3D Printed Shot Shells??

Do you not have someone who could loan you a loaded shell, and a fired shell so you can take your own measurements? I would not trust someone else's measurements

45CalPal said:

I'm not a loader, and I'm not going to be the one to test fire them. But the bigest reason is I dont have any reloading knowledge at all, and if they are to test fire them Im sure they would prefer it be made to thier specs...

But I see your point.

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You obviously have a commercial motive here, not doing this gratis and that's ok. You might go to the SSAMI websight, I don't have the link here, and check the standard dimensions adopted by the industry. They include primer pocket dimensions

I think taofledermaus did a thing like this might be a little bit old but I'm sure you can find the video. Can't remember if he said what filament ECT was used but there were a few different specs he tried.

I'd link but at&t doesn't want to load anything too much more strenuous than text right now

This is the vid from Taofledermaus OrangeCat was talking about:

It doesn't seem to work out too well, but as some people in the comments point out, layering the shell horizontally instead of vertically might be a game changer.
In theory layering vertically produces weak points that give when used, where as layering them horizontally will still produce weak points but will not give.

OP You've got me curious now too. Taofledermaus's vid was from five years ago and since then I've been told 3D printers have advanced significantly. Maybe print em horizontally and send him some.

I was thinking overshot card and use water glass or something similar to stick it. You'd definitely have to play with it to get the shot column the right height.

Snap cap sounds like a better idea as they are not cheap. How many strikes are you getting before the cap is wore out.

Sorry but I don't personally see the usefulness of 3D printed hulls. Us old timers remember the old all plastic ACTIV shells that didn't work so well. The extorter would rip the plastic rim and leave the hull in the chamber.

Besides safety concern, looking through the bore in that video showed a ton of melted plastic throughout.

Plastic residue from wads is tough to remove. It’s my biggest challenge in cleaning my shotguns. Thus, I would not want to test it my shotguns. But then, using a sub $100 test gun as in video seems to be a good choice.

I agree with ericuda that snap caps are the way to go if they hold up to repeated use.

12Bravo20 said:

Sorry but I don't personally see the usefulness of 3D printed hulls. Us old timers remember the old all plastic ACTIV shells that didn't work so well. The extorter would rip the plastic rim and leave the hull in the chamber.

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I'd advise against it. Like the Activ hulls 12Bravo20 mentions, there have been several others on the market: Eclipse and Wanda are two I can think of. I have personal experience with Eclipse hulls. When I worked at a Trap range, the manager gave me a box of approximately 1000 hulls. (nobody would buy them) I reloaded them, and when fired through an 1100 and 870, the extractor would rip right through the rim, which was all plastic. I also had many stuck wads, which require a rod to be ran down the barrel to push them out. It definitely 'disrupts the harmony of a shoot.' (ATA rule; One can be ejected from a competition for "disrupting the harmony of a shoot.)
The only one still made are Activ shells. They are fired by the tens of thousands on dove hunts in Argentina, but I'll bet non of them are reloaded. They also use a stiffer plastic, and have a metal disk imbedded in the rim for better extraction.
I agree with ericuda and Reinz, they would make useful snap caps.

Reinz said:

Plastic residue from wads is tough to remove. It’s my biggest challenge in cleaning my shotguns. Thus, I would not want to test it my shotguns. But then, using a sub $100 test gun as in video seems to be a good choice.

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Give this a try:

https://slip2000.com/pages/choke-tube-cleaner

Follow the directions, and the plastic just slides out. It also works for carbon, and I suspect their Carbon Killer is the same product, just packaged for a different crowd. I have used the Choke tub cleaner on my AR bolts and BCG's, works great there, too.

For a shotgun barrel, I get an old swab head soaked in it, run it down the bore slowly, and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then I run a 10 ga. brush down the bore (on a 12 ga.) followed by a jag & patch.

The other trick I use for reducing plastic from wads in the bore is (if you reload) using Downrange wads. Claybusters are cheap, but they leave a lot of plastic.

entropy said:

I'd…..
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Give this a try:

https://slip2000.com/pages/choke-tube-cleaner

Follow the directions, and the plastic just slides out. It also works for carbon, and I suspect their Carbon Killer is the same product, just packaged for a different crowd. I have used the Choke tub cleaner on my AR bolts and BCG's, works great there, too.

