Black powder shotgun shells?

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Tatterchip

Tatterchip

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Does anyone know of a supplier for black powder shotgun shells? Specifically 20 gauge. I recently acquired a double barrel shotgun that belonged to my great grandfathers uncle. When I was a kid I used to shoot this shotgun all the time but my great grandfather and I had to hand load the shells for it. I don’t have the equipment for loading shells and my great grandmother sold all of his equipment last year when he passed. I did check with the local guns stores and unfortunately they either don’t carry them or haven’t received any. Alternatively, could anyone recommend the equipment needed to load shells with bp? It’s been close to ten years since I have done any reloading so my memory is more than a little rusty. Thanks for any information y’all can provide.
 
Edit : Looking at your profile I see you are 19 please have a gunsmith inspect this gun before you fire it .
You can literally reload shotgun shells with a long nail, a dowel rod and a half inch hex nut.
Use at your own risk
If I wanted to reload 20 ga. Black powder loads

I would go to ballistic products order
2-1/2 paper chedite hulls
20 ga. Over powder cards
20 ga 1/2 in. cushion wads
20 ga over shot cards
Adjustable plastic shot measure
Again use this at your own risk
Set shot measure to 3/4 oz fill with FFg black powder put in hull followed by an over powder card then a cushion wad then the same measure of shot then and overshot card. You can seal this with a little Elmer's white glue to hold the card and shot in. You may have to split a cushion wad so you have enough wadding to get you close to the top of the shell.
To reload set fired hull so the primer is over the hole in a half inch hex nut as I said a long nail will work I usually use a drift punch drive the primer out. Turn the nut up on the side start a primer in the hole with your hands set it on the hex nut using a short piece of wooden dowel (1/2 inch would be about right size) into the to the hull tap down with a mallet and seat primer. Then add your powder over powder card cushion wads shot and then add glue since the glue dries clear you can write on the over shot card what size shot it is. This is a light load and should be safe in an old gun but if you have any doubt have a gunsmith inspect it first
 
Plumberroy,
Thank you for this information. I really haven’t decided if I want to load shells yet. I just wanted the information in case I can’t buy any. Also, thank you for your concern. I did have two gunsmiths from different shops take a look at it. They both said that bp shells would be fine and the gun is in shootable condition.
 
Tatterchip said:
Plumberroy,
Thank you for this information. I really haven’t decided if I want to load shells yet. I just wanted the information in case I can’t buy any. Also, thank you for your concern. I did have two gunsmiths from different shops take a look at it. They both said that bp shells would be fine and the gun is in shootable condition.
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Great just making sure you are safe
It doesn't take much to reload shotgun shells for a double barrel or single shot break open shotgun. They don't have to feed through the gun like a pump or auto gun . I load light 10 gauge shells with modern powder using this method . I don't need many . Black powder can be loaded using the same measure for power and shot. You need to stick to a published if you want to load with modern powder
 
Ebay lists several Lee Loaders for 20 gauge shells, like this old “whack a mole”:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144638186444

(Disclaimer: this link was chosen at random to serve as an example. I have nothing for sale on eBay and have no interest in any seller.)

I used such a loader for years, making blackpowder shotshells for cowboy action competition. After having the gun inspected as safe to be shot, you can have LOTS of fun! I used plastic wads for convenience. Cleaning out melted plastic residue is quick and easy, and is easier than messing with circular wads and spacers in your shot column. Using equal VOLUMES of powder and shot (classic “square load”) is a good starting point. But the beauty of using blackpowder is its flexibility. You can tweak powder and shot volumes safely to get your gun’s best patterns. Use 2F or 3F sized powder or BP substitute. The old rule of thumb for improved patterns is “more shot, less powder”, but experimenting is fun!
 
Rustmangler said:
You can get brass hulls that reload nicely.
Click to expand...
Brass hulls use large pistol primers and the brass is thin so you need odd size wads this young man is 19 I am trying to keep it simple to get him started . The old lee loaders work but a lot of them are going for as much as a new lee load all on ebay. I have every gauge from 410 to 10 . I have been told many times they never made one in 28 gauge, but I have one :D
 
I have made both 12 and 20 gauge BP reloads and its not hard and there are some books to help. Ill have a look around and see if i can find my old load data but I was reloading some plastic 20 gauge with 70 grains BP plastic wad and a .54 round ball and getting very good solid performance. Here I download some cheap plastic 12 gauge to use.
 
RST shells sells shells that are safe for older shotguns that have been inspected by a gunsmith qualified to do so, including Damascus barreled shotguns.
 
hawg said:
I cut down and reload plastic 12 gauge shells but I only get one or two reloads out of them. Black powder melts the inside of the hulls.
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That is why I suggested Chedite paper hulls . I use Chedite 3 in. hulls to load a 20 Gauge round ball load for a rifled 20 ga they are decent hulls
 
I've been reloading bp shells for quite some time for my Damascus Parker. A single stage press can found fairly easy from yard sales or fleabay. I use plastic wads which have caused no problems whatsoever. You might have to match you wads to the hulls you use or the crimp comes out funny and the shell may leak shot when pointed down hill. I use an old Mec press that was given to me years ago. It has an adjustable shot/ powder bar that makes it real easy to change things, no bushings to mess with or loose. Lee makes an inexpensive shot shell reloader as will. It's kinda cheesy but they will work.
 
