44 mag shotshell ??
I have a bunch of 44 mag shotshell reloads, Some have 11grs. of unique and some have 18.5 grs of 4227. to long to fit in the revolver and I do not have a contender nor does anybody in my circle. It was told to me that I could possibly shoot these out of a 410 ga shotgun (believe 1/3 of what you here etc...). The 44 mag case mic .450 approx and the 410 was approx .470. Is this possible If not, without making smart**** remarks, explain to me( you can teach a old dog, if it is willing to learn) so I can set straight the one that told me. I do not reload so I am not sure how much pressure these particular set ups will create. I thank you for your time and knowledge.
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Been shooting a 44 mag for years. Must say never heard of it.
Try doing a google search for hits.0 -
T/C Contenders are (or were) chambered to accept both .410 and .45 Colt, NOT .44 Magnum. They might go off in a .410 chamber, and pressures shouldn't be high, but I would be concerned about gases coming back in your face with all that space between the chamber walls and the brass.
DON'T DO IT!
The charges you mention also seem high to me, but it's been years since I reloaded mine, so I'll let someone else comment on that.
I would add that my experince with shot shells; .22 Mag., .45 ACP and .44 Mag. is none are worth squat beyond about 12 feet.0 -
The first rule that would violate is: NEVER SHOOT SOMEONE ELSE'S RELOADS.
The second rule that would violate is: NEVER FIRE AMMUNITION IN A GUN THAT IT WAS NOT INTENDED FOR. You didn't give us the weight of the shot, but 11 grs of Unique is max for some .44 mag loadings. Without knowing the weight, a prudent person would assume that there is high probability that firing these rounds in a shotgun could lead to catastrophic, possibly lethal, failure.
I go with Rob on this one.
Neal0 -
I agree that those charges seem pretty high for shotshell 44's. Unlikely it would damage a 44 mag but performance would be worthless. Best would be to salvage the primed cases. 0 -
First off, I would follow Neal's advice, and not use other's reloads, especially of which someone, you do not know. There are only a couple very scrupulous friends of whom load on the level of which I do, and that I would trust.
The loads of which you speak of that are to long for a 44 Magnum revolver, could be a couple diffrent things. One for the Marbles Game Getter, or for the Thompson Center Contender. Yes, Thompson Center DID make a 44 Magnum barrel for the Contender that would shoot shot capsulls, that were longer than what would fit into a revolver. This was the 44 Hot Shot, and it had an external choke that was internally straight fluted to stop the shot from spinning. You could remove the choke, and shoot regular 44 Magnum rounds thru it. Coincidentally, the 45 Colt/410 barrels had an internal choke tube for this function, but you never want to shoot a regular 45 Colt with them in.
So, Yes TC did make a 44 shot barrel, and that is what I presume these loads you have are most likely for, but can not be sure without seeing a picture of them.
Finally to answer your question, NO do not shoot anything else but a 410 shot shell or slug in a 410...EVER. The bore of a 410 is 0.410, and a 45 Colt is 0.452, and a 44 mag is 0.4295 inches. I do realize this is shot, but the pressures are most like 300-400% higher than what your 410 was designed for.
Best0 -
Besides the .45/.410 Contender, there was a 44 Mag Hotshot. I have a couple of rounds in my cartridge collection. BIG plastic shot capsule.
As far as a reason not to fire them in a .410, because the SAAMI website, under unsafe ammo combinations, lists ANY handgun or rifle cartridge in a .410 as being unsafe. The pressures of .44 Mag and .410 are a bit different.
CAN you fire them? Sure. At least once. But as Dirty Harry said- "You have to ask yourself- Do I feel lucky?"
Me- I am a cautious man. I only shoot reloads from a commercial reloader, my own, or from someone I share DNA with.0
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