CUT SHOTGUN SHELLS

[williamlayton]

Probably in the wrong place and won't get much attention--but--what can anyone tell me about cut shotshells acting as slugs?
Blessings

[Hodr]

Would have been about 1954.  Guy next door, Little Cliff, was back from Korean war and had money for one gun.  He picked up a 12 guage to hunt pheasant with Dad and Big Cliff.  Big Cliff got an invite into High Sierra ranch land to hunt Deer.  Little Cliff not having funds for a deer rifle cut the shells 2/3 around, paper shells high base.  Second day he took down a mule deer at about 40 big steps from me, say 30 yds.  I was too young at the time to know about Inchon, but Little Cliff hit that muley from the hip with his shotgun.  First week of his first pheasant season back Little Cliff would shoot in a crouch from the hip and never miss with the 12 Guage and then get the shakes.  I shot against him at Camp Roberts when I grew up and got out of the Army.  I have shot on three Army teams and I was a decent shot.  With an M1 in his hands Little Clif was the finest Rifleman I have ever seen, and then he would get the shakes.

Hodr

[Torwe]

Probably in the wrong place and won't get much attention--but--what can anyone tell me about cut shotshells acting as slugs?
Blessings

Really simple they work. Growing up in appalachia a person used what they could. Many a venesion dinner was obtained using cut or as we called them ringed shot shells.

[williamlayton]

How do you do it?
Blessings

[cwlongshot]

How do you do it?
Blessings

The old Remington transparent green shells where easy to use cause you could see where the wad was...  I cut them in the cushion part of the wad. Most of the way threw, all the way around. Point...err I mean aim and shoot!

We used to use them duck hunting to move a raft of sea ducks that piled up a couple hundred yards form our spread... Fired them like a punt gun, you crouch a bit, stick the butt in your hip. Find your angle and fire...

CW

[PowPow]

So is the cut just deep enough to cause a defined point of separation, and everything past the cut goes down range as a single slug without opening the crimp?

[Hodr]

I seem to remember Veral had a pretty good set of instructions on this.  Some one else on here had a set of pictures a year or so back.

Hodr

[darkgael]

Ther is a thread about this idea, complete with a Youtube video, on another forum.
See this link: http://forum.pafoa.org/shotguns-43/134012-lost-art-cut-shells.html

[mcwoodduck]

So is the cut just deep enough to cause a defined point of separation, and everything past the cut goes down range as a single slug without opening the crimp?

Just ring the plastic where the wad will hold them together.  You want to make sure if you unload the gun that it doesn't pull the shell apart. 
Yep it acts as a giant glaser safety slug.
they are illegal to use for huting in some states.
But could come in handy in a survival situation.

[briarpatch]

I will add one thing. If you shoot a cut shell and it dont make a lot of noise and even if something comes out of the barrel, make the gun safe and look down the barrel. You may find a wad stuck in there.
A nice ole winchester 97 hung on my mother in laws wall with the barrel busted open from one of these. 

[cwlongshot]

I will add one thing. If you shoot a cut shell and it don't make a lot of noise and even if something comes out of the barrel, make the gun safe and look down the barrel. You may find a wad stuck in there.
A nice ole Winchester 97 hung on my mother in laws wall with the barrel busted open from one of these. 

That's a great tip!!  Older Remington and Winchester shells used to be "melted" together at the crimp. This offered some resistance. if you don't cut threw the case the wad could get stuck in the barrel is a real possibility.

I don't cut it like shown in the clip. I ring the case, but don't cut into the wad. I also leave two spots holding the case together. But much less material than shown in the clip. You could pull mine apart if you pulled, but its not gonna fall apart. The one in the video will take allot to get it apart, could cause a stuck wad IMHO.

CW

[darkgael]

Aside from the reference to a blown up barrel, no one has addressed the issue of pressure.
Measure the outside of a plastic shotshell....it'll be about 0.780" - 0.785". Cylinder bore is nominally 0.735". So we are firing a .780" slug down a .735" bore.
Do you think that might raise pressure a tad?
Pete

[mcwoodduck]

I made the same point i another post and was told that it did not.

