doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 9mm center fire shotshell source?

Hi there,

I have a old Spanish hammer gun in 9mm.
As told Fiocchi has them, or use to have them, as well some other Italian makers.
I recently got a couple of boxes from Rio, maybe you can get them in the US.

You can look at cartridge dimensions here:
http://stevespages.com/page8d.htm

The 38 Special looks promising as does the 38 Long Colt. The real issue may become the base.

The other alternative is to have a chamber insert made up.
http://www.mcace.com/shotguninserts.htm

Ace made an insert for my drilling 9.3x82r so I could fire 22 hornet in it. SAAMI spec for the 22 hornet is 25,000 CUP. You have to call him on a Sunday morning to speak directly with him.

Pete

Don't know if they're available in Portugal, but Speer makes capsules for loading 38 Special shot shells.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=313962

Have you checked MagTech. I seem to recall that at one time at least they listed the 9.1x40, but coul be wrong, might have been something else. I do remember they had brass for some small shotshell. Worth a look at this would appear to be ideal.

MagTech 9.1 berdan primed brass was available from Graf's. Since they changed to LP primed cases they have not listed the 9.1. They are however listed on the MagTech site as for LP
Cheers,
Laurie

Mike, Thanks. This info is helpful.
Mike

Laurie, Thanks!
I will order some brass today! It sounds like the best way to go.
I may also try to make up some shells using the .357 max case.

Mike

No-one makes .360 centrefire shotgun cartridges any more to my knowledge. They are very much collectors items. There was the .360 No.5 Rook Rifle and .380 Rook Rifle rounds that were made in shot versions; I have some in my collection but they will be about 100 years old.

What make is the gun? And what do the proof marks say? This could be a rare and valuable item. If it is .360 shotgun, I would suspect that it is likely to have been black powder proofed only. All the bolt action ones like the Webley were for the 9mm. rimfire also called the No.3 bore Garden Gun. Fiocchi and Hirtenberger are about the only people who make them any more. Any newish Eley 9mm. stuff is likely to be by Fiocchi.

I suspect it should be easy to make ammo for it by sizing down some sort of pistol case. Photos of proof marks may help to solve the mystery. Lagopus.....

Mike
In the good old days� before the all wise British Government banned pistols (now only the criminals have pistols) I had a 357 Ruger blackhawk with 8� barrels. I actually had authorisation to use it for shooting pests with shot. I understand shotshells were available in the States but over here I could never get them. I used 357 cases rather than 38sp as you could get a little more shot in. Even then it was probably only � that of a 9mm garden gun � so it was a very light load. It was Ok on the rats to 10yrds. I used No9 shot as that was the smallest I could get � the little .22 dust shot is around No12 I understand. I used beer mats to cut the driving wad from � again to save space and a thin card to hold the shot in. I sealed it with either silicone or sealing wax. I understand that in the states you can get domed plastic caps to increase the capacity a little.
I cut down on the powder from a bullet load � as that takes up a great deal of the case capacity � I can�t remember now how much I put in but it was probably half.
I am sure with the thin wad and reduced powder you will have very low pressure and the 357 is going to be shorter than 1 � � so it will be a light load for the gun.
I just looked at an old 38 case and it looks like it is .376 � so that is just a little slack but you do need to be able to drop it in easily. I would guess � if you use brass � it will fire form to the chamber � the worst that can happen is the case splits and you loose pressure. The internal measurement was around .336 so ideal match for the bore.
If the rim is a reasonable fit then I would go for � experiment a little and have fun but don�t hold us responsible for the advice!!
John

I would try the 357 Maximum case and the speer shot capsules, should be about right with the capsule not seated very far into the case, seat to correct overall length of about 1.75"
Mike

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=313962

http://www.speer-bullets.com/products/components/empty_shot_capsules.aspx