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CHAPTER TWO

THE 410 CARTRIDGE

One way of researching the origins of the 410 shotgun is to review the history of the 410 cartridge. The cartridge may have germinated from the old 44-40 caliber rifle cartridge used famously in the Winchester Model 1873, the Winchester Model 1892 lever action, and the Marlin Model 1894 lever action rifles. The very rare Colt Model Ring Lever used the caliber in 1837, as did the somewhat more common Colt-Burgess Lever in 1883. The Remington Sporting Rifle, beginning in 1888, and the Remington Rolling Block Carbine of 1892 both used the 44-40 cartridge.

Jack O’Connor argued the 410 smoothbore cartridges evolved in America from the 44 XL that were “shot shells in rifle cases” and used for small game [1].

The 410-bore diameter is .410 inch or 10.414 millimeters, and therefore, differs from all other gauges in its nomenclature. Gauges 4 through 32 are derived from the number of pure lead balls fitting a given diameter, whose total weight equals one pound. According to Boothroyd, this comes from the days of muzzleloading artillery when the size of a gun was measured not by its internal diameter but by the weight of the spherical shot [2]. For example, 12 balls for the 12 bore equals one pound and 28 balls for the 28 bore equals one pound. In this normative classification, the 410 bore is a 67 gauge, very much smaller than the next larger gauge, the 36 (.506 inch). The 12 bore has a .729-inch diameter and the 28 bore a .550-inch diameter or approximately 14 millimeters. The British Proof Houses accept as the 410 gauge a bore internal diameter varying from .405 to .415 inch.

Photo 1: E.J. Churchill 36-gauge smoothbore, SN 4964, a 1934 gun with heavy but worn engraving.

Paul Goodwin photo

Photo 2: E.M. Reilly 36-gauge smoothbore, SN 23746, black-powder proofed, a pre-1900 back action.

Paul Goodwin photo

Photo 4: 36-gauge centerfire cartridges, circa 1890-1910.

Tom Grange photo

Photo 5: 9-millimeter (#3) rim-fire shell shot cartridges, circa 1900-1910.

Tom Grange photo

It should be noted that an even smaller smooth“bore”, the very rare “36-gauge” smoothbore, was in fact a .36-inch (9.14-millimeter) gun, smaller than the 410. Churchill built such a centerfire gun, as did Bland, E.M. Reilly, and Greener on a very rare occasion for the small bird collector (Photos 1-3). Also pictured is a group of .36-inch centerfire cartridges, circa 1890 (Photo 4). These cartridges were 1 3/4-inch length with 3/16-ounce shot propelled by black or smokeless powder.

In 1967, Webley & Scott had built a “No. 3-bore garden gun” in 9-millimeter caliber, which shot a rimfire cartridge (Photo 5). Rimfire .36-inch cartridges were first available in 1890 for handguns for pest control. In America, the Winchester Model 36, made from 1920 to 1924, was a rimfire 9-millimeter bolt-action smoothbore for pest control (see Webley & Scott chapter).

Crudgington & Baker document a 12-millimeter blackpowder walking stick gun patented in 1876, which may have been made at that time [3]. However, the first reference to a 12-millimeter cartridge is in 1886 as indicated below.

In Geoffrey Boothroyd’s resume of the four cartridge types historically known—centerfire, pinfire, rimfire, and basefire— only the first two were ever produced for 410 shell shot [4]. The knowledge that pinfire 410 cartridges exist does not imply that the gauge existed in the mid-1800s when the pinfire shotgun was first developed in England and Europe. In fact, the pinfire gun was in common use into the early 1900s, especially in southern Europe (Spain, Italy, Greece, etc.). These included a rare 410 (see Interesting Types chapter). There is no evidence for the existence of a British 410-gauge pinfire shotgun.

The pinfire 410 cartridge, along with the .36-inch shotshell seems to have disappeared in both Great Britain and Europe after World War I as a catalog item. However, there is evidence that it continued in use up until World War II, at least in Italy, and was manufactured by local European firms.

