16 gauge 2 1/2 shell source

bob welsh

bob welsh

Well-known member
Looking for some steel or other non tox duck loads for a A5 16 ga. with a 2 9/16 chamber. Been over the net and found some,but was hoping someone had personal experience with a brand. Traded some decoys for the gun. I could have the 2 3/4 conversion done but really not worth it for the cost. What do you boys use?
 
I just had the chamber lengthened in a 1950 era Husqvarna at Alhmans in Morristown MN. They are a large destination type gun store and gunsmith - cost $50.00. I believe to do it in a gun other than a S X S they charge $75.00. If you go to the Ahlmans site you will see their price list online.
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I would not shoot steel with that gun as there is chance you can ring the barrel. BPI books a 2.5 inch 16 gauge in ITX 3/4 oz shot at between 8300 psi and 6800 psi depending on powder.
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The handloading would not be that hard - cut the hulls to length and either roll crimp with a drill or get a brass sharp edge fold crimp tool and fold crimp.
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The old guns have very short forcing cones so the paper wads would stay sealed to barrel. Hence more felt recoil and potential pattern issues with plastic wads. Additionally (IMO) the ITX does perform better with the more open chokes. I bought the tools and reamers to lengthen the forcing cones and open my Husky to skeet II and IM patterning along the way to find patterns improved as we opened up the choke. My Francotte shoots ITX great but the gun is heavily over bored.
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Probably best solution is have chambers and forcing cones lengthened and shoot tungsten matrix loads.
 
Paul can you explain the roll crimp process. I have heard about it but not enough information. Hank, wow 75 bucks a box for nice shot.
 
RST shells are very good and very good people to deal with. I would recommend them if you want to shoot 2 1/2" non tox stuff, spending though. All their lead loads are very reasonable. I would not be afraid of shooting 2 3/4" shells, in a 2 9/16" chamber but your in the same boat it would be non tox and spendy. I wouldn't shoot modern fast steel through Belgium barrel unless is was choked fairly open. Your best bet is to find a Japanese barrel, and shoot what ever you wanted.
 
I wastold that the barrel chamber length is not the only modification to the a 5. The carrier must be adjusted to travel further back to allow for the added length of the crimp to eject from the port. Plus a couple of other internal mods that flew over my head in a short conversation with the smith. The mod is 200 bucks so not the end of the world. The idea of the rolled crimp reduces this extra length so if you open a shell and trim off a little and then reseat it then it could work. Ive never done it but Im sure somebody has,especially the likes of the crew on this site. Bob
 
That could be on a Auto 5, sometimes older 2 3/4 guns can be finicky on modern 2 3/4 shells. You still could buy a jap barrel and hand load 2 1/2" steel. On my 3" auto 5 I picked up a modified choked Belgium barrel for about $100 and shoot steel out of it. The original barrel was full choke and I didn't want to risk it.
 
I've loaded Nice Shot and you can use lead load data. It's great stuff to work with but that $75 a box price is almost what it cost me to load it. I'm thinking about ITX.
I bought a roll crimp tool at Strongsville last year for $10.
Reloading is a lot of fun!! John
 
Bob, Sell The Gun!

Seriously if you don't think $200 is worth turning her into a shooter you sure as heck aren't going to like spending the big bucks for ammo to shoot 2.5 shells. Setting up to reload 2.5 shells and developing the loads to shoot are going to cost you some hard earned cash. So my opinion (worth every cent your paying for it) is to either sell the A5 as is or spend the bucks to modify it, including opening the choke to either IC or a lite-Mod, to allow you to shoot standard modern 16 ga ammo. You will be able to afford to practice with it, have the flexibility to buy ammo by the box for different shot sizes or different game, buy ammo on hunting trips, and be able to take advantage of sales on 16 ga ammo. You will end up with a true back - up gun for about everything but geese.

Scott
 
Roll crimping is an easy process. It takes a special tool that cost about $25. As the tool spins, it heats the plastic hull with friction, and downward pressure is applied, causing the edge to roll over. An overshot card is first placed on top of the shot before the roll is applied to create a seal. I use a rubber stamp to imprint the shot size on the the overshot card. I bought primed 2 1/2" Fiouchi hulls, overshot cards and the roll crimp tool from Shooter Specialties. They also sell a handy quick release vice to hold the hull in the drill press. I love shooting these loads in my 1923 German 16 ga, SxS. They look classy too.
 
Hi Bob,
Be sure to take a look at the shells offered by Polywad. I noticed they offered a couple of loads in 16 ga., 2 1/2 shells. I'm not sure what they offer for non-tox, but you might want to check them out.

Eric
 
I was on the 16ga.society website and had a lot of discussion about this topic. Its an informative site. One post told to try the new 2 3/4 remington game load, the cheap black shell, in lead. Ran a bunch through, they cycled fine.
 
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