[jcalamis33]

I'm new to reloading and I'm a little confused on the recipes, as there seems to be so many variations. I'm using Hodgdon's Lil'Gun powder, #9 shot, SG410 Sporting .410 wads, some old Winchester 209 primers I got from a friend, and my pre-fired Sterling Hulls.

Hodgdon's Small Bore manual shows the following recipes, all with Chiddit hulls, Ched209 primers, SG410 wads, and #9 shot:
1: 14 grns powder, 200 grns shot, 10,000 PSI, 1260 FPS
2: 11 grns powder, 218 grns shot, 8900 PSI, 1055 FPS
3: 16 grns powder, 170 grns sho, 9400 PSI, 1390 FPS

The bottle of Hodgdon's powder has the following recipes, same Ched209 primers and #9 shot, all for 218 grns (1/2oz) of shot, but different wads:
4: Fed460SC wads, 13 grns powder, 11,100 PSI, 1200 FPS
5: Fed460SC wads, 13.3 grns powder, 12,000 PSI, 1225 FPS
6: RemSP410 wads, 12.8 grns powder, 11,400 PSI, 1200 FPS
7: RemSP410 wads, 13.1 grns powder, 11,800 PSI, 1200 FPS

To play if safe, I opted for #6, but using my SG410 wads, I could not load more than 170 grns (3/8 oz) of shot rather than 1/2 oz. Is this a good load?

Any and all suggestions for a first-time reloader would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jcalamis33]

The larger the shot size the less a MEC bar will drop by weight because of more air space between each pellet, it just can not pack as tight.
Steve

Santa brought me a Lee Load-All 2 (I didn't want to push my wife for MEC). I bought 3d tools on ebay to load 410 and they work great. I bought a Lee perfect power measure. I kept adjusting the setting until I had a charge just under 13 grns. Once set, I dropped about 10 charges and weighed each, and there was no variations. I bought a 3d printed 1/2 oz shot bushing but as I mentioned, it was too much for the hull. I measured the shot by filling all the smaller powder bushings with shot and then measured what it held. The 110 powder bushing held exactly 3/8 of an ounce of shot. So I cut off the tab on the powder bushing, inserted it into the 1 oz shot bushing and it fit perfectly. I measured the drop of shot from the loader, and it came out exactly 3/8 of an ounce.

 

[jcalamis33]

You might be better off with the MG410 wad if you want a true 1/2 oz load.

I'll give it a try. Ballistic Products wants $20 for 500 wads, plus $12 for shipping. Can you suggest another online site? I'm in NY and we have nothing in the stores.