New Case Type (Shell Shock Technologies)

I

iraiam

New member
I came across this new type of ammunition case for 9mm by Shell Shock Technologies, bulk cases appear to be available for purchase, and other calibers coming soon. It takes a special set of dies to reload them.

They also mention that they have been tested by some folks, and they report over 40 reloads on the cases. Any of the testers happen to hang out here? I would be interested in their experiences. .


https://www.shellshocktechnologies.com/
 
Thanks for posting this. First time I've heard of it. Gotta like the 'stronger and cheaper' claim.

Sure looks like this stuff would be easy to sort out of the regular brass even without doing the magnet thing.

I'm wondering if one of the existing major die manufacturers will start making dies for this case. When that happens I'll figure this technology has 'arrived'.

Thanks again for posting this.

P.S. Needed to add I don't trim straight-wall handgun cases. Still this might be really interesting.
 
Last edited:
They lost me at "two-piece".

And then made things worse with aluminum and stainless steel.
Stainless steel work-hardens, just like brass.
Aluminum fatigues quicker than brass or steel.

Where's the upside?


Invest now, if you want to unload to cartridge collectors in the future.
 
I'm skeptical as well, I may order a box or 2 of loaded ammo just to check it out.

What really grabbed my attention was their claim of "consistent velocity, 0.93 fps standard deviation". The test results for pressure and velocity they have a link to shows interesting data.
 
It is really hard to compete with industry and shooters. Every trip to the range will net me a 1/2 to 1 box of 9mm fired brass.

Right now I have 4-5 thousand case's on hand, and I would think there are many shooters lie me with the same or more inventory.

So why would I want to buy a new brass that takes special dies to reload.
 
It is really hard to compete with industry and shooters. Every trip to the range will net me a 1/2 to 1 box of 9mm fired brass.

Right now I have 4-5 thousand case's on hand, and I would think there are many shooters lie me with the same or more inventory.

So why would I want to buy a new brass that takes special dies to reload.
Click to expand...
Yep.
I have so much 9mm on hand now, that I turn down offers of brass from other shooters. I could take it and resell it or recycle it; but I'm not that greedy.

And my brother has recently found himself in the mother lode, getting "all he can eat" for free, from a tactical training facility. He has so much excess 9mm brass on hand that he's actually considering *gasp* recycling it!


(For me, it's a similar situation with .45 Auto and .40 S&W. I shoot neither, but use both as bullet jackets. I have so much on hand right now [.40 S&W in particular], that I told a potential donor yesterday, "I'll take it if you want to get rid of it, but I really don't need it..." And the only reason he wants to get rid of it, is because he has so much sized and decapped .45 Auto on hand that he doesn't see the point in processing and reloading the twice-fired stuff again! ;))
 
It is an interesting case and it would be more so if they would get into some benefits besides the one's stated. Weight is good but would require a LOT of them to make a diff. Consistency, weight, fps, tension, is always a plus and perhaps in precision shooting that would pay off some, not in 9mm and it's application. As far as number of reloads, I haven't worn any out yet but I probably don't shoot enough of that to find the limit.
I did see one video where the person used a Lyman bullet remover (hammer type) to take one of the preloaded ones apart. There was noticeable case-base separation which was noted.
All in all, this maybe worth it for law enforcement and military use if it proves to eliminate load and ejection failures, ie, the reliability value.
 
It is supposed to be made of

Base: Nickel plated aircraft aluminum.
Cylinder: Nickel alloy stainless

Sounds good. But I have my doubts.

But aluminum is not that convincing for me and steel plated with nickel neighter.
The cylinder must be nickel plated steel (which they call then conveniently STAINLESS) since pure Stainless Steel is not magnetic.
Nickel plating the aluminum base only can mean to make it harder since without it is to soft alone.
Nickel plating the cylinder is probably to rust proof it.

As I understand nickel plated cases are prone to chip off the nickel plating.

I never have thrown away brass cases for fatigue. And many of my brass cases have well over 15 reloads.
Brass is fine and does not rust at all.

With time I would bet These NAS3 2-piece cases rust because they loose their plating which is chipping off and the Joint part has separating Problems (literally they may split in half).

In many Forums People state the plating is wearing off or Chips (which is not an Problem when the base material is brass since it is corrosion resistant):
But
If the Nickel plating wears off from the cylinder part and that underneath alloy material is plain steel then those will rust you literally away and you can not have them loaded for years and then in a pinch shoot them without inspecting them for rust.

Brass cases are from it's brass nature not disposable but reloadable. These NAS3 may be made "disposable" to end the Reloading Sport once for all.
 
Last edited:
Nickel plating causes a phenomenon called "hydrogen imbrittlement." It can be minimized with the proper heat treatment. Nickel itself is much harder than brass-therefore more brittle also.
Click to expand...
Source: post #20 from here https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=578210&highlight=nickel+plated+brass.

