Cut shells?

I went shooting the other day with a friend and he showed me cut shells. When he said cut shell I was clueless then he showed me, what it is is a regular shotgun target load that he had cut a seam in behind the pellets and in front of the powder. He said that they work in single and double barrel shotguns well. I was wondering previously why he had set a 2 by 4 out when he dropped one in his singleshot 20 gauge and took aim, when it hit the board it shattered.he explained that everything above the seam was fired as one. Basically it was a slug. I'm wondering if this is safe because if it is I am planning on testing it for myself.

Ok? Not sure on this one. Sounds like he's taking the wad? out of the picture? So instead of the powder forcing the shot straight forward, he is blowing out the side of the case and sending the wad in a different dirrection out of the end of the barrel. Putting more preassure on the side of the chamber wall. Hense the single shot or double barrel?? I would NOT in my opion do this to any of my guns!! But thats just me!!

yes everything forward of the seam is fired including the casing and i think your right its a good idea but nothing more

Rednecks like me have been doing this for decades.

There's a good demo of this on YouTube. Just search "cut shells" and watch the video of the bearded ol' geezer wearing a black hat.


try this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3M46XVfVOU

Done it before pretty neat

Costa demos this in Magpul's Dynamic Shotgun DVD.

Never have seen that before, does it gouge the barrel at all? Then i can see the use in shotgun shell anti personel mines but through a smooth barrel my thought was unless shtf why not just use a slug and slug barrel. Pretty cool though.

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Originally Posted by Colorado Luckydog

Rednecks like me have been doing this for decades.

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Yessir. When I was working/living at a camp up in the mountains all I bought was birdshot... good for bird, squirrel, rabbit, coyote, and if something bigger came along I always had a few cut shells on hand. Works just like a slug (IMO it works better, actually, because once it hits the target, like a bear, it can disperse within them).
Depending on how you cut it though, it can have some feeding issues in pump/semis. When you cut, angle it in and towards the top of the shell.

Huh, never heard of such a thing. Seems like forcing the larger upper body of the shell through the smaller barrel just wouldn't be a good idea. Looks like it works though. I'd like to see it done against several 2x12's sandwiched together to see what it would do compared to a slug. I bet that would create a helluva wound channel in a bear, and probably ruin a lot of good deer or elk meat. Probably less than legal too, I'd imagine.

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Originally Posted by rondog

Seems like forcing the larger upper body of the shell through the smaller barrel just wouldn't be a good idea.

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Uh... do you know the particulars of bullet diameters, bore diameters, rifling, gas seals, etc? Plastic is a lot more forgiving than copper...

Oh, I understand that, just seems like shoving something that much larger down the tube with that much pressure behind it might be a little dangerous.

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Originally Posted by rondog

Oh, I understand that, just seems like shoving something that much larger down the tube with that much pressure behind it might be a little dangerous.

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I'm basically gonna rephrase my last comment, so nothing really new here, but...
Think about a bullet being forced into a barrel... sure, there's a smaller difference in the diameter of the bullet and the diameter of the barrel than there is between a full shell and its barrel, but the lead and copper bullet has much more resistance as its forced into its barrel, both from the lands and grooves and from the difference in materials (metal vs. plastic).
Based on that, I don't see it being any more dangerous than other guns... not to mention that people have been shooting cut shells since before slugs were developed and as far as I know, other than the freak everything-that-could-go-wrong-did accidents that I'm sure have happened, nobody's had their face blown off doing it (not the ones doing the shooting anyway).

Repost x3

Interesting. My initial thought was that would be hell on a standard forcing cone...

http://gobblerguns.com/movies/fcmov.gif

But hey, if people have been doing it forever, then I am obviously wrong.

Well, I've got a sawed-off single shot 16 gauge and some shells, I just might have to try it.

Just know how to do it so you're prepared for the zombie apocalypse. If bans on ammo ever come along heavyweight buckshot & slugs might make the list so this is how to make 'sporting' birdshot behave like a slug. I'd be willing to try it in a modern shotgun. I'd have to be convinced it wouldn't jam up a pump action if not done perfectly.

Steve

When cut right, the hull separates clean from the brass. When not cut right, the end unfolds and blows out like normal. It worked fine in my 870, but I didn't try to cycle them (cut shells in magazine). Once a cut shell was fired, it would extract like normal. It sounds/feels different than an uncut shell.