For a shotgun barrel, I get an old swab head soaked in it, run it down the bore slowly, and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then I run a 10 ga. brush down the bore (on a 12 ga.) followed by a jag & patch.

The other trick I use for reducing plastic from wads in the bore is (if you reload) using Downrange wads. Claybusters are cheap, but they leave a lot of plastic.

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‘Thanks, but believe it or not I use all of that stuff. I used to be a dealer for Slip 2000 and Downrange Wads. Even use the 10 ga brush. I sometimes use a drill with a shaft I rigged up.

I’ve let it soak overnight. I’ve used recipes from black powder shooters. I’ve used almost everything Brownells offers. I have more cleaners than should be allowed.

I can get it out, it’s just a lot of work, more than it should be in my opinion.

Bottom line, I’ve found nothing any better than brake cleaner and patch followed by Hoppes. After soaking of both first.

If I recall right the Activ shells had a plastic cladding with a steel rim and head underneath that you couldn’t see on the outside. I never bought or used any while they were around. (As was stated above, they didn’t last on the market very long.)

With 3-D printed shells, they would probably work in a break open gun.

Stay safe.

Reinz said:

‘Thanks, but believe it or not I use all of that stuff. I used to be a dealer for Slip 2000 and Downrange Wads. Even use the 10 ga brush. I sometimes use a drill with a shaft I rigged up.

I’ve let it soak overnight. I’ve used recipes from black powder shooters. I’ve used almost everything Brownells offers. I have more cleaners than should be allowed.

I can get it out, it’s just a lot of work, more than it should be in my opinion.

Bottom line, I’ve found nothing any better than brake cleaner and patch followed by Hoppes. After soaking of both first.

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I've had to do that with my 1100, but the 870 TB, Ljutic, Ithaca SBT, and Model 12 never have any significant build up.

Herter's also used to sell all plastic shotgun hulls.

Riomouse911 said:

If I recall right the Activ shells had a plastic cladding with a steel rim and head underneath that you couldn’t see on the outside. I never bought or used any while they were around. (As was stated above, they didn’t last on the market very long.)

With 3-D printed shells, they would probably work in a break open gun.

Stay safe.

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Yes the old ACTIV shells had a steel head and rim. But it was small enough that the plastic covering it would still get ripped by the extractors and leave the hull in the chamber. I had tried the ACTIV shells in an old 20 gauge bolt action and a Mossberg 500 and both guns would rip the plastic and leave the hulls in. Semi-autos were no better.

The ACTIV shells and other brands did extract/eject okay in break open shotguns but that was about it. I don't see 3D printed hulls being any different. The other concern I have is that 3D printed hulls will have to be thicker than a standard plastic hull so that they don't break or crack which decreases the amount of powder and shot load while keeping it safe.

I still have a bunch of the Activ hulls, as other note they have a steel reinforced head, primer pocket and rim. They came around when they started to use steel instead of brass in hulls, because plastic doesn’t rust.





3d printing is neat but not for this application.

12Bravo20 said:

Yes the old ACTIV shells had a steel head and rim. But it was small enough that the plastic covering it would still get ripped by the extractors and leave the hull in the chamber. I had tried the ACTIV shells in an old 20 gauge bolt action and a Mossberg 500 and both guns would rip the plastic and leave the hulls in. Semi-autos were no better.

The ACTIV shells and other brands did extract/eject okay in break open shotguns but that was about it. I don't see 3D printed hulls being any different. The other concern I have is that 3D printed hulls will have to be thicker than a standard plastic hull so that they don't break or crack which decreases the amount of powder and shot load while keeping it safe.

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Sounds about right, my son has a 3-D printer and the things that he’s made have been super stiff and not pliable like shotgun shell plastic.With a max of about 11,500 psi, even soft 8,000-10,000 pst loads would put a lot of strain on the printed shells. I’ll agree that the printed shell would crack unless thick enough to handle the flexing caused by that amount of heat snd pressure.

Maybe a 12- gauge outer with a 16-gauge inner diameter would hold up.. but I’d hate to see the pattern (if there is one) of that smaller wad trying to protect the shot while fitting the larger bore.

Interesting idea. Who knows, maybe it’ll work.

Stay safe.