Cut Shotgun Shells

[Blaine]

Does anybody do this? Personally do this? Other opinions welcome.

[piller]

Never tried it. I do not know of anyone who has tried it.

[Trailboss]

If it wasn't totally against the law to use cut shells where I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, then my brothers and I and practically everybody we knew would have used them. Dropping deer, bear when out rabbit and bird hunting. Easy to cut in a moments notice and if not used, then discarded to make sure they wouldn't be found in case of a search by Wildlife officers. Though I never used them, if I had they would be accurate out of my J. Stevens single shot 12 gauge. As I recall, slugs and buck shot were also illegal and so we never used them either.

[piller]

Unfortunately, where I grew up, it was all ringneck pheasant, quail, dove, and maybe ducks if you had access to a tailwater pit. Pronghorns have migrated back in now, but the numbers are too limited for a hunting season.
A hasty slug would not have done anything for us.

[GunnyMack]

Yes ! They are very effective as a slug. I personally never used one on an animal but have shot hundreds of them over the years. Us boys on the farm cut down an old dead apple tree with cut shells, not a small tree either! Smooth bore only, I'd bet a rifled choke/bore would tear one to shreds.

[AJMD429]

.... ok .... I confess naïveté...

“...what is a ‘cut shotgun shell...”???”

[EdinCT]

Yup they work up close and a man I worked with told me he killed a few deer very dead with them during the depression. My son had a 1300 Winchester that shot them like a rifle at 30 yards. If you cut around the wad of a shot shell and leave just about a 1/16 of an inch uncut on each side when fired they shoot to front of the shell out encapsulated in one big glazer safety slug type projectile.

[GunnyMack]

Some of you may remember the Peters Blue Magic hulls, being trap shooters we reloaded our ammo being unemployed kids. Anyhow the Blue Magic hull would separate after a couple reloads, you would miss a target and hear that slug smack a tree down range!
Just have to be sure you leave just a bit intact otherwise you can unload it without dumping powder into the action.

[gcs]

They were used here too, back when we had no deer season and couldn't be in possession of slugs. Buckshot was, and is still not legal here.
Other guys used #2 lead and at close range it dropped deer with head shots, and no slug in your pocket.

[gamekeeper]

I have watched a few videos of their use and manufacture but not tried them out yet. I don't know how true this is but I heard that during the second world war before they had military firearms the Home Guard used 12 gauge shells with the shot removed and a cut down 16 gauge pushed inside like a slug. I did use a empty 12 & 16 shells for a waterproof match box they fit together real good.