Component Analysis
On the basis of the data available, the shot used to load the Fiocchi “Magnum” cartridges would appear to be at the softer end of the hardness range of ordinary lead shot. Our “first impressions” analysis showed that a proportion of the pellets taken from an un-fired cartridge were not rounded enough to descend a slight incline under gravity which suggests either that they are simply poorly made or – perhaps more likely – that they are being damaged under the stresses of machine-loading.
Furthermore, whilst we have no means of measuring an absolute hardness at the time of writing, the degradation of pattern quality at even relatively short ranges suggests that a significant degree of pellet deformation is occurring – more than could be accounted for by a few misshapen pellets.
Taken together, these factors imply, amongst other things, relatively soft (Cheap? – Ed.) shot. We will update this page to confirm or deny this assertion as soon as we have made measurements of the pellets’ hardness.
The full length wad used in the “Magnum” cartridge ought, in theory, to be a boon, though as we discuss below, it may in fact limit the performance of the cartridge somewhat. We understand from those “in the know” that this is a “Baby 410 Max” wad by Baschieri & Pellagri, with an un-fired thickness of ?.???” (TBC.) in the petals. The significance of this is discussed in the Performance Analysis section below.
The “Magnum” cartridges, irrespective of shot size, tend to recoil relatively hard for a .410 loading. That is not to say they are unmanageable – far from it – but we suspect that this means that the powder is relatively fast for a small-bore loading, which suggests that the acceleration of the shot to maximum velocity is likely to be also. The published figures for velocity give the Fiocchi cartridge the highest muzzle velocity of any of the .410 cartridges we have so far tested.
This apparent high muzzle velocity will create significant compression in the shot column. The skirt and stem of the plastic wad may mitigate this effect to some degree, but by itself will not rescue the cartridges’ middling performance.
As the SmallBoreShotguns team’s effort to test all commercially available .410 cartridges progresses, the author observes that the performance differences caused by roll versus fold crimps are not as straightforwardly comprehensible as previously thought.
Under our initial system of thought, the Fiocchi’s fold crimps should always give the better performance, but in fact, the data we are collecting suggests that the truth is more subtle: fold crimps will open consistently and will therefore tend to produce less performance variation between shots of the same cartridge, but they do not necessarily guarantee absolutely better performance than a roll-crimped cartridge.
Performance Data – 19g / #7½ (Italian)
| Date | Range | Choke (Nominal) | 30" Circle Impacts (Total) | Performance (Nominal) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17/04/2017 | 20 Yards | 0.015" (Modified) | 188 (196) | 96% (> Improved Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 30 Yards | 0.015" (Modified) | 120 (196) | 61% (Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 30 Yards | 0.015" (Modified) | 101 (196) | 52% (< Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 30 Yards | 0.020" (Improved Modified) | 120 (196) | 61% (Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 30 Yards | 0.020" (Improved Modified) | 123 (196) | 63% (Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 40 Yards | 0.015" (Modified) | 37 (196) | 19% (< Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 40 Yards | 0.015" (Modified) | 64 (196) | 33% (< Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 40 Yards | 0.020" (Improved Modified) | 75 (196) | 38% (< Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 40 Yards | 0.020" (Improved Modified) | 68 (196) | 35% (< Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 40 Yards | 0.020" (Improved Modified) | 68 (196) | 35% (< Cylinder) |
Performance Data – 18g / #6 (Italian, 2.7mm)
| Date | Range | Choke (Nominal) | 30" Circle Impacts (Total) | Performance (Nominal) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17/04/2017 | 20 Yards | 0.015" (Modified) | 131 (138) | 95% (> Improved Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 30 Yards | 0.015" (Modified) | 98 (138) | 71% (Improved Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 30 Yards | 0.015" (Modified) | 89 (138) | 64% (Skeet) |
| 17/04/2017 | 30 Yards | 0.020" (Improved Modified) | 94 (138) | 68% (Improved Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 30 Yards | 0.020" (Improved Modified) | 95 (138) | 69% (Improved Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 40 Yards | 0.015" (Modified) | 58 (138) | 42% (Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 40 Yards | 0.015" (Modified) | 58 (138) | 42% (Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 40 Yards | 0.020" (Improved Modified) | 68 (138) | 49% (Improved Cylinder) |
| 17/04/2017 | 40 Yards | 0.020" (Improved Modified) | 60 (138) | 43% (Cylinder) |
Performance Analysis
The Fiocchi “Magnum” cartridge is undoubtedly held in high regard by .410 shooters and often prompts comments along the lines of “the Italians know how to make small bore cartridges” and suchlike. They also have the undoubted advantage of being relatively cheap: one can still buy a box of Fiocchis for less than £7, whereas many dealers now stock a box of the old “go to” cartridges – the Eley “Fourlong” and “Extralong” – at more than £8 per box. Unfortunately, the data collected by the team at SmallBoreShotguns suggests that the latter of these reasons would be more justified in explaining the popularity of the Fiocchi cartridge than the former.
