lube
Complete shoulder forming with 41 mag carbide sizing die and lube, use barrel's chamber as headspace gauge
Prime brass with Large Pistol primer
Punch out one cardboard 10mm wad, one bleach bottle 10mm wad, and one 9mm bleach bottle overshot wad
Charge with 6 gr W231
Seat 10mm cardboard wad over powder
Seat 10mm plastic wad over cardboard wad, seat wads over powder well
Add ~110gr #8 shot to right below case rim
Place 9mm overshot plastic wad over shot
Crimp overshot wad in with mouth of 38 spl seating die, finish crimp with 45acp round nose bullet seating plug in 45acp seating die

Put 14 lb recoil spring in full size Model 1911

Rounds feed, fire, extract, eject, and reload through full 7 shot magazine, slide stays open when magazine empty. Brass ejects ~ 8ft @ 4:30

Pattern at 15' is less than one foot in diameter

20% brass loss to dial in brass forming methods
5% brass loss after dialing in methods

I am considering nail polish over the overshot wad to waterproof and to make loaded cartridge able to withstand rough handling
 
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I use cut down .410 wads in mine and #12 shot. They cycle fine in a regular old 1911. At the farm or around the yard, it’s whats in the chamber.

View attachment 863806
I could not get the 410 wad into the case unless I put them in before case forming

I tried slightly flareing the case mouth like I would for starting to seat a pistol bullet, but then my crimp did not form as well.

Is the little goober finger thingy in the top of the case on the far right the secret to adding a 410 wad without damaging the base wad seal? What is the name of it?

I'm just cutting open shotgun shells for shot, how hard does #12 hit? The smallest I have ever used in a shotgun is #9

Would reaming the rifleing out of an old GI barrel be a no-no? How about reaming out 3/4 of the length of the rifleing?
 
The little goober thingy is a .410 wad guide off one of my 366’s to put them into .410 hulls. Here’s one for MEC’s that’s cheap.

https://www.titanreloading.com/mec-wad-guide-410-bore

On the first ones I made I punched holes out of shotgun hulls for the over shot card.

4E7CFA6F-D187-4B6F-8AD5-14405FD88917.jpeg

Now I punch holes out of clear plastic packaging. Because it looks cooler when you show them off ;)

One of my 45 ACP ones next to one of my .380 shot rounds.

7612F2F5-686D-4281-90BB-B5FBD5C490A6.jpeg


I use large primer 308 family brass for my 45 shot shells but do use SP 308 brass for my 7mm BR, it’s out there.
 
The 45 ones with .410 wads pattern better than anything else I have tried but they are still a 15ft max load for me.

More pellets on target than my .380 loads at the same distance but it doesn’t take many to knock out a snake.

.380


This is what my 45 ACP ones pattern like at 15 ft, the circle is 8” in diameter

1BCA0DEB-44A8-4228-8C2F-03962CD12E6A.jpeg
 
I could not get the 410 wad into the case unless I put them in before case forming

I tried slightly flareing the case mouth like I would for starting to seat a pistol bullet, but then my crimp did not form as well.

Is the little goober finger thingy in the top of the case on the far right the secret to adding a 410 wad without damaging the base wad seal? What is the name of it?

I'm just cutting open shotgun shells for shot, how hard does #12 hit? The smallest I have ever used in a shotgun is #9

Would reaming the rifleing out of an old GI barrel be a no-no? How about reaming out 3/4 of the length of the rifleing?
Do not ream out the rifling. That would make it a short barrel shotgun, a NFA item.
 
How are you priming .308 brass with small pistol primer?
Large pistol primers, my mistake.
This is very interesting
But how do they shoot? As in how far, how accurate, etc?
I'd say it's a squirrel in the pot just about every time at <18 ft.
The little goober thingy is a .410 wad guide off one of my 366’s to put them into .410 hulls. Here’s one for MEC’s that’s cheap.
Thanks! I could not figure out how to get the wad in without ruining the base seal, without priming and charging the brass before forming the shoulder.

The big deal for me is they work in a magazine fed semi-auto. I play with a lot of "subunitions" (wax, glue stick, primer driven pellets, 70 gr pistol bullets in 30-06, reduced loads, ect...) and for such a funky load to magazine feed, fire, extract, eject, feed, fire.... etc is pretty cool.
 
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and for such a funky load to magazine feed, fire, extract, eject, feed, fire.... etc is pretty cool.


With 1911’s I always find what magazine the pistol likes right off the bat. That way I don’t have to worry about what projectile/seat depth etc it “likes”.


 
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