I recently picked up an interesting little gun about which I know nothing. It's a sleek little .410 single shot bolt action made by BSA, marked as having a 2 1/2 inch chamber. The barrel is approximately 24 inches in length, and the gun weighs probably about three pounds. The rotating bolt head is reminiscent of a Lee Enfield .303, and there is a large safety lever at the right rear of the bolt that pivots up for safe, down for fire. The gun cocks on closing and is in excellent condition, aside from a couple of dents and scuffs on the stock.

Upon arriving home with my new little toy I scampered out back with a handful of Federal factory 2 1/2 inch loads, and was disappointed to find that they would not chamber. The brass base barely begins to enter the chamber before becoming too tight to go further. I can see nothing in the chamber that would cause this, and both chamber and bore are clean and rust-free. The single hook extractor takes a good bite on the rim and hauls the stuck cases out, with the help of a couple of taps on the bolt handle. I tried several shells out of the box, thinking that perhaps one of them was out of spec or damaged...no luck. I haven't tried any other brands of shells as yet.

Am I missing something obvious here? I know I will probably have to enter the 21st century and figure out how to post pics, but I thought that I'd throw this out here quickly now. Any ideas would be appreciated.

It is my understanding that there were several versions of that gun. The receiver and barrel are one piece and not two, correct? Are you sure that it is marked 2-1/2" and not 2"? If it really is a 2-1/2" chamber then it may be one that was built to use a modified .303 case. If the latter, a .444 case should work as well.

Thanks, Grenadier. Yes, the barrel and receiver are an integral unit. I'm not really that much into shotguns and had never even heard of all-brass shells until I read your post and did a bit of research.

The gun is marked "cartridge .410 shot" on the left of the barrel, under the maker's name, and there is a "2 1/2" stamped in among the proof marks on the opposite side of the barrel. Looking at these inscriptions, it is possible to come to the conclusion that they were stamped by a gunsmith modifying the gun at some point.

I was really only looking for a gun to use regular over-the-counter .410 factory shells...this project is looking like a lot more complication than I had bartered for. However, I do have a huge supply of once-fired .303 brass, and I have ordered some Cerrosafe to make a chamber casting and learn more. I do like this little gun...maybe I will start ammo production for it! I will also look into the option of having a gunsmith ream the chamber out to take regular shells. I would like to keep it and shoot it.

Thanks again for your assistance.

John

[quote]I will also look into the option of having a gunsmith ream the chamber out to take regular shells. I would like to keep it and shoot it.[/qAuote]

Thats what I would do with it

It is NOT the fault of the gun, sorry, but the fault of the cheapjack cartridges that most makers now "pass off" as "so-called" .410!

These BSA shot guns have known, well well-known, here in UK "issues" with modern 12mm BORE CARTRIDGES which is probably what your Federal .410 actually are.

These BSAs will feed, fire and eject old Eley-Kynoch .410 PAPER CASE cartridges until the barrel gets too hot to handle. If you ever care to do that!

But plastic "so-called" .410" that are actually 36 BORE CARTRIDGES...it won't!

Check the base of your Federal...I'll be pretty certain that it will say "12mm" somewhere on the case head.

The only solution is to make a .410" sizing ring and size the cartridge brass head down.

Even so I think that the gun will still have "issues" with being fed what are, in truth, the WRONG CALIBRE CARTRIDGES for it!

Ask Federal and they amy well admit that they import their "so-called" .410" cases from mainland Europe.

BTW...Modern Eley use the same 12mm BORE cases.

Thanks for the info and opinions, gentlemen. I have not yet received the chamber-casting material that I ordered, but did come across some oldish (40 years) Sellier & Bellot ammo that chambers and fires nicely in this little gun. I am unable to find a gunsmith who owns a .410 reamer to clean up the chamber to accept modern ammo, and none want to invest in a tool that will quite likely never be used again. I can't blame them. Frankly, I don't particularly enjoy reloading, certainly not enough to jump through the hoops that this thing requires. I did find a smith who was interested in the gun for himself and made a deal...he gets the .410 BSA and I get some gunsmithing on another project of mine...one which uses modern ammo.

Thanks again for the help, but it simply was not meant to be.

Could the chamber be cleaned up with a boring bar ?