Admittedly, I am not an ammo epidemiologist, but what say thee in how it relates to shot ammo? I've read and heard differing opinions as to whether it is OK or not OK to shoot shot loads through our revolvers. One forum member who I bought a nice revolver from, indicated that he would NEVER shoot shot through his revolvers. Tried it once and the plastic shot cap gummed up the cylinder and made it unusable for subsequent shots.....So, what say thee?

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"You're messin' up my Zen"

Shot a cotton rat with .22 shot out of a model 63 yesterday.
Just have to get close (few feet) to be effective. Does not harm the revolver.

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Science plus Art

Well I have used some comercial shells and just have not found that to be a problem. That being said I launched an effort to make my own, in one fashion or the other. Here are a few of my efforts so far.

some in .45


some in 32/20


some in 38S&W


a few more in .38spcial.

Personally, when I chose a Revolver to shoot shotloads out of, I opted for one that was designed with shotloads in mind.



Seriously though, if you want a Revolver for shotloads, you may want to consider the Taurus Judge or Smith & Wesson Governor. They're both designed to chamber .410 Shotshells, which obviously have a substantially larger payload than any shotshell loaded for a conventional Revolver, plus being chambered for .45 Long Colt also makes them viable for larger threats as well.

Attached Images

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

Understood, but I now have a Uberti .45lc and would love to toss some shot loads in it.........that is the impetus for the question.

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"You're messin' up my Zen"

I also have made some for my 5" Ruger in .45Colt.

Shoot them with no worries. I've never had any shot shells with plastic capsules "gum up" anything. I've also shot crimped brass shot loads.

It's not like you are going to be shooting hundreds of them at a time anyway, I shoot maybe 10 a year at rattlers.
I use them in .22 LR, .22 Magnum, .45 ACP and .45 Colt.
Even the .22 LR ones will mess up a snakes head at 4 feet.

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U. S. Army Veteran

Ah, I see. Well, I've never read about any issues firing shotshells out of a Revolver, only Semiautomatics, and only because they didn't have enough oomph to cycle the action reliably, so you should be fine with just about anything.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

I've used shot loads for years without any issues.

I use pre-made shot capsules over BE in the 38 Special and I make 41 Magnum shot loads out of 30/30 brass. For the 45 ACP, I start with 308 Winchester cases. When growing up, they were de rigueur in our .22 rifles when out on vermin patrol or just strolling the country side. Later on, as an LEO, I carried a couple of revolver snake loads on my Sam Brown for the odd little emergency that didn't need a HP projectile.

When we were still issued the 1911A1 pistol, I always took a magazine of shot loads with me to SE Asia and to Central America for the odd viper that needed to see the Promised Land. My 45 shot loads function without fail, so with a 1911, you've got a handful of insurance.

I always wanted to make a shot load revolver with a smoothbore barrel for better patterns, but that is distinctly illegal as I understand it. Thompson Center used to make a 357 barrel for their single shot pistol that had a screw in choke that had a reverse cone to the rifling twist in order to take away the centrifugal force for the spinning imparted from the rifling.

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Keep your powder dry.

I've used shot loads in .38 and .45 colt on occasion with no problems. A couple of years ago I bought a box of 50 of the CCI capsules and started loading my own. Should be enough to last me the rest of my life.

I've loaded the shot cups in 38's, 44's, and 45 Colt and never had any issue with them.

Other than for a small bird or a small snake at close range, shot has never thrilled me enough to actually rely on. While I have shot a few over the years, I haven't fired enough of them to clog anything up. As long as the gun is properly cleaned afterwards and you aren't shooting hundreds of them, I doubt plastic build up is a major concern. Try a few and check the charge holes in the cylinder before shooting more.

The responses are much appreciated and reassuring, thanks to all who chimed in.

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"You're messin' up my Zen"

I can testify to the effectiveness of JR Weems cartridges.....great job!
No damage possible in a revolver.....don't need to buy a .410 revolver, just use my existing S&W M15, M66 etc.

.22 birdshot does a great job on mice

Randy

While I am no expert and don't claim to be, I have been shooting and loading shot loads for 40 years in 22, 38, 357, and 44. I have used plastic capsules, crimped, small lead plugs, lead round balls, cardboard, and even plastic as cartridge caps to contain the shot. I have also loaded shot sized from 00 to #12 and mixed them as "duplex" loads. I would not hesitate to shoot any and all of these in any of my modern (50+ year old) revolvers.

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"Tastes just like chicken"

I shoot 100's of homemade shot loads through my .38 spl's every spring at carpenter bees. No problems.

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S&W Accumulator

This caught my eye. Which reg does a smoothbore revolver run afoul of? Is is considered a short barreled shotgun if too short?

Just curious. Does it behove us to never wear the rifling down to smooth?

Henry makes(made) a smooth bore .22 rifle called the garden gun.......In the past Remington did too.

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S&W Accumulator