Read this as well WHY NICKEL BRASS SPLITS
http://gunnerforum.com/reloading/6309-why-nickle-brass-splits.html

If the underlayer material of the base is aluminum then you may have an split of the base as well since aluminum seems to be elastic upon firing and the nickel plating not.
If the steel is used as cylinder base material then that is not elastic upon firing.

The Advantage of brass is it deforms elastically to the shape of the chamber upon firing.
Steel ammo shooters may tell their experiences with that ammo here to have an comparison Point.
 
New Case Type

They worked on it for some time I'm sure. The object is sell it and get it accepted for more sales.
I don't like the idea of a larger primer hole. Not so bad in mild handgun calibers but a big hole in a hot magnum rifle will blow the primer out or push metal into the firing pin hole.
I'm not for another expensive set of dies and stainless steel would seem to be fierce to resize. Depending on the alloy.
I have considered for a long time, getting rifle and handgun projectiles, to the next level of performance would entail a tougher casing and eventually , electric primers, which has already been tried.
If there is a signifigiant advantage we should hear from people here shortly.
The two piece case and no caase damage from unsporting chamber seem might be less powder capacity
 
Here a Video where a guy pulled the shellshock case round with an normal bullet puller and got base-cylinder Separation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxE-dCf01g4

He Claims the L Tech /Shellshock Tech round was pulled quiete hard but this Kind of issues you will not observe with Brass cases.

They use in that factory L tech load lead free bullets. A scary Thing for me since that translates to you have to buy costly-expensive factory bullets in order to calm the environmental Freaks who believe lead is bad for the Environment.
Another reloading item where the factory can Charge you Money.
I am a huge fan of lead bullets since you can cast them on your own and therefore they are basically for free (ammunition Independence).

These L Tech Shellshock bullets for me have way to much factory steps involved and i fear they want you Lure into copper bullets and fancy 2-piece high tech casings claiming heaven on earth about them.
Once they got the Monopoly on These cases the Price will rise skyhigh.

Let's stay with brass unless These guys make cases of ONE Piece without nickel plating.
 
But aluminum is not that convincing for me and steel plated with nickel neighter. The cylinder must be nickel plated steel (which they call then conveniently STAINLESS) since pure Stainless Steel is not magnetic.
Nickel plating the aluminum base only can mean to make it harder since without it is to soft alone.
Nickel plating the cylinder is probably to rust proof it.
Click to expand...

It is true that pure austenitic stainless steels are not magnetic, but there are numerous other alloys which are still called "stainless steel" that do react to magnetism, in varying degrees depending on the alloy. I don't have enough information to determine if these case cylinders are actually made out of one of these uncommon "stainless steel" alloys or not. If they are technically an annealed stainless steel, it would still almost certainly be cheaper than brass.
 
The cylinder must be nickel plated steel (which they call then conveniently STAINLESS) since pure Stainless Steel is not magnetic.
Click to expand...

There are many different grades of stainless steel, some are nonmagnetic, some are magnetic. You cannot generalize on two words.
The type 416 stainless used for many gun parts is magnetic, the type 316 I used for corrosion resistant chemical plant equipment is not.
 
I second that Jim Watson. BTW, why would they nickel plate stainless steel again? As far as I know stainless steel is very hard and so they must have taken a soft cheap (pot) metal for the cylinder plating it with nickel.
Just my 2 Cents.

Steve H B writes in an comentary on that Video this and I second that as putting enphasis on the bolded parts (he supposed has FIRST HAND EXPERIENCES with These)

Steve H.B.vor 3 Wochen

I think these things are gimmicky as can be. Reloading requires special dies (about 100 bucks). So reloading is very expensive. Now let's talk benefits. The ONLY benefit I can see is weight reduction. I have weighed these myself, and reloaded these myself. Is the weight reduction worth it? We are talking about 35gn in comparison to about 60gn to a regular brass case. (The weight includes spent primer in both) why use GN to measure? If 25gn per round is so significant, I assume everyone using these is shooting 115 or less, right? If you choose to shoot 124, 148, aren't you negating this precious commodity of weight? Additionally, where are you going, and how are you carrying ammo where this so significant? This equals about 2.8 ounces per box of 50! Is it worth spending the money on special expensive cases, new reloading equipment, etc! Not for me it's not. Additionally, I found that these two pieces are connected kind of like a rivet. Once they pop, they are done. You saw in the video the separation even a simple pull makes. That round might be compromised. If you want to spend more, for the same performance, it's all up to you. I seriously these novelty it me will be around in a few years. (At lead in the form they are now)
Click to expand...
Source and origin of comentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxE-dCf01g4

The 2-piece case is Kind of riveted together.
I live on a farm and know more or less when things hold or not heavy use.
Some sort of riveting an firearm case together? No way for me.
Step on them and they probably get Separation. While step on an brass case and you are still able to form the deformed case mouth back with the resizing die and those cases are fullty usable.
Rivets are not the best idea for Long Lasting but an good idea to shorten the lifespan and sell more.

ONE MORE THING: in one Video the mag did not go in without force and that Shellshock tech case/round was dented.
Whatever that means.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top