Reloading 9mm Shotshells

[MadPick]

All right, I loaded up some more 9mm (with less crimp) for the LCR, and also some .38 Special for the Taurus 85. Both calibers have the same load, 5.5 grains of Unique and an OAL of 1.5".





Which one looks more reliable? Which one looks more fun to experiment with?

BTW, each cartridge has about 570 #12 pellets in it.

[Guntrader]

I'd go bigger than #12. Doubt that would go very far into a jello cup.
Maybe 8-9, #9 is 4 times larger (pellets per ounce) than #12 and is still pretty small.

[hartcreek]

I use those same Speer capsuls but I cut them down for .38 S&W and 9mm and load with #8 shot. I have only had to use ones that I loaded for .38 Special and they did the trick on a rattle snake. I also load those capsuls with white rice for shooting packrats indoors. You can kill the packrat and not put a hole in anything else. Rocksalt also works.

[MadPick]

I use those same Speer capsuls but I cut them down for .38 S&W and 9mm and load with #8 shot. I have only had to use ones that I loaded for .38 Special and they did the trick on a rattle snake. I also load those capsuls with white rice for shooting packrats indoors. You can kill the packrat and not put a hole in anything else. Rocksalt also works.

Very interesting . . . thanks for sharing.

[sportsdad60]

Nice range report, Steve! Thanks!

[beckdw]

That orange target is about the size of an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper.

Yeah, it wouldn't do much at 20 feet . . . but then, I don't think I need it to. This would be for a snake at my feet, pretty much.

With that spread I hope you can make your feet REAL small!

[MadPick]

I tried trap shooting with these today, using the .38 Special loads and my Taurus 85 snubnose. Ok, by "trap shooting" I mean that usrifle was flipping up clay pigeons by hand right in front of me.

I blew one of them apart nicely. The rest seemed pretty safe from my sharpshooting.

When usrifle tried it, a couple of the shotshells came apart in the cylinder, presumably from recoil of adjacent shells. That was a little disappointing, as I thought the .38 shells would hold up better than the 9mm.

[Pablo]

When usrifle tried it, a couple of the shotshells came apart in the cylinder, presumably from recoil of adjacent shells.

Probably not much recoil absorbed in his wrists.

[usrifle]

When usrifle tried it, a couple of the shotshells came apart in the cylinder, presumably from recoil of adjacent shells.

Probably not much recoil absorbed in his wrists.

Damn right, mine aren't "limp". But to Steve's Credit, he did hit one of the Pigeons.

They were nice looking shotshells, maybe it needed more Crimp?

[MadPick]

They were nice looking shotshells, maybe it needed more Crimp?

Yeah, maybe.

After having one of the 9mm shotshells break off at the case mouth, I was going easy on the crimp. But maybe with the .38, a little more crimp would be better.

[Sinus211]

Is it breaking a lot more often with the 9mm than the 38spl? It just seems like a lot of the pill (shotshell case) is unsupported by the brass with the 9mm. That much unsupported weight outside the case seems like it would be more prone to breaking. Maybe you could find a shorter pill to load in the 9mm cases so it's not sticking out quite so far from the brass? Or just trim some material off the pills you have to make them shorter?

[MadPick]

Is it breaking a lot more often with the 9mm than the 38spl? It just seems like a lot of the pill (shotshell case) is unsupported by the brass with the 9mm. That much unsupported weight outside the case seems like it would be more prone to breaking. Maybe you could find a shorter pill to load in the 9mm cases so it's not sticking out quite so far from the brass? Or just trim some material off the pills you have to make them shorter?

The 9mm broke at the case mouth. With the .38 today, we had a couple where the blue container just pulled out of the case. That's why I think a little more crimp would help on the .38, but on the 9mm it's a balancing act because as you say there's a lot of weight hanging out the front.

[MadPick]

Hmmm, I wonder if there's any caliber that would work in the 9mm revolver with a longer case . . . like .38 Super, or something like that?

[usrifle]

Hmmm, I wonder if there's any caliber that would work in the 9mm revolver with a longer case . . . like .38 Super, or something like that?

I Have some .38 Super cases...

[Yondering]

Is it breaking a lot more often with the 9mm than the 38spl? It just seems like a lot of the pill (shotshell case) is unsupported by the brass with the 9mm. That much unsupported weight outside the case seems like it would be more prone to breaking. Maybe you could find a shorter pill to load in the 9mm cases so it's not sticking out quite so far from the brass? Or just trim some material off the pills you have to make them shorter?

The 9mm broke at the case mouth. With the .38 today, we had a couple where the blue container just pulled out of the case. That's why I think a little more crimp would help on the .38, but on the 9mm it's a balancing act because as you say there's a lot of weight hanging out the front.

Have you tried gluing the shot capsules in place instead of crimping? That should help that particular issue.