England

Tom Grange of Bourne, England, an authority on the British cartridge, has unearthed a box of short 7/8-inch shotshell 410 cartridges which may be of “just after” 1880 vintage [5] (Photo 6). These were intended for a smoothbore 410 handgun.

Peter McGowan and Jim Buchanan, two other well-known British cartridge collectors, assisted this writer in researching British cartridge catalogs. This proved to be both fascinating and helpful in establishing the temporal origins and evolution of the 410 cartridge.

The Kynoch and Eley Brothers posters, boards, and catalogs of the 1860s and 1870s do not mention the 410-gauge cartridge. With the help of C.W. Harding, the Birmingham Proof House historian and archivist, two 1880’s references were unearthed [6]. In a June 1882 advertisement, a 410-shotgun cartridge is listed for use in Rook rifles. Described as “Perfect” and “Gastight”, it is a 2-inch cartridge with black powder loading.

Photo 3: These Reilly (top) & Churchill (bottom) 36-gauge guns make a unique pair.

Paul Goodwin photo

Photo 6: Very short (7/8-inch) 410 shot cartridges.

Tom Grange photo

Photo 7: Eley pinfire cartridges, circa 1885.

Cameo photo

Photo 8: “Crimped” all brass Eley cartridges of the late 1920s. According to Tom Grange, a British cartridge specialist, crimping was not used in Great Britain on paper cartridges until after World War II.

Cameo photo

An 1884 catalog lists a “Perfect cartridge, which includes the gauge .410”.

In the European cartridge literature, a French catalog from 1886, Societe Francais de Munitions, describes a 12-millimeter shotshell. The 12 mm is slightly larger than the .410-inch caliber but has been considered the European equivalent of the British-American 410 gauge. (I have safely shot 410 cartridges through several 12-millimeter smoothbores; however, before anyone else does so, a gunsmith should verify the safety of each 12-millimeter smoothbore for the 410 cartridge.)

The 410 cartridge appears in magazine advertisements as early as 1882 in the Shooting Times and The Field. An Eley green, gas-tight, 2-inch 410 cartridge of 1885 confirms this gauge’s production in England in appreciable numbers by the mid-1880s. A packet of ten green pinfire 410 shell shot casings produced in 1885 further supports the 410 gauge production in this configuration (Photo 7).

An F. Joyce catalog of 1891 lists a 410-revolver cartridge that may have been a shotshell. The 1891 Kynoch catalog lists the 410 and the 12-millimeter cartridge “for rook rifles”; yet they are loaded with 3/8-ounce shot, clearly shotshell cartridges. The 2-inch cases are described either as “Gastight” in maroon or green, or as 12-millimeter Solid Thin Brass cartridges, re-loadable “100” times.

The 1892 Eley Brothers catalog describes a green Extra Quality Gastight, 2-inch, 3/8-ounce, 410 cartridge and a similar pinfire 410 cartridge. The 1893 Eley Brothers catalog includes a Solid Drawn Brass 410. An 1897 Kynoch catalog duplicates its 1891 literature.

Eley Brothers catalogs of 1896 and 1901 offer 410 shotgun cartridges with either “Extra Quality” green paper or brass.

Notwithstanding the 1880s and 1990s catalog information regarding the 410 cartridge, a major compendium of experiments with gunpowders and cartridges of the last two decades of the 19th century does not reveal a single 410 study [7]. The data had been published in scientific journals and then summarized in The Field, the definitive gun publication of the 19th and early 20th century. They detailed all bores from 4 through 32, but contained not a word about the 410.

There is a particularly interesting set of ballistic studies published in 1885 regarding the “bursting of small—bore guns” causing a “great amount of mischief.” Small-bore barrels were made thinner and did not stand up despite a corresponding reduction in powder charge. This is now a well-understood aspect of ballistic physics. Then, experimental trial and error discovered that with the smaller bore diameter, the tons of pressure per square inch inside the barrel is greater than in a larger bore (despite a sharp reduction in drams of powder), ranging from 1 to 5 tons per square inch.

