15ga and 410 loads?

[Troyfairweather]

I have a Hopkins and Allen underhammer that has a round 15ga barrel. What would be a good starting load, and I have a Belgium made 410ga I am thinking of starting with 30 grains and the same volume shot. I use pyrodex since I live in New york, I have #6 and 7 1\2 shot. I'd like to hunt with these. Any help is appreciated thanks. Troy.

 

[Griz44Mag]

As a general rule of thumb, those much more learned than I, have always recommended for long guns to start with number of grains equal to the bore (in inches).
That said, if it were my gun, I would start with 45 grains of powder.

 

[Carbon 6]

Lee reloading's powder dipper set contains data for both blackpowder and pyrodex. the same dipper can be used as a shot scoop to create a "square load" or a volumetrically balanced load..

A volumetrically balanced load will give you a velocity of 1000 to 1050 fps regardless of shot size or shot charge used.

Imo, the .410 will range between 1/2 and 3/4 of an ounce of shot and the 15 guage between 3/4 and 1 1/8 ounces of shot.

Suggested reading.
http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/shotgun.html

 

[Zonie]

Here's a link given elsewhere on the forum that shows Goex's recommended shotgun loads. It is a pdf file so you will need to have an app that can read that format.
https://goexpowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/mlss.pdf

Here's a link to another place on the forum that shows the weight of shot that will be contained in an adjustable (or fixed) powder measure when it is set at different powder loads.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/powder-measure-shot-loads-chart.21119/

and, here's a link to a list of metallic cartridge cases that could be used to measure out various powder loads:

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/black-powder-measures-from-cartridges.58311/

Combining the information, a .45 Colt cartridge case will throw about 41 grains of powder and about 5/8 oz of shot. Perfect for the .410.

A powder measure for a 70 grain powder load will throw about 1 oz of shot. This is right in the ball park for the recommended 16 guage shotgun both in shot weight and in the amount of powder the gun would like.

Note that both of these are right in the area of the loads suggested by Carbon 6.

 

[Troyfairweather]

Lee reloading's powder dipper set contains data for both blackpowder and pyrodex. the same dipper can be used as a shot scoop to create a "square load" or a volumetrically balanced load..

A volumetrically balanced load will give you a velocity of 1000 to 1050 fps regardless of shot size or shot charge used.

Imo, the .410 will range between 1/2 and 3/4 of an ounce of shot and the 15 guage between 3/4 and 1 1/8 ounces of shot.

Suggested reading.
http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/shotgun.html

Thanks I have the dipper and use them often, I have a nice antique shot/dipper to.