We also cannot avoid mentioning again the high muzzle velocity for the cartridge, given as 1375fps. Whilst this may satisfy some folk, it is likely that the more moderate 1230-1260fps velocities, common to the majority of commercially-produced .410 loads, result in better performance on the pattern plate and, we suspect, in the field.
Specific Comments: 18g / #7½ (Italian)
A comparison of the Fiocchi cartridge with its nearest equivalent available to the team at SmallBoreShotguns, the Eley “Extralong” 18g/#7, shows some differences between the two in performance terms, with the advantage going to the Eley cartridge. This is surprising, given that we would expect the Fiocchi cartridge’s performance to outdo the Eley’s for several reasons:
- The Fiocchi cartridge has a full-length plastic wad, which should largely protect the shot column from scrubbing, whereas the Eley cartridge has a card driving wad alone.
- The Fiocchi cartridge has a fold crimp, whereas the Eley cartridge has a rolled turnover and card, which would be expected to introduce both inconsistency and a degradation in pattern quality compared to an otherwise equivalent load.
In both percentage and absolute terms, the Eley “Extralong” cartridge outperformed or equaled the performance of the “Magnum” cartridge at all ranges through all chokes. The author had initially been sceptical as to the value of the Eley cartridge, but the data shows undeniably that it is the better choice when used with the appropriate degree of choke. This is quite contrary to the public perception of the cartridges.
For this reason, the Fiocchi “Magnum” range have caused the SmallBoreShotguns team to re-examine their view that the employment of a plastic wad with full-length petals, should provide the best protection against the pellet deformation created by “scrubbing” the pellets up the bore of the gun and should therefore, result in improved performance.
Rather, we suppose that the thickness of the wad increases the “crush” at the choke and deforms the pellets more than they would otherwise be damaged from scrubbing up the barrel walls unprotected. This might explain why the plastic-wadded patterns are somewhat inferior to some of the patterns created using an equivalent load atop a short plastic or fiber wad.
Specific Comments: 18g / #6 (Italian, 2.7mm)
Although a shot size equivalent to an English #5½ is somewhat large for the diminutive .410, there is no apparent difference in performance at 20 yards distance between the cartridge containing 2.4mm (#7½ Italian) and 2.7mm (#6 Italian) shot, with both printing usable 95% patterns in the standard circle. One may as well use the larger shot size where shooting distances are short.
At 30 yards, the performance of the #6 cartridge exceeds by a few percent the performance of the #7½ cartridge, but with a lower absolute pellet count. The author suspects that this is a classic example of larger shot being proportionally less deformed than smaller shot in its journey down the barrel – an effect partly offset by the higher pellet count of the #7½ cartridge, which prints borderline-usable patterns at this distance with the tighter chokes available for use in the test gun.
At 40 yards, absolute differences in pellet count are extinguished. The average of 60-70 pellets in the standard circle for both shot sizes at this range is in no way usable. Although this represents a percentage performance up to 10% higher in the #6 cartridge – lending weight to the “larger shot, lesser deformation” theory – it is somewhat academic. No ethical hunter would contemplate using these cartridges at this range.
The one positive comment which can be made about these cartridges, particularly exemplified by the #6 version of the loading, is that they are consistent. The variation between minimum / maximum pellet counts for all given chokes / ranges is small (less than 4 pellets either side of the average in most cases), suggesting that although the recipe for the cartridge may not be optimal, the manner in which they are loaded is as good as one could hope for. Indeed, in one instance, the number of pellets striking the circle is identical for every pattern shot!
Conclusion
Ultimately, the Fiocchi cartridges are a disappointment. They are not able to satisfy the demand made by the author for a usable 40-yard pattern and they do not, apparently, justify the high popular regard in which they are held – unless a lower price for less-than-optimum performance is considered to be an acceptable compromise. Although they raise some interesting questions about cartridge behavior and have forced the SBS team to re-examine their views regarding the utility of a full-length plastic wad in a .410 cartridge – both useful outcomes in themselves – they offer only mediocre performance on the pattern plate and should be considered very much “average”.
At the time of writing, the one possible avenue by which the “Magnum” loading might redeem itself is through the use of lighter chokes. The author has heard it said, in some of his previous research, that a choke constriction of around 0.008″ has proved effective with these cartridges. The credentials of the people suggesting this approach demand some attention and it is therefore the intention of the SmallBoreShotguns team to supplement our existing data with a series of patterns for constrictions of 0.005″ and 0.010″ at some point in future.
Although it is the author’s instinct that an improvement in performance with lighter chokes would be unexpected, he does not rule out the possibility. Perhaps it is the case that a lighter constriction combined with the thickness of the wad at the moment of “crushing” at the muzzle would add up to the (apparently magical; effective) constriction of 0.018″ which still – even in light of this new data – appears to offer the best overall performance in a (this) .410.
Example Patterns
