With the lack of ammo this lost art could be useful. Cut Shells

[gh1950]

We used to go to central and northern California regularly. Got to be friends with some commercial salmon fishers.

They HATE the sea lions that the tourists think are so cute.

Not only do they think the sea lions eat most of the salmon, but they know for a fact they will tear up their nets.

They can't have buckshot or slugs or high powered rifles on their boat, but they can have shotguns and shots legal for duck hunting.

Those guys have become masters of using the cut shell. Each shell is unique so every time the officials find a dead sea lion with a big hole in it's side, no way to prove where the shell came from. First time I had ever heard of a cut shell, although later I found they were favored by certain night hunters,

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

Making cut shells seems like a useful skill, but if you truly cut all or nearly all of the sides of your shell with a pocket knife, it won't be able to feed through any gun's action.
You'll have to drop it in the chamber directly.

The glued or waxed shells that you make with epoxy or other types of sticky stuff mixed in with the shot pellets looks like something you could actually run through a repeating action.

I might try some partially cut shells through my bolt action 12 gauge, but instead of leaving just one thin piece of plastic on one side of the shell, I might leave two or three bits of intact plastic hull equally spaced around the circumference of the shell.

 

[gh1950]

Making cut shells seems like a useful skill, but if you truly cut all or nearly all of the sides of your shell with a pocket knife, it won't be able to feed through any gun's action.
You'll have to drop it in the chamber directly.

The glued or waxed shells that you make with epoxy or other types of sticky stuff mixed in with the shot pellets looks like something you could actually run through a repeating action.

I might try some partially cut shells through my bolt action 12 gauge, but instead of leaving just one thin piece of plastic on one side of the shell, I might leave two or three bits of intact plastic hull equally spaced around the circumference of the shell.

You don't have to cut all the way through, Just "ring:" the shell above the brass with a sharp knife and it will separate just fine.

When you fire it, it will separate on it's own.

.410 shells do it naturally when they have been loaded too much, creating "whistlers:" on a skeet field.

 

[acmech]

I'm not sure about cutting shells right now but I know people that do the candle wax mix. I have not tried it yet but I think I might.

Anyone else?

I've done it a lot. Figured out it was a waste of time. Temp. has a huge effect on performance. Might hit like a slug, might not depending on temp. If they get too warm, the shells can distort making them unable to chamber.

 

[Talos]

I did a few cut shells, then tried the wax slugs, but I've since graduated to casting the shot into round balls. Cut shells and waxers are so subpar to this method.