Cut the Buckshot Shell Myth

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Aaryq

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Okay, new myth, I heard it from a guy at work. If one were to cut a buckshot shell just past where the wad is (not length wise but diamater leaving a few places intact for it to break), the cut part in front of where you cut is supposed to travel down the barrel and hit the target like a Glaser shot or something. It's supposed to penetrate and then explode inside the target with the buckshot hitting inside and somehow being more lethal. He said it won't feed normally so only the 1st shell that's in the pipe will work like that.

Has anyone ever heard of this? I was a bit confused when he was talking about this so I didn't interrupt and tried to find something about it, but I couldn't find anything. HALP.
 
You still have the same lead shot hitting the target. I can't see how that would improve effectiveness in any way. Perhaps if you changed the lead shot to some incendiary round or something. It sounds like a strange story.

Besides, have you looked at the pattern from a 12ga 00 magnum round lately? It really doesn't need any help to do the job!
 
But the theory is that the top of the shell goes with the shot so you have the mass for penetration but then the shot goes into the target once it hits...

Still confused.
 
I've heard this one and I believe it to be very dangerous BS.

Even with a cyl bore barrel I can't find a modern load that is small enough to fit in the end of the barrel. What I could see happening is the shell separates like you describe from the base, somewhere along the trip down the barrel the crimp opens and the shot leaves the barrel, leaving the shell half stuck in the barrel. I'd guess it would not make it very far past the chamber, maybe just far enough that the next round chambers.

Needless to say the next shot causes all kinds of bad things to happen.

Maybe in the old days with paper shells this was something you could get away with but I would not in any way shape or form try this "trick" today.
 
I have seen this. It has been years. It does stay together until it hits something. If I remember right the old hunters came up with it. They used it on deer in place of buckshot or slugs. Another thing I've seen, and done, is opening a shell and pouring candle wax in the shot. This is supposed to do the same thing. Then there is pouring syrup in the shell to stick the shot together.(I wonder who came up with that one, my bet, it wasn't the guy cleaning the gun) Doing the same thing with elmer's glue. The next thing is using lead sinkers strung together on fishing line. They are all... designed? to keep the shot together until impact. To a certain degree they all work, but I wouldn't recommend doing any of them. I agree with 3gun.
 
I used to shoot cut-shells out of my single shot 20 gauge. Had numerous friends that did it as well. Seems to keep everything together until hitting the the target. I always thought of them as impromptu slugs. I never did it with buckshot, usually #6 shot. Are they safe to shoot? Well I never had or heard of any issues. Would I shoot any today? No.
 
You should tell your friend at work about these mystical things called "slugs" they always cause one big hole in the target instead of several smaller holes, guaranteed!

But seriously messing with shells like you described seems like a good way to end up with a bulged barrel or KB. The shot and the wad are supposed to go down the barrel not part of the shell.
 
Cut Shotshell

This actually works---I have done this in years past.

Cutting the shell in the manner described creates a giant Glaser shotshell which can be used as a very close range(10-12 yds) expediant slug.It is not very accurate past those distances but from actual experience I can say it is devastating on game up to about 150 pounds.

My brother shot a hog with one of these---dropped him just as fast as a regular slug!!

A single or double barrel is preferred as it is awkward to load one in a pump or autoloader.And they obviously will not feed from a magazine.
 
If you want to deliver a shotcup full of shot into a target that also acts like "an expedient slug" then I would suggest Zanoletti Double Impact shotshells. They contain two shotcups of 1 oz of BBs each. The first is supposed to open up some distance some distance from the gun and the second at about 100 meters. The truth is that the first opens very quickly and the second starts to open at about 50-75 yards, flying as a cup full of shot until that time.

These shotshells WILL feed in pump and semi-auto guns that handle 3" shotshells.
 
This goes back to an account by a Brit who served with the Home Guard in WWII watching the British coast with binoculars for signs of a German invasion. Some of the men in his group complained what use would be a double shotgun against a paratrooper with an MP38 submachinegun, when all they had was birdshot. The leader of the group took a paper birdshot shell, cut thru the shell just ahead of the overpowder wad, and testfired it at a barn door. The whole end of the shell hit the door in one piece like a solid slug. That gave the men a little more confidence in the effectiveness of their shotguns. It is a trick that works, but doing it with buckshot seems useless. And yes, this account was about 1940 Battle of Britain era when shotgun shells were paper, not plastic.
 
Cutting the shell in the manner described creates a giant Glaser shotshell which can be used as a very close range(10-12 yds) expediant slug.
Click to expand...

So why would you need to do it at all? Buckshot by itself is good at least to that range (a lot farther in my experience).

Try slugs. Next question.
Click to expand...

