I bought a box of of 25rds of 2.5" .410 birdshot for about $9, and some .375" steel shot, 75 pellets for about $3. I did the math and they are about 57 grains each (compared to about 83 grains for lead - the steel ones are about 70% as dense). I cut about one millimeter off the tips of all the shells (just below the folded part, and just above the shot cop). I could stuff three pellets into each shot cup, and they feel like they were made to go in there. I have a 100lb magnet and I couldn't pull the steel pellet out with that, so I figure its good. They don't rattle or move at all. The shot cup should keep the pellets from contacting the barrel (as it is supposed to with the birdshot), so I am not too worried about that.
The shells normally fired a half ounce of shot at 1275fps, for about 780 ft-lbs of energy. Half an ounce is 218 grains. Three of these .375" pellets are a total of about 170 grains. The same powder load will yield the same muzzle energy, which means velocity will increase to about 1450fps. At the same velocity, the lower density shot should penetrate proportionally to its mass. 20+" of penetration with lead shot would thus mean about 14" of penetration with steel. With the increased velocity, however, penetration should again rise a bit. I am going to go test them out in the next few days.
I am contemplating putting a few drops of wax, or perhaps hot glue, just to make sure the pellets cant come out or water can't get in.
I just cut open one of the Winchester buckshot shells and the pellets are actually loose inside shell, with the only thing keepng them from wiggling is a tight end fold. In my "loads," the pellets are perfectly in line and are held in place individually by the shot cup, and not by simply "holding" them in only on both ends of the shot column. If you are worried about how tightly they are held in the shell causing potential overpressure, I can assure you that the force required to push the pellet out of of the factory shell is greater than would be required to push them out of my own buckshot shell.
At this point the only thing I have any real concerns about is the steel pellets "wearing" through the shot cup before they leave the barrel, both leaving fragments of plastic in the barrel and potentially scarring the barrel.
You may end up with a "blooper" because now there's nothing to hold the shot\wad in the case long enough for the pressure to build properly. When this happens, the wad is usually stuck in the barrel and the next shot can spell disaster in the form of a bulged or blown barrel.
Hmm. Valid concerns, of course. Though, the wadding is part of the shot cup. I really don't see how the pellets could exit the barrel at any reasonable velocity and leave the shot cup remaining stuck in the barrel.
However, I plan to fire all twenty-five of these shells one at a time. I'll load it through the port, fire it (at a target), remove the barrel and inspect, then repeat if it looks ok.
Sell33, the reason I am doing these tests now so if I am forced to consider them in the future Ill know if they work or not. And, if it works Ill be able to stock up on buckshot ammo for a third of the price.
Welp, I tested them out. No problems at all. I first tried them one at a time, and in the last 10 or so rounds I ran through them like normal. I found that they are actually quite accurate, as I was able to pretty consistantly hit 3" x 6" pieces of steel at ~30 yards (with at least one pellet, sometimes two). Shooting them into the river about 75 yards away, I could see that they would hold a roughly 4' pattern or so.
When I was packing them up before we left the house, a pellet fell out of one of the shells. I think it was one that I didn't shove in all the way, as after I pushed it in I couldnt get it to come back out at all. However, in the future I will probably wax or superglue (because superglue is brittle) the last pellet in).
I am not advocating anyone to experiment or anything, just thought I'd let you guys know how it went.
I'd like to add that I did find there was a good bit of unburnt powder left in the barrel after each of these "handloads" were fired. I'd imagine this is due to the load exiting the barrel in a shorter time than the powder is designed for, meaning after the pressure was lost the remaining powder grains failed to ignite.
When I start reloading I will probably use quicker-burning powders to compensate for this.
Found an interesting thread from several years ago on another forum about people trying or reporting the same types of things I did: View topic - 410 slugs
