Now THIS is interesting... Ta Heck wit CCI...

[Old Ironsights]

Real Shotshells .357 "Gage"...
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthr ... post498841
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i finally got to a "roundtuit" & made some 357 shotshells from maximum cases:

1, 357 max cases annealed at the mouths to prevent spring back when sized ,i only use rcbs size lube.

2, size in 222rem. die as far as possible without hitting the shoulder area of die.

3, cut your cards with a formed case, regular 357 cards are too big. (i sacificed 1 unannealed case & drilled the primer hole out the size of a 16 penny nail with the point ground off then took a triangled file & cut some teeth on the rim & sharpened with a chamfer tool.
i spin these with a lee trim holder on a block of wood & a cordless drill .
note more than 10 cuts are harder to push out )

4, seat your cci400 small rifle primer & i dropped 3gr. of clays , pushed a card on top ( i take the nail head & pack it tight)

5, i weighed 145gr of #9 shot (thats almost 2x what factory holds!!)
cover with a card (pack & straighten the card with nail head) then seal with water proof carpenters glue. let glue dry24 hrs. or it will get smeared in the barrel. (don`t ask how i know!!)

6, these work in a GP length cyl. & shoot to POA at 20 ft. i shot both layers of a pizza box & the whole load hit it & penetrated soda cans (both sides) that were behind the box!! have not tried em in the 4" or 3 " yet!!!

i want to say that this method works in MY gun & i assume no liability for any BOO BOOs that may arise in your situation!!!

my opinion is that for close quarters of the crawling kind the pattern will not spread enuff!!! when it gets fast & close!!!!

& a THANKS to 357Maximum for pointing me in the rite direction for the forming die!!

FWIW... adding a single #B (.177 BB) to the top of the shot should open the pattern...

[O.S.O.K.]

Intersting.

I've made 45 Colt shot shells using gas checks - just push one down to a preset depth, fill with shot, put the other one on top and crimp into place.

Forget the charge but it was mild like that.

Worked great. Used #9 shot IIRC.

[Old Ironsights]

Try .454 brass.

I think this is the cool aspect here (and the duhhhh moment). If your gun will chamber the longer brass then you will have a better shotshell without resorting to a breakable plastic shot cup.

I think that may be what they are doing with the sizer... making sure the case will get over any step at the throat.

[O.S.O.K.]

That is true. I guess I stopped thinking about it after I tested then used my Ruger Bearcat with CCI shotshells on several snakes. DRT one shot.

Now, I understand the desirability of having shot loads in your revolver along with some standard loads, just that if a little tiny .22LR shotshell quanitity is enough, why worry about more?

I think the real gain is by going with #12 shot - which is kinda hard to find.

One victim of the Bearcat:

[Warhawk]

I've used gaschecks for this, but prefer the CCI shot capsules.

[JerryB]

Like O.S.O.K. says I have been making my own shot loads for my old Colt with .45 gas checks for a long time, read it in an article by Mike Venturino years ago. They work fine for me.I use the capsules for .357 and .44special loads.

[JustaJeepGuy]

Find a copy of the Krause publication, "Handguns 2001". There's an article on making shotshells for handguns. The author, Kirk Paradise, took .444 Marlin cases and cut them down for .45 Colt, and used .410 wads for the shot and windshield glue to seal them. They worked much better for him than the gas check type loads. He also mentions using .30-40 Krag cases for .44 Mag shotshells, also with the .410 wad, among other things.