I made some today where after dripping wax over the crimp, I melted the wax lightly with a lighter. I stayed worried about the potential for a barrel bulge so I scraped the excess wax off and reheated to seal the crimp. I haven't tried the sealed shells yet. My shells get soaked so often. Haven't had a failure yet but I use the soaked shells the next hunt first in the rotation.
I have shot several sealed with wax with no problems. In this test I fired the shell the crimp was completely full of wax, no issues. I was surprised the one shell fired with how much water got into it.
@@Duckslayer1096I'm still more worried about a large clump of wax and the wad wedging past it. I have tried a handload with no crimp and just wax to seal the shot in the hull. But those have the wax in front of the shotcup and not on the side of the hull on the crimp lobes. It will probably be fine I just don't want unexpected results. I know beeswax is used as a bullet lubricant.
I also used pieces of a cut cottonball as a substitute for felt spacers inside the shotcups. Still need some mylar wraps, probably get some from the hobby section.
@@DuckSeason12 I can understand the concern. I was concerned with that using the fingernail polish. I opened some and found the polish on the shot and/or on the overshot card.
@@Duckslayer1096 I've been using elmer's glue to seal them. But it gets bubbles as it dries and chips sometimes. I guess the water maybe gets in through the edges and moves down towards the center of the crimp. That would seem plausible since the wax was in the center only.
Awesome test and I’m going back to ShellShield Crimp Sealant from BP. Lucky 🍀 I have a few massive tubes because BP out of stock! Any water if your sealing the primer pocket and crimp should allow for zero water. I would uses wax but flames and powder kicking around isn’t something regardless how small the risk is that I’m willing to take in our home!
I completely understand. I may have to get some primer sealant. Almost unrealistic test, but was interested in which sealed better. And showed factory shells leak to.
in the 70s i tried wax. when it was still hot i pushed it down in the crimp and made sure it covered it all. hunting with a side by side i never noticed the wax coming off in fridged weather. never had a problem with them getting wet. bought a pump and the wax would come in the tube . cause jam ups. i use fingernail polish now. thing is you got to do your primers also. great test. watch several of your vids very good
Very interesting. How many rounds did it take before you had issues with wax? I just run semi autos and have not had problems yet. I see now the primer also needs to be sealed. From what I saw I don’t think the factory loads have sealed primers. Thanks for the feedback.
I tried cutting the wad slits shorter this time to see if they will pattern tighter in my mod kicks choke. Probably won't pattern check them yet, just see how they do on a hunt.
@@Duckslayer1096 okay. Yeah I have had two ducks now that kept flying after good hits so I bumped the longshot to 27gr and used the cotton piece inside the shotcup, also shorter slits by temporarily putting a metal cylinder inside the shotcup to cut up to the metal using a box cutter tool. Haven't tried them yet but I will let you know. I know I need a slightly higher velocity as it cost me two large ducks now.
Someone told me #4 shot is the worst for ducks. He said it lacks energy and pellet count. He said #6 is good for pellet count for close in the decoys. Also #2 or #3 for energy. Being that I have always had bad experience with #4 it makes some sense. Although I'm sure #4 is good with enough velocity. KE=1/2m(v^2)
So the duplex loads I made lacked any energy to be effective. They had 506gr mixed #4 and BB pellets with 27gr Longshot. I stopped using them after the first duck. Then I used the same load with BB only and they smoked the ducks. Only difference was the shot size and the hulls. The crap loads were with reused hevisteel hulls with cheddite primers. The good loads were with new cheddite hulls and straight BBs. I think the #4 shot needs a little more umph aka delta v or v sub f.
@@Duckslayer1096 I figure your loads are okay because you had substantial velocity. I think my super large BB pellets are making up for my lack of velocity. I'm using less powder than you are, and slightly heavier payload. I have some #3 and #2 also I will try out. I don't even like the factory #4's but I've always liked BB and I've had good results with factory #2's. Never tried #3's. I will try them soon. Maybe duplex of #3 and #2 shot next loads.
I made some today where after dripping wax over the crimp, I melted the wax lightly with a lighter. I stayed worried about the potential for a barrel bulge so I scraped the excess wax off and reheated to seal the crimp. I haven't tried the sealed shells yet. My shells get soaked so often. Haven't had a failure yet but I use the soaked shells the next hunt first in the rotation.
I have shot several sealed with wax with no problems. In this test I fired the shell the crimp was completely full of wax, no issues. I was surprised the one shell fired with how much water got into it.
@@Duckslayer1096I'm still more worried about a large clump of wax and the wad wedging past it. I have tried a handload with no crimp and just wax to seal the shot in the hull. But those have the wax in front of the shotcup and not on the side of the hull on the crimp lobes. It will probably be fine I just don't want unexpected results. I know beeswax is used as a bullet lubricant.
