Custom shot shell experiment challenge... - Page 2

darkgael · December 14, 2008, 06:00 PM

DaHermit: After reading your last post, I feel the need, maybe unnecessarily, to reiterate that those two shotshells were an experiment only insofar as the nature of the pellets. I share your concern for safety in experimentation. The load data used for those shells can be found on p.20 of BPI's shotshell manual "Advantages IV". I stayed strictly to that recipe.
Pete
PS - An oops, the second load was 50 grains lighter, so I did deviate.

jdscholer · December 14, 2008, 06:11 PM

Quote:

AWESOME!!! I love this board! I was half expecting to be called a crackpot nut job for mentioning it and less than 24 hours we got a guy willing to give it a whirl...

Wait just a minute now Brent. Nobody said ya weren't a crackpot nut job.

Just kidding!

I admire your spirit of experimentation. Who knows where we wouldn't be without inquiring minds. jd

protectedbyglock · December 14, 2008, 07:16 PM

I have also experimented with loads. You just have to use common sense.
For example (and I'm not trying to be a prick), I wouldn't try to load a shotshell with those darts. (not that you were going to, OP)
Sand, salt, pellets, etc. Fine. I loaded a shell with confetti one time. Just took a bunch of construction paper and cut it into tiny pieces. Packed it kind of tight and voila! It was a prank I pulled on my buddy. Priceless. He got this really funny look on his face and handed me back my gun. He didn't have a clue what just happened.

zippy13 · December 15, 2008, 01:05 AM

This is a classic case where curiosity was safely slaked. If necessity is the mother of invention, then curiosity is its step mother. When I think of folks who arbitrarily blend powders, lightening a load with hollow based pellets seems pretty tame.

For something not so tame, I recall an impromptu demonstration by a Thai exchange student who was a regular shooter at the club. He explained that his government was very restrictive and they weren't allowed heavy shot nor slug loads. But, the people still needed to hunt to eat. He pulled a load from his pouch, and said, "Here's what we hunt with back home."

We watched intently as he put his pocket knife to the factory load and cut it all around at the piston portion of the wad. He then chambered the two piece shell in his skeet gun, pointed to a brick-sized cobble, and with a, "Watch this...," his Thailand Slug smoked the rock. The shot, wad and half the hull had acted as a unified projectile. He explained that he'd done this many times and it was best done with open chokes and factory fresh loads. Re-loads have a tendency of open their crimp about half way down the barrel causing quite a nuisance.

I'm not advocating the casual use of Thailand Slugs, but it's something to keep in the back of your mind for future reference.

B. Lahey · December 15, 2008, 01:35 AM

Ha!

My grandfather talked about using "slugs" like that as a kid. Same idea, cut the hull and the whole deal will leave in one piece.

olddrum1 · December 15, 2008, 02:21 AM

As the good folks over at Hodgdons told me years ago when I ask if they thought a load I was working up would be safe, "All of you trap shooters shoud have been extinct years ago".

jdscholer · December 15, 2008, 09:08 AM

Yeah, when we were kids we were savy to your Thailand Slug, and it is pretty impressive. To my knowledge, none of us ever had choke damage either, but this was before steel shot.
And who hasn't tried the old "splitshot on a line shell"?
I began reloading when I was 13, pounding 20 ga. together with a Lee Loader. Once when I was out of the ALCAN fiber spacer wads that I used, I figured out how much Kleenex to pack to get the right spacing. It worked OK, and ya shoulda seen some of the looks that I got from the guys when we cut loose on some ducks or a pheasant.

jd

December 14, 2008, 06:00 PM	#26
darkgael Senior Member Join Date: February 9, 2006 Location: Homes in Brooklyn, NY and in Pennsylvania. Posts: 5,473	deviation? DaHermit: After reading your last post, I feel the need, maybe unnecessarily, to reiterate that those two shotshells were an experiment only insofar as the nature of the pellets. I share your concern for safety in experimentation. The load data used for those shells can be found on p.20 of BPI's shotshell manual "Advantages IV". I stayed strictly to that recipe. Pete PS - An oops, the second load was 50 grains lighter, so I did deviate. __________________ “Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games.” Ernest Hemingway ... NRA Life Member Last edited by darkgael; December 14, 2008 at 06:07 PM.

December 15, 2008, 09:08 AM	#32
jdscholer Senior Member Join Date: March 23, 2008 Location: Jefferson State Posts: 1,197	Yeah, when we were kids we were savy to your Thailand Slug, and it is pretty impressive. To my knowledge, none of us ever had choke damage either, but this was before steel shot. And who hasn't tried the old "splitshot on a line shell"? I began reloading when I was 13, pounding 20 ga. together with a Lee Loader. Once when I was out of the ALCAN fiber spacer wads that I used, I figured out how much Kleenex to pack to get the right spacing. It worked OK, and ya shoulda seen some of the looks that I got from the guys when we cut loose on some ducks or a pheasant. jd __________________ "We're all dummies, just in different ways." Old Okie Philosopher

December 14, 2008, 07:16 PM	#28
protectedbyglock Senior Member Join Date: December 27, 2006 Location: PA Posts: 470	I have also experimented with loads. You just have to use common sense. For example (and I'm not trying to be a prick), I wouldn't try to load a shotshell with those darts. (not that you were going to, OP) Sand, salt, pellets, etc. Fine. I loaded a shell with confetti one time. Just took a bunch of construction paper and cut it into tiny pieces. Packed it kind of tight and voila! It was a prank I pulled on my buddy. Priceless. He got this really funny look on his face and handed me back my gun. He didn't have a clue what just happened.

December 15, 2008, 01:05 AM	#29
zippy13 Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 6,442	This is a classic case where curiosity was safely slaked. If necessity is the mother of invention, then curiosity is its step mother. When I think of folks who arbitrarily blend powders, lightening a load with hollow based pellets seems pretty tame. For something not so tame, I recall an impromptu demonstration by a Thai exchange student who was a regular shooter at the club. He explained that his government was very restrictive and they weren't allowed heavy shot nor slug loads. But, the people still needed to hunt to eat. He pulled a load from his pouch, and said, "Here's what we hunt with back home." We watched intently as he put his pocket knife to the factory load and cut it all around at the piston portion of the wad. He then chambered the two piece shell in his skeet gun, pointed to a brick-sized cobble, and with a, "Watch this...," his Thailand Slug smoked the rock. The shot, wad and half the hull had acted as a unified projectile. He explained that he'd done this many times and it was best done with open chokes and factory fresh loads. Re-loads have a tendency of open their crimp about half way down the barrel causing quite a nuisance. I'm not advocating the casual use of Thailand Slugs, but it's something to keep in the back of your mind for future reference.

December 15, 2008, 01:35 AM	#30
B. Lahey Senior Member Join Date: March 17, 2008 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,857	Ha! My grandfather talked about using "slugs" like that as a kid. Same idea, cut the hull and the whole deal will leave in one piece.

December 15, 2008, 02:21 AM	#31
olddrum1 Senior Member Join Date: March 23, 2008 Location: Mid Missouri Posts: 807	As the good folks over at Hodgdons told me years ago when I ask if they thought a load I was working up would be safe, "All of you trap shooters shoud have been extinct years ago".