# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Making Stuff >  homemade pistol shot shells

## superior

Some of you might already be doing this but here is a way to make homemade
pistol shot shells in 40sw. First, I re-size and prime the case. Then load with 2grains of pistol powder. Then I sharpen the  mouth of a 40cal case with a chamfering tool inside and out, using it to punch out paper discs out of a phone book cover. Then, I tamp the paper card wad on top of the powder and fill the rest of the case with 8-shot or whatever size shot I have on hand.
Finally, I drip a couple drops or sealer on top of the shot to water-proof it and hold everything inside. Last time, I used sun-roof sealer for a rubberized
effect. Works great! The shot penetrates pop cans completely and patterns well out of my Glock23 up to 5 yards.They might come in handy for small birds, snakes or rodents. I've been using them to impress freinds by shooting balloons at 10 yards with a super-fast quick draw lol. They think I'm better that Clint Eastwood! They wont cycle the action but they will cycle manually from the magazine. If anyone has ideas to improve my method, please let me know.

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## tim

well just have to see about that 
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ntEastwood.JPG

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## superior

LOL !  Remember, my friends dont know I'm using shot shells. I told them them they were light target handloads lol!

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## Sourdough

Well, Here is how I do it it works perfect: Go the Gun Store Buy CCI Shotshells all loaded for the .40 S&W

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## Pict

That's pretty much how I make them in .38 special down in Brazil.  I also cut a top wad out of thin cardboard and then seal it totally with a liberal coat of gloss black nail polish.  Apply the nail polish thick and paint from the center of the case towards the edge and build up a nice even coat that sticks to the inside of the case.  They look very professional.

One recipe that I saw on the net (sixguns.com?) used a gas check over the powder,  shot, and then was capped by a .38 round ball roll-crimped in place.  The round ball would give accuracy on small game out to 25 yards or so and stay in the center of the shot pattern for close range shots.  The only problem noted with the load was leading.  Mac

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## superior

The .38 spec shell sounds ideal since it can hold alot more shot. I like the nail polish idea also!  They can be made cheaply at a fraction of storebought cartridges.

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## SARKY

One of the ammo companies, I think it is CCI makes plastic shot shell inserts for .38/.357 and .44 cal. I've used both to reload shot shells using mostly #9 shot. I've also done a mix load of #9 shot and .32 round ball. Then there is my "Junk Yard Dog" load, I cut welding rod to a length that fits in the plastic shot holder, the .38 will hold 7 to 9 of these lengths depending on the diameter of the welding rod. When it comes out of the barrel these pieces of welding rod tumble and shred anything they hit. It's a pretty nasty load.

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## Sourdough

Back in the 50's we did it the way you guy's are doing it. but we used candle wax, and that did not work so well. You might find it interesting that we put all kinds of stuff in shells, sand, gravel, wood strike anywhere match heads, .22 acorn blanks, tacks, finishing nails, we even put .22LR ammo in 12 gauge shot shells and fired them at the stone walls of the barn.

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## superior

Excellent... Excellent.... muhahahaha!

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## LudwigVan

> Back in the 50's we did it the way you guy's are doing it. but we used candle wax, and that did not work so well. You might find it interesting that we put all kinds of stuff in shells, sand, gravel, wood strike anywhere match heads, .22 acorn blanks, tacks, finishing nails, we even put .22LR ammo in 12 gauge shot shells and fired them at the stone walls of the barn.


Did all that stuff ruin any guns?

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## Sourdough

NO....But our guns were junk to start with. $5.- or $9.- for single shot firearms. We had a .303 Enfield, and a Marlin detach box, boltaction .12 gauge, with a 42" barrel (A estimate). We would buy military surplus ammo and take it apart with pliers. We had no idea what we were doing.

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## Ole WV Coot

My choice is #11 shot. I use them only for snakes in a 38 revolver. CCI shot in 38/357 is just too big to do a decent job on snakes and the #11 always does a better job of killing one out to a dozen feet. I think 22lr has #11 and works reasonably well. I carry 2 handguns in my fender bag during the summer, one for copperheads & rattlers the other for snakes with 2 or 4 legs.

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## Tuckahoe

I used to get some for a .45 ACP that were made from cut down .308 cases. They wouldn't feed out of the mag but for a first shot they were pretty cool.

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## Dakoma

Found on the web somewhere where one gascheck was turned cup side up then shot then another gascheck turned cup down and a light crimp to hold in place.You could use fingernail polish to keep moisture out,or wax. :Wink:

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