Returning to the cartridge study, an 1898-99 Kynoch price list and the 1899 Eley Brothers catalog list respectively the 410 “Perfectly Gastight” centerfire “Warranted” 2-inch Paper or “Metallic” cartridge and the 410 “Thin Brass”. The latter catalog offered a pinfire 410 cartridge to accommodate the rare pinfire shotgun imported from southern Europe. The 1901 Eley Brothers catalog is the same as the 1899, but the 1902 shows a new “Improved Gastight” with double heads. Both the 1902 and 1905 catalogs list a 410 pinfire gauge.

The three Kynoch 1901 through 1905 catalogs are essentially unchanged. Then the 1908 Kynoch drops the 410 brass cartridge. The 1908-1909 Eley Brothers catalog has a one-fourth-page advertisement listing both the 410 and the .360-inch shot cartridges. It describes the 410 as 2 inches in length with 3/8-ounce shot and “Black Powder” or “Smokeless” priced at 5 shillings per 100 loaded cartridges. There is a colored picture of the 2-inch “Fourten”. No longer listed at this point is the pinfire 410.

The 1910-1911 (No. 83) Eley Brothers catalog reintroduces the “Gastight” pinfire 410 and the “Thin Brass” is replaced exclusively by the “Solid Drawn Brass”. Nobel’s Explosives catalog of 1911-12 lists a 410 2-inch cartridge with Black or Smokeless Powder.

Harding reports that an Eley Factory Loading Manual lists a 2 1/2-inch 410 cartridge in January 1911 [9]. A Kynoch 1911 catalog, for the first time, offers a 2 1/2-inch 410 cartridge. This appears to be the introduction of the 2 1/2-inch 410 cartridge. A Bonehill catalog of 1909-1913 introduces a 2 1/2-inch purpose built smoothbore 410 gun. I am unaware of an earlier 2 1/2-inch 410 smoothbore offering.

A 1913 Curtis & Harvey catalog, The Powdermakers, advertised a 410 2-inch “Smokeless” cartridge. The Eley 1914-15 catalog (No. 85) offered the “Fourten” 2-inch and the “Fourlong” 2 1/2-inch 410 cartridge. Solid Brass and pinfire 410 cartridges were still available at that time. The Nobel Industries 1925 brochure lists the 2-inch “Fourten” and the 2 1/2-inch “Fourlong”.

The Eley Brothers 1919 catalog (No. 86) drops the pinfire and all brass shells. Here, two points are worth elaborating. First, brass 410 cartridges were still made from 1927 to 1939 under the imprint of “ICI”. The “crimping” of these brass shells under “ICI” specifically signals the dates of production [8] (Photo 8).

Secondly, the production of pinfire 410 shellshot cartridges raises the possibility of this smoothbore gauge gun having been produced before the 1880s after the origination of this ignition system in 1836. However, all existing cartridge literature indicates that the pinfire 410 cartridge was introduced after the centerfire 410 in the Eley Brothers and Kynoch catalogs and flyers. Furthermore, as C.W. Harding observed, the pinfire construction, given the “protruding pin and high rise hammer”, would not be practical on a cane gun because of, among other reasons, lack of concealability [9].

Photo 9: Cartridges matching the vintage 410 “Best” Watson.

Glenn Campbell photo

Photo 10: An array of brass, vintage paper and modern 410 shot shells.

Cameo photo

It is worth noting here that the Eley 2 1/2-inch “Fourlong” contained 7/16-ounce shot and was recommended for small ground and wing game. The 2-inch “410” was a “collector’s cartridge” for shooting without “damaging” small birds by the naturalist for taxidermy (Photos 9 and 10).

Typical British 410 loading equipment pre-World War I illustrates the variety of personalized and types of cartridges made throughout the early 20th century (Photos 11 and 12).

