450B Shotshells on the Proving Grounds

[pitted bore]

Can you fit larger pellets in the capsule? . . .

. . . What are the internal dimensions of those capsules?

Hoot & bigboreshooter-

Speer .45 Colt Shot Capsules
Approximate internal dimensions in inches. (The molded plastic varies somewhat, so the following may be +/- 0.003 or so.)

• Capsule internal length: approx. 0.985
• Internal diameter: 0.392
• Length of wad-stopper intrusion into capsule: approx. 0.21
• Internal cup depth of wad-stopper: approx. 0.17

Buckshot size 00 has a nominal diameter of 0.33 in, 000 is 0.36, and 0000 is 0.38
Buckshot size 00 weighs about 54 grains, 000 about 70 grains, and 0000 about 85 grains.

So, you could get a couple buckshot into the capsule, with some rattle room depending on which size of buckshot you selected. Internal capsule length with 0000 might be tight; perhaps some judicious whittling on the wad-stopper might make it possible.

This thread is probably NOT the place to discuss the possible terminal ballistics of buckshot-filled capsules.

Hoot properly questions the likelihood of feeding problems. Wildcatter wrote that he can get about 80% reliability of feeding of empty brass; this may approximate the rate for cartridges with the flat-nosed capsule. (This failure rate is possibly acceptable if you're defending your home against maurading raccoons in the garbage cans, but - my opinion- not acceptable for rabid raccoons or skunks.

Perhaps feeding could be improved with pointy-ended capsules. Could it be that there's an opening for a cottage industry of molding pointy shot capsules, or molding nose caps to be super-glued onto Speer capsules? I recall that the US Army issued 45-70 ctgs with a wood capsule of shot (for those soldiers who wanted to go prairie chicken hunting on the plains between bouts of excitement with the natives?)

I'm not sure at what point between about 8 feet and 12 feet the shot really leaves the capsule, nor the mechanics of that event. The blue capsule doesn't shatter, because it poked holes in the front and back sides of the corrugated cardboard box holding the patterning paper.

--Bob

[bigboreshooter]

maybe the tip on the remington round would fit on the end of the capsule.

[pitted bore]

maybe the tip on the remington round would fit on the end of the capsule.

bbs-
That's an interesting idea, but a first guess says it probably won't work for a couple of reasons;

Here's a side-by-side photo of the two:
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Speer shot capsule & Remington factory cartridge

twotips2.jpg (77.63 KiB) Viewed 7989 times

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The capsule at the blunt end is 0.446" dia. The Remington plastic tip at its greatest diameter is 0.412". Here are a couple of photos showing this:
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Forward end of Speer shot capsule

blutip.jpg (42.55 KiB) Viewed 7989 times

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Forward end of Remington bullet in factory cartridge

grntip.jpg (51.61 KiB) Viewed 7989 times

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If you sawed off the Rem plastic tip and glued it on to the blunt end of the Speer capsule, there would be a flat shelf created with a width of 0.017" around the periphery of the tip. I don't know whether that shelf would be sufficient to cause feeding difficulties.

A second problem is that destroying the Rem bullet is a pretty expensive solution to the problem. Somewhere there should be a widget that would fit properly - like perhaps the end of a fat ballpoint pen.

--Bob

[Hoot]

Still an interesting and colorful idea. Too bad about the diameter difference. Definitely would turn some heads at the range. If you were really set on it, you probably could turn that edge off or angle it to match the pitch of the tip.

Hoot

[bushmeister]

CCI makes a rounded nose capsule for the .40, but the .45 is cylindrical. CCI's literature states the capsule breaks on the rifling.. I wonder if the case is scored by the rifling, but the centrifugal force of the pellets is kept in check by the barrel, until the capsule leaves? Since the twist rate of our barrel is less than the 1 in 16 of the 45 acp,it may hold together a little longer than what is reported on the 45acp? As a side note, both sites mention not to use capsules on guns with recoil compensators, so that might be where the ricochet warnings originated from.

[Texas Sheepdawg]

While all this is fun to play with, I still have concerns about the gas block hole collecting debris and throwing it back into the carrier key. I think for now, I will just keep a sidearm with a clip full of 45ACP, 38SP, or 9mm snake shot handy to dispatch any slithering serpents I might happen upon, and save the 450 Bushmaster for the big boys.