[blind ear]

another thing that was done durring that era was to dump the shot load and load a glass marble. Pop said it would shoot all the way through a shotgun house's walls.  He didn't mention accuracy or range.
ear

[williamlayton]

I found the refrenced thread on "ASK VERAL". It was a good thread and i bumped it up hoping it would be tagged.
Veral sugges cutting all theway thru the case wit just two connecting tabs left to hold the shell together.
Blessings

[mcwoodduck]

All said and done.
I think it is easier to keep a slug or buck shot in your hunting vest than it would be to take the time to ring a shell if a slug is needed.  Even with Samari knife skills, it is going to take longer to ring a shell than to simply load a slug or buck if needed to get meat or for dangerous game protection.  A box of cheap slugs are under a buck a peice and no matter the cost of a box of sluggs they were designed to work as slugs and you do not have to worry about leaving the hull in the barrel to cause havoc on a fallow up shot.   If Mr Murphy led you down a path that you need to use slugs he may screw with you and have one of them open the crimp and launch the wad 1/2 way down the barrel. leaving the part of the hull lodged in the tube. NOW what, ruin the gun with a follow up shot or, spend lots of time trying to get it out of the barrel with a stick.
And as I said earlier it is Illegal to use for hunting in some states and is specifically named in the NC reg book.
Survival is a different story, but it always is and more risks are taken. But if you already have a couple slugs or buck shot in your vest or coat, you may not need to make them out of your quail loads.

[PowPow]

I'm not going to waste one of my deer season Saturdays with cut shells, but it would a fun trick at the range with a few leftover dove & quail loads.

[mcwoodduck]

I'm not going to waste one of my deer season Saturdays with cut shells, but it would a fun trick at the range with a few leftover dove & quail loads.

Shoot a water mellon with one.

[cwlongshot]

I found the refrenced thread on "ASK VERAL". It was a good thread and I bumped it up hoping it would be tagged.
Veral sugges cutting all theway thru the case wit just two connecting tabs left to hold the shell together.
Blessings

I like the way the man thinks...

CW

[williamlayton]

Like a lot of information, it is good to have in a pinch.
I would agree that factory or re-load slugs would be better.
I am still going to try the cut's one day, just for the experience.
Blessings

[FLNT4EVR]

I just know they work. When I was a kid,I heard about them a lot. They fed a lot of families who would have otherwise gone hungry.In  NY  you had to buy lots of different liscences to hunt different game. Some people had no money at all. So they did what they had to. The Game wardens were always aware of these families and pretty much left them alone. Poachers were another matter all together. I realy wish we could go back to those days.

[bikerbeans]

Thanks for the information guys,  now I have a use for all the remington low brass 6s I bought 15 years ago.   Can't bird hunt anymore but I can still blow holes in particule board.  Anybody ever try a cut shell in a rifled shotgun barrel?

BB

[blind ear]

Ther is a thread about this idea, complete with a Youtube video, on another forum.
See this link: http://forum.pafoa.org/shotguns-43/134012-lost-art-cut-shells.html

   

Nothing new, just easier to get to. ear

 http://www.2ndamendmenttv.com/videos/shotguns/lost-arts-pt-1.html

[darkgael]

JUst came back to this thread.
I know that people do this....and have been doing it for years. The guys in the videos do it.
But that business about shooting a projectile down a too small bore and pressure going up. That bothers me.

I made the same point i another post and was told that it did not.

No doubt that someone said that but...how could it not raise pressure? Just doesn't seem to be the safest thing in the world.
Pete

[blind ear]

Cut shell shooting probably started in damascus barrels. Pressure problems should have stopped the practice early on. ear

[anachronism]

For some reason, it appears nobody has linked to Verals thread, which expands greatly on this subject:

http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php/topic,178695.0.html

[PowPow]

For some reason, it appears nobody has linked to Verals thread.

WL mentioned it.

Veral's thread is based more on facts and experience.
In this thread, we don't really want to get bogged down with a lot of that, when we can spew opinions and talk about the good old days.
But thanks.

[blind ear]

To me, it still appears that use in damascus barrels would have been a good history of testing and proof. Strung out wire barrels would have made a lasting impression makeing for a good oral history. ear

[anachronism]

I was just trying to make it easier for others to find the thread. I apologize if I've offended you.

For some reason, it appears nobody has linked to Verals thread.

WL mentioned it.

Veral's thread is based more on facts and experience.
In this thread, we don't really want to get bogged down with a lot of that, when we can spew opinions and talk about the good old days.
But thanks.

[PowPow]

No offense taken.  Hope I didn't offend you.
jump in and share an opinion or two.