I bought some NOS Peter's BP, 50 years ago.
Haven't seen any since.

I reload on an old MEC 600 Jr.

As plumber's suggested, it doesn't take much to load.
 
In my opinion, formed over fifty years of BP shotgunning, card and fiber wads are the best way to go. Plastic and black don't play well together. Yeah, I know there are all kinds of plastic sabots for BP rifles but plastic shotgun wads tend to build up residue in the barrels pretty quickly. You got good information from the posters above. Enjoy it.
 
Thank y’all for the advice, I really appreciate. entropy, unfortunately RST has been out of stock on 20 gauge shells since at least the end of February/beginning of March.
damoc, could you post the tittles of those books for me?
 
There are several videos on YouTube about reloading BP shotshells. I haven’t watched all of them, and there may be some conflicting opinions in them, just like there are in the above responses. So you will eventually have to experiment with different techniques and procedures to find out what works best for you and your shotgun. It’s not work; it’s fun. When you hit a snag, post another question. As you can see, we are not shy about giving advice! :thumbup:
 
Don't use plastic wads - they melt. Yes, some of the guys seem to get away with it, but it's not worth the hassle of cleaning out the plastic from your barrel . If you stop and think, fiber wads and BP worked just great for over a 100 years. What if the plastic melts in your barrel with BP residue under it and you don't get it all cleaned out ? You get a rusty barrel that you can't see. I've been shooting BP in shotguns for over 50 years and have never used plastic wads. The gun will shot just fine with fiber wads as it was intended to do. Good luck.
 
There is no doubt that the shotgun will shoot just fine with fiber and cardboard wads, I just want a simple straight forward way to reload my hulls and I have a large quantity of plastic wads. So, lets think this through a bit. Smokeless burns faster and hotter than the holy black, why doesn't it melt the plastic wads into a stringy mess? No offense to those guys who say don't use plastic with bp. Obviously they have had a problem or heard of a problem doing so. I personally haven't had plastic residue left in my stuff from shooting smokeless or black powder.
 
Why it is so may be of academic interest, but that plastic shot cups with BP loads will burn, melt, and gum up your barrel is a fact. Ignore it at your peril.
 
Jackrabbit1957 said:
Been ignoring it for the last 30 years. Will continue ignoring it, at my own.. gasp.. peril.
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Have been using plastic hulls and plastic AA wads for SASS shooting for years 12 gauge "trap loads" are not very hot. I have a "life time supply" of once fired AA hulls, so only reload twice before they get too cooked People who load hotter may have enough heat to melt the wads, but in a coach gun with a modern shiny bore no melted plastic.
 
I'll have to add, at my own peril, that I shoot 100 grains of 1fg under a bunch of #4 shot, (12 gauge) with a plastic shot cup, and I have not had any melted plastic. I've only shot a few though, just enough to pattern the gun, (maybe two) and twice more to kill two turks. So...four shots...not really speaking from much experience.

I use plastic buffering compound in my buck-N-ball loads, without a shot-cup, and those have not left any strange or different fouling in the bore. I've only fired two of those. The ball flies pretty straight, but the "buck" (in my case .36" balls) go off into the next county, or the ozone, or outer space or something. Not sure where they go, but it's not straight.
 
I kinda wonder about these warnings from guys that say don't use plastic wads with bp. Is this something they've seen first hand or experienced, is it recent experience or decades old? I know plastics have come a long ways since being first introduced in shotgun shells. I don't discount these guys opinions I just would like to know what the conditions were that caused the problem and how recently it happened.
 
First off, BP burns hotter than smokeless. It's an explosive, nitro isn't. Second, yes I've seen first hand the plastic residue left from plastic wads. I'm not talking a couple of shots to sight something in, or for hunting. My friend and I were shooting a birthday event, he BP, me nitro. It was a 150 shots. After about a hundred his gun started kicking harder. A little latter there were wiggly worms growing out of the end of his barrels. You could hardly see down the barrels they were so full. It took him about two hours to clean the barrels on his old SxS. Now, this was about 20 years ago. Maybe plastic wads are using different compounds now where they don't melt so easily, but why take the chance. It seems like many of you guys are just looking for the easy way out. Oh, I don't like the patterns. Or oh, I don't like the trouble it takes to load fiber wads. They don't cost sh!!, you can still make or buy them, and, it's the traditional way of loading BP shells. :p
So yes, I've had first hand experience with plastic and BP. Been doing it since 1970.
 
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