Slugs aren't legal everywhere. And even where they are legal, they may not be allowed by different hunt clubs. The one I was in for years had a firm "no slugs" rule. Why? I have no idea, I wasn't around when they made the rule. I doubt anyone who was in the club was, but it was a "rule" and nobody was going to change it by crackey. It was good enough for grandpappy...........
 
"Cut" shells are not a good idea. I first ran across the idea back in the 50s in the writings of Russell Annabel,IIRC. He used one on a big grizzly that had been stalking him. After that he carried slugs.

Tried some years later in a 20 gauge with IC choke. No accuracy.
 
Works OK, but how safe is it ??

Yes it works with plastic cases, not very accurate, but if it hits, it kills.
I have tried it a few times on foxes, over here slugs are not available on a shotgun certificate, so this is a useful dodge.
I have used them up to 3/4 choke, but 1/4 & 1/2 is better, if they are cut properly they will feed from an auto OK.

As for the safety part, you are entirely on your own, I can tell you I was more than a little nervous the first time I tried it :eek:

Neil. :)
 
I've shot many cut hulls, not by design however but due to a bad batch of 28 gauge Federal Gold Medal hulls. When reloaded they sometimes separated at the brass case head and plastic, wad and shot went out the barrel. The loads were from the Alliant website which has since removed any recipes with 28 gauge Federal Gold Medal hulls.

The cut hulls did no harm to the gun whatsoever but I made very sure to check the bores when only the case head came out of the gun.
 
Some cowboy shooters have been doing this to make sure the knockdowns went down,but they are now outlawed,for safety.They can't use buckshot or slugs at their matches,so this was one way to get more ooomph from the lighter shells.
Yep,it works.
 
A lot of us used to do this about 45 years ago. I honestly do not remember exactly why now, because slugs were available. I don't remember doing it with buckshot, just birdshot. I do remember cleaning several deer killed with this method, and when I first saw and heard of Glasers I wondered if the guy got the idea from this. Because I mean these things dropped deer like a hammer, if they were hit in the right place. I have seen a deer go a quarter mile shot thru the heart, but they didn't with these things.
I don't remember doing it much, as I tested them and the accuracy wasn't much, and slugs were okay if you watched the range. This was in the days before anyone ever heard of a "deer barrel", sabot slugs, or rifle sights on a shotgun.
I'm not endorsing doing it, just relating what guys did. I have no idea how safe it is: I would tend to think not very, but I never heard of anyone blowing anything up doing it. One guy I remember had a Belgian Browning Auto 5 twelve gauge, and he would kill about 5 deer every year like this, and the limit was 2. He said he didn't want to be shooting a bunch of times and tracking deer all over. I was never a big deer hunter, myself.
 
Around here, I recall folks back in the 60's making cut shells for impromptu poaching. They'd go out bird hunting in the fall and carry a few cut shells in case they jumped a deer at close range.

It was illegal to carry buckshot or slugs in the woods when deer season wasn't open, so I guess they figured this was a way to skirt the law. I thought it was dumb, since I think a game warden would have figured out what they were up to if they found someone carrying them.

I never saw one fired, but I knew of people who carried them.
 
If I remember right the old hunters came up with it. They used it on deer in place of buckshot or slugs.
Click to expand...

Yes, it used to be done with birdshot.
Some wax or glue was often added to the birdshot through the top of the shell so it held together even better over distance.
Never heard of it done with buckshot. That is likely just the story being passed down too many times and the actual facts getting lost.

With birdshot it is essentialy the cheap makeshift frangible slug.


Nowhere near as uniform in shape and drag and as a result not as accurate as an actual frangible slug, and frangible slugs are specificly designed not to penetrate as well as normal slugs anyways.

He used one on a big grizzly that had been stalking him. After that he carried slugs.
Click to expand...
Well who would use an actual frangible slug on a grizzly, nevermind a makeshift one? That is more a bad ammo choice than an example of poor performance.
You want maximum penetration. A foster would be better, and a brenneke type even better.
 
Around here, I recall folks back in the 60's making cut shells for impromptu poaching. They'd go out bird hunting in the fall and carry a few cut shells in case they jumped a deer at close range.

It was illegal to carry buckshot or slugs in the woods when deer season wasn't open, so I guess they figured this was a way to skirt the law. I thought it was dumb, since I think a game warden would have figured out what they were up to if they found someone carrying them.

I never saw one fired, but I knew of people who carried them.
Click to expand...

same here.

......my grandpa used to tell about hunting deer with buckshot strung together with piano wire...said the load didn't have much for penetration, but it left a bloodtrail a blindman could follow........so it was quite easy for the hounds. This was done to feed his family, not for sport.
 
"Why?"

Because a lot of folks only had a half a box of high brass #6, little money, and the nearest country store was 5 or more miles of rough road away.

I've never tried cutting a plastic shell. About the time they were introduced I stopped being really poor. :)

John
 
Shotgun shells have always lended themselves to some wacky, far out tinkering throughout the ages...
 
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