Hedgerow
Member
Just got back from a tough week in Montana. Got into enough birds to keep it interesting, but they were few and far between.
Noticed a few times during the week that certain shells would not load, usually when needed most. We missed some shots due to the deformed crimp because the shell wouldn't go into battery.
I've been thinking about what could have been the issue, and I'm starting to think that the shells are getting nicked and deformed when loaded and unloaded repeatedly.
For example, we're in South Dakota and dump a box of shells in a vest pocket at the beginning of the day. First field, grab three shells out of the pocket and load the gun (Montefeltro 20 ga/Franchi 20 ga). Hunt a field but no birds. Go to the truck, unload and dump the three shells back into the vest pocket, and then drive to another field. Grab three random shells out of the vest pocket, load the gun, hunt, no birds, unload, and the shells go back into the vest pocket. Rinse and repeat numerous times over a day/season, and we end up with deformed crimps. Seems plausible. We can't be the first people to deal with this issue.
Any thoughts, insight, or advice?
Noticed a few times during the week that certain shells would not load, usually when needed most. We missed some shots due to the deformed crimp because the shell wouldn't go into battery.
I've been thinking about what could have been the issue, and I'm starting to think that the shells are getting nicked and deformed when loaded and unloaded repeatedly.
For example, we're in South Dakota and dump a box of shells in a vest pocket at the beginning of the day. First field, grab three shells out of the pocket and load the gun (Montefeltro 20 ga/Franchi 20 ga). Hunt a field but no birds. Go to the truck, unload and dump the three shells back into the vest pocket, and then drive to another field. Grab three random shells out of the vest pocket, load the gun, hunt, no birds, unload, and the shells go back into the vest pocket. Rinse and repeat numerous times over a day/season, and we end up with deformed crimps. Seems plausible. We can't be the first people to deal with this issue.
Any thoughts, insight, or advice?
