Maiden22 Posted March 7, 2008 Report Share Posted March 7, 2008 (edited) . Edited January 7, 2009 by Maiden22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob300w Posted March 7, 2008 Report Share Posted March 7, 2008 (edited) Sorry if this question sounds a bit dim (or if it's in the wrong place), but I've been reading a book by Chris Batha (Breaking Clays), in which he suggests cutting open a number of shotgun cartridges and counting the number of pellets in them to get an average. Leaving aside whether you'd want to do this from a time / boredom point of view, and assuming it's not dangerous: 1. Why isn't it dangerous? 2. How would you safely dispose of the powder and primer cap? Aren't these still potentially able to explode? 3. Am I being thick? Just as an aside, does anyone know the reason why you don't have to keep your shotgun cartridges locked up? It seems a bit odd that they don't have to be secure. There are no dim questions, only dim answers. 1. Because none of the components are likely to cause you any harm if you treat them with a bit of respect. i.e. don't rough treat primers, or smoke whilst you are doing it. Petrol is more dangerous than anything in a cartridge and you use that every day. 2. Flush the powder down the bog, or tip it on your garden, we are talking small amounts. Squirt some WD40 on the primer, it's a standard method of "killing " primers (cooking oil will do, if that's all you have) and put it in your dust bin. A better solution would be to put the cartridge head in your gun and fire the primer. 3. No. Before anyone starts dictating the Explosives acts regarding disposal of waste explosives....... we are talking one cartridge! Edited March 7, 2008 by bob300w Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden22 Posted March 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2008 (edited) . Edited January 7, 2009 by Maiden22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highseas Posted March 7, 2008 Report Share Posted March 7, 2008 well after the 20th miss its nice to know you never hit it with one of 332 pellets lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Sam Posted March 7, 2008 Report Share Posted March 7, 2008 Well I was interested in this so I just went up stairs armed with a knife and set to on my cartridges. I chopped open (through the wad for fibre, near the crimped end for plastic) 4 different ones and weighed the shot. I cannot be bothered counting it Eley VIP 30g #6 = 30g Eley Hi-flyer 32g #5 = 32g Lyvale supreme 30g #6 = 30g Winchester XX 35g #6 = 34g. So the only ones being measly is Winchester which are loaded in Italy anyway. Later I am going to do some sample diameters, and if really bored might count pellets. I put the rest of the cartridges (still sealed with the wad in) back in the cabinet to dispose of later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob300w Posted March 8, 2008 Report Share Posted March 8, 2008 I think that you may be in for a shock with some of the pellet diameters Sam, tolerances are usually fairly wide, you will be even more surprised at how many pellets are out of shape (i.e. not round) with the few pear shaped one also. Looking inside a cartridge is a good way to find something to blame for the misses though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floating Chamber Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Round or oval, it won't matter; with set-back, the shot looks like passion fruit and klingons when it exits the barrel! Worse with a fibre wad! The only reason for uniform-size round shot is to make commercial volumetric machine-loading with a shuttle-bar more accurate. FC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob300w Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Round or oval, it won't matter; with set-back, the shot looks like passion fruit and klingons when it exits the barrel! Worse with a fibre wad! The only reason for uniform-size round shot is to make commercial volumetric machine-loading with a shuttle-bar more accurate. FC Not true, set-back causes minimum or no pellet damage, depending on the antimony content of the shot. Pellet deformation occurs whilst the shot is travelling up , and in contact with, the barrel, this is why there is more pellet damage with felt wads, and why patterns tightened when plastic cup wads were introduced. I would suggest weighing the shot from five cartridges if you think that the loading weights are accurate, I have seen plus and minus 1/8oz in one and a half ounce loads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floating Chamber Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Go down to Mid-Wales Shooting ground and look at it on the ground. I'll post a pick of what it looks like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 and I thought you guys shot for fun...come on get a life! Counting pellets, I ask you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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