Even if you don’t handload, you probably have a good idea how shotshells are loaded. Powder, wad, shot, crimp. It’s pretty basic. But what about the actual shell? Ever thought about how those are made? I have to say I was impressed when I first saw it.
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- Plastic pellets are melted into thick tubes at the beginning of the shotshell manufacturing process.
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- The thick tubes are heated and extruded to the right diameter and wall thickness depending on what gauge shell is being made.
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- Integral base wads are melted into the sections of extruded shotshell tubing.
Shotshells start as big hoppers full of little plastic pellets that are melted into thick tubes that look much like a very thick-walled PVC pipe. That pipe is heated and extruded to the right diameter and shell wall thickness depending on the gauge shell being made. If the shotshell is grooved, the grooves are put in as part of the extrusion process.
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- Some shotshells have basewads made from “spinning up” thin ribbons of paper.
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- Separate basewads can be either paper or plastic.
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- A seated paper basewad.
The extruded tube is cut to different lengths depending on whether it will have an integral basewad, or a separate one inserted into the base. If it’s integral, one end of the short tube is heated and pressed into a die to form the basewad. Some shotshells have paper basewads that are “spun up” using thin ribbons of paper that are then seated into the end of the tube.
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- The “brass” is usually steel with a brass wash.
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- The brass head is crimped over the basewad.
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- After trimming, skiving and priming, the shell is ready to load.
The “brass” head of a shotshell is actually steel (usually) and they’re frequently seen moving about shotshell factories on magnetic conveyor belts. Once the basewad is in place, the brass head is put on over the base and crimped on during final sizing. The hull is then trimmed, skived and ready to load.
Scott Mayer
www.tacticaltshirts.com
www.john1911.com
“Shooting Guns & Having Fun”
In 2008, Mayer returned to the editorial side of publishing, this time in the digital field, as Editorial Director for Guns & Ammo, Shooting Times, Handguns and Rifleshooter online magazines. After a brief stint in 2011 as the Digital Media Director for an ABC TV affiliate, Mayer returned to the outdoors industry and Safari Club International where he is currently Assistant Publisher and Multi-Media Communications Editor.
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