Photo 13: A wooden box of 2 1/2-inch 410 (12 mm) cartridges. Note the mistaken use of the “36 GA.” under “410.”

Glenn Campbell photo

Photo 14: Boxes of “Super X” shot shells, single ball and non-corrosive primers.

Glenn Campbell photo

Photo 15: Full boxes of cartridges under different brands.

Glenn Campbell photo

Photo 16 (bottom, right): More brands of 410 shot shells.

Glenn Campbell photo

America

The European and American 410 cartridge story is far more obscure for the former and more recent for the latter. Geoffrey Boothroyd suggests that the 410 originated in Germany as the 12 millimeter. However, no specific European data could be found to provide further specifics except for the previously noted French ammunition list Societe Francais de Munitions of 1886, which offered a 12-millimeter shotshell.

As for America, a “Colt Firearms and Cartridge” catalog of 1888 did not offer a 410 shotshell. A series of “Winchester Arms and Cartridges” catalogs of 1875, 1878, 1891, and 1893 did not list the 410-gauge shell. Although Winchester began making 410 cartridges in 1916 and included a 2-inch shell in a 1916 catalog, the first detailed catalog listing appears to be in 1925. They described the gauge as a “410 caliber 12 m/m” with “bulk powder only” and “chilled shot only” in either 2 or 2 1/2-inch shells, a quaint but descriptive promotion (Photo 13). Interestingly, Boothroyd has a Remington cartridge head stamp that says both 410 and 12 millimeter [10].

A 1905 “Union Metallic Cartridge Co.” catalog lists cartridges from 4 through 28 bore, but nothing for 410. The “United States Cartridge Company” catalogs of 1881, 1891, 1908, and 1917 make no mention of a 410 gauge. An 1885 and 1910 Remington gun and cartridge catalog makes no mention of the 410, and did not list the cartridge until 1915 when they advertised a 1 1/2-inch shell.

Photo 17: A cartridge board of 410 and smaller cartridges by Ronnie Crowe.

Ronnie Crowe photo

A wide variety of makers, types, and labels of 410 cartridges have appeared on the American market. The “Western Super X” brand dominated the pre-World War II era (Photo 14) and illustrates the early use of non-corrosive primers in America. This has resulted in greater survivability of American 410 barrels over that seen in the British Isles. In Britain, the use of fulminate of mercury and potassium chlorate as primers in the 410 cartridge well beyond World War II into the early 1950s, unlike bigger bore cartridges, resulted in a high rate of destruction of 410 barrels due to the deposition of the highly corrosive mercury/potassium salts. Illustrated are pre- and post-World War II boxes of cartridges of different makers and types. Note Remington’s misuse of the 410 cartridge as a “36 ga” (Photos 15 and 16).

Today, 410 cartridge collecting is a serious endeavor. A unique cartridge board, which includes many paper, brass, and pinfire 410 cartridges and a number of smaller cartridges such as the .36-inch shell, illustrates the remarkable variety and decorative beauty of the historical very small bore shell (Photo 17). This was made by Ronnie Crowe, an authority on the British cartridge, and once an owner of a European made pinfire 410.

The 410 Cartridge References

1. O’Connor, Jack, The Shotgun Book, Alfred A. Knopf, 1965.

2. Boothroyd, Geoffrey, Boothroyd on British Shotguns, Sand Lake Press, 1993.

3. Crudgington, I.M. and Baker, D.J., The British Shotgun Vol II, 1871-1890, Ashford, Southampton 1989.

4. Boothroyd, Geoffrey, Shooting Times & Country Magazine, August 18-24, 1994.

5. Grange, Tom, 2001, Shooting Gazette, December.

6. Hedlung, Dale J., Kynoch, Spectrum Books, 2000.

7. Cox, Horace, Sporting Guns and Gunpowders, London 1897.

8. Grange, Tom, personal communication 2002.

9. Harding, C.W., personal communication 2002.

10. Personal communication 1990.