Weird but cool sounding!

[gotguns?]

A person stated on another forum reguarding bird shot shells:

"Roll your own, and if you cant, take a razor on a normal game load and cut down to the wadding all the way around the shells, the shell and wadding including shot will stay together for a short distance and its AMAZING."

Another person replied and said:

"i just tried it, it blew a pretty big hole in a freezer door from 10 yards. twice as big as a slug hole would be. neat-o"

What are your thoughts and comments on this?
Any one going to try it for themselves?

[mwar410]

I've heard and have seen this done before. My thoughts are that the barrel is designed to shoot the wad/cup and shot, but the addition of the shell thickness would cause a greater amount of pressure, in turn being very dangerous. plus I wouldn't want to have to clean the barrel afterwards.

[oneounceload]

but the addition of the shell thickness would cause a greater amount of pressure, in turn being very dangerous.

Agreement there.......Doesn't sound like a smart thing to do - if you're looking to replicate a slug, then shoot slugs

[Evyl Robot]

I've heard this referred to as an 'Alabama bear ball.' I've thought that it sounded like trouble.

[johnbt]

I havent' seen anyone do it since the introduction of plastic shells 40-some years ago. It has to be easier I think to ring cut a paper hull part way through than a plastic one.

I suppose this was a trick used more during the Depression when there were a lot more poor folks. I'll ask my father and uncle next week if I think of it. My father was born in '22.

John

[Dfariswheel]

In the old days, people didn't have or couldn't afford slugs so they did this to convert a standard shot shell into an expedient slug.

Its dangerous and can damage guns.
Worse, unless you carefully inspect the barrel after EACH shot, the shell casing can be stuck in the bore and the next shot can cause an explosion and serious injury.

In short, this was something done out of poverty or stupidity, and isn't something you should be doing, especially with modern plastic shells.

Bottom line: This is one of those suicidal "Hold my beer and watch this" deals.

[RoscoeC]

Not trying to be contentious, and not disagreeing that this may be dangerous, but with that said I used to do this all the time when I was much younger (15 or so). My cousin told me about it, and I did it a fair bit with my Winchester model 42 in .410. Never caused any problems. Not saying it won't, but for me it never did.

There has recently been a discussion of this on another board, and some folks from across the pond do it pretty commonly due to the fact that slugs cannot be purchased.

Not encouraging it, not saying you should do it, just relating my experience.

[zippy13]

I saw circumcised instant-slugs demonstrated, with astonishing results, buy a Thai exchange student at our club some years ago. He cautioned that it works well only with new shells. I few days later, I recall him spending the whole afternoon trying to clear the mess a reload instant-slug had made.

If I understood him correctly, the "slugs" were used in Thailand because standard slugs were prohibited. The government would allow civilians ammo only for target work, birds and small game. If you wanted to go after pigs, you had few options other than the circumcision specials.

[mwar410]

I had a federal .410 come apart at the wad, at five low, smoked the bird. I mean smoked , never saw a visible piece. couldn't finish the round, laughed every time I thought about it.

[killoften]

"Take a razor on a normal game load and cut down to the wadding all the way around the shells"
How again do you do it?
Ya cut the top of the plastic off? And why does this make it so AMAZING?

[Brian Pfleuger]

How again do you do it?
Ya cut the top of the plastic off? And why does this make it so AMAZING?

You would cut through the plastic at the wad. The wad will hold it together until you fire and then the entire top part will go.

But what you really do is DON'T do it. It's purposeless and could be dangerous.

[SDC]

These are also known as "cut shells", and many jurisdictions have laws against possessing them while hunting, because poachers would often use them as a quick and dirty way of taking big game out of season. That's just another reason not to mess around with this sort of thing, if the prospect of bulging a barrel or losing fingers, eyes, etc., wasn't enough. If you want a slug, carry a slug in a pocket.

[B. Lahey]

My grandfather used to do this back in the 20s/30s. Said it worked great.

But if you aren't really hurting for a deer load due to poverty or whatever, just buy some slugs.