I also used pieces of a cut cottonball as a substitute for felt spacers inside the shotcups. Still need some mylar wraps, probably get some from the hobby section.
@@DuckSeason12 I can understand the concern. I was concerned with that using the fingernail polish. I opened some and found the polish on the shot and/or on the overshot card.
@@Duckslayer1096 I've been using elmer's glue to seal them. But it gets bubbles as it dries and chips sometimes. I guess the water maybe gets in through the edges and moves down towards the center of the crimp. That would seem plausible since the wax was in the center only.
Awesome test and I’m going back to ShellShield Crimp Sealant from BP. Lucky 🍀 I have a few massive tubes because BP out of stock! Any water if your sealing the primer pocket and crimp should allow for zero water. I would uses wax but flames and powder kicking around isn’t something regardless how small the risk is that I’m willing to take in our home!
I completely understand. I may have to get some primer sealant. Almost unrealistic test, but was interested in which sealed better. And showed factory shells leak to.
in the 70s i tried wax. when it was still hot i pushed it down in the crimp and made sure it covered it all. hunting with a side by side i never noticed the wax coming off in fridged weather. never had a problem with them getting wet. bought a pump and the wax would come in the tube . cause jam ups. i use fingernail polish now. thing is you got to do your primers also. great test. watch several of your vids very good
Very interesting. How many rounds did it take before you had issues with wax? I just run semi autos and have not had problems yet. I see now the primer also needs to be sealed. From what I saw I don’t think the factory loads have sealed primers. Thanks for the feedback.
Great test, very useful information as always. Thank you for your time.
Thanks for the feed back! Glad to know people find it interesting.
The military seals the primers so water will not get into the case . Just to give you a idea .
I do believe on the wax and factory rounds the water definitely got in at the primer.
I tried cutting the wad slits shorter this time to see if they will pattern tighter in my mod kicks choke. Probably won't pattern check them yet, just see how they do on a hunt.
Good luck. Let me know if it is successful.
@@Duckslayer1096 okay. Yeah I have had two ducks now that kept flying after good hits so I bumped the longshot to 27gr and used the cotton piece inside the shotcup, also shorter slits by temporarily putting a metal cylinder inside the shotcup to cut up to the metal using a box cutter tool. Haven't tried them yet but I will let you know. I know I need a slightly higher velocity as it cost me two large ducks now.
Wondering if you applied mail polish around where the brass and plastic meet if it would help ?
@@tripplebeards3427 They do make a special primer seal you can put on them. But yes I think nail polish would work.
@@Duckslayer1096 I have the primer sealer. Bought it from Cabelas. I don’t think there is any difference between it and nail polish.
Someone told me #4 shot is the worst for ducks. He said it lacks energy and pellet count. He said #6 is good for pellet count for close in the decoys. Also #2 or #3 for energy. Being that I have always had bad experience with #4 it makes some sense. Although I'm sure #4 is good with enough velocity. KE=1/2m(v^2)
Wish I had better way to test those things. Listen to everyone’s opinion and then draw your own. I am always learning. Thanks
@@Duckslayer1096 yeah, someone else said kent faststeel #4's were his favorite. That's why I tried #4's but I still don't like #4's.
@@DuckSeason12 1-1/8oz #4 steel in 2-3/4" is one my favorite mass produce duck loads... Rio Blue Steel 🦆🔨
So the duplex loads I made lacked any energy to be effective. They had 506gr mixed #4 and BB pellets with 27gr Longshot. I stopped using them after the first duck. Then I used the same load with BB only and they smoked the ducks. Only difference was the shot size and the hulls. The crap loads were with reused hevisteel hulls with cheddite primers. The good loads were with new cheddite hulls and straight BBs. I think the #4 shot needs a little more umph aka delta v or v sub f.
Thanks for the feed back. I may have to pick up #2 or #3’s. Duck season for me was very slow, had a very dry summer.
@@Duckslayer1096 I figure your loads are okay because you had substantial velocity. I think my super large BB pellets are making up for my lack of velocity. I'm using less powder than you are, and slightly heavier payload. I have some #3 and #2 also I will try out. I don't even like the factory #4's but I've always liked BB and I've had good results with factory #2's. Never tried #3's. I will try them soon. Maybe duplex of #3 and #2 shot next loads.
@@DuckSeason12 That would be a good load.
@@Duckslayer1096 yeah this years duck migration is very strange. Hopefully they all come in soon. There have been some good days though.
@@DuckSeason12 Our season closed last week.
Have you ever tried hot glue? That’s what I use if a crimp doesn’t seal right to keep the shot from leaking out.
Have not, but I bet it would work very well.
shot gun shells will still fire if they fall in water. Duck hunters experience dropping their shells in water and it will still fire.
I agree. Was looking for the best option to seal and keep the most water out.