Why not plastic handgun shells, like shotgun shells?

It's been tried with some of the lower pressure shells like .38 special.

There was a company back in the 1980s when I was in college that offered them. Supposedly you didn't need any tools to reload them. You did need the special heeled bullets, though. You couldn't use regular bullets.
 
Oops, maybe I misread your OP. Are you suggesting the use of something like buck shot as opposed to a bullet? If so aren’t there options already?
 
I knew I wasn't crazy,,,

I was certain that I once had a plastic .38 special cartridge,,,
It was something I found in a box of old junk I got at an auction.

Glad to know that I'm not as senile as I thought I was.

Aarond
 
Shotgun pressures are lower than many handgun rounds, allowing use of plastic for cases.

As the peak chamber pressures go up it puts a real premium on using metal.
 
Currently, the US military is experimenting with plastic rifle cartridges in the LSAT project. It's reportedly going quite well.
 
Not a good idea for us reloaders. I am not sure they could be reloaded or not, but I would bet they would not hold up for too many if any reloadings.
 
As a reloader ....that picked up a few thousand cases off the floor of my local range on Sunday ...I am strictly opposed to using plastic cases in handgun loads ...:(

but looking at my reloading tables for my shotshells ...12ga, 20ga, 28ga and .410's ....the pressures are mostly between 10,000 and 12,500 psi...

even cartridges like 9mm run 28,000 - 33,400 psi ...

Plastic is a pretty generic thing / and there are some plastics that might work ...but high end plastics may not be cheaper than brass. Shotshell hulls that we typically use these days ( that I reload 20 or more times )are still very thin ...and even the most durable of them, like the Remington STS or Nitro hulls, will not hold up to those kinds of pressures. I know pressure in a .45 acp are lower ....but not low enough ....
 
Seems like I remember hearing something like that once, but they didn't use any case at all. Something called muzzle loaders, I think.:p
 
Seems like I remember hearing something like that once, but they didn't use any case at all. Something called muzzle loaders, I think.
Click to expand...

very well done, newbie! you're obviously not new to guns.
i'll be looking forward to hearing more from you;)

seriously, there are plastic bullets, plastic cases and complete plastic rounds. all are low pressure practice rounds at this time.
i'm sure they would hurt like hell if you were shot with one, but unless shot in the eye, or at extremely close range, they wouldn't be disabling.
jmho
 
Used some 38 specials with plastic cases back in the late 80's. It worked as intended. The cases were quite a bit thicker than its brass brethren. They were waddcutters if I recall.
 
I used to have a small collection of various .38 Special plastic cases. Over time, they became very brittle, though, and crumbled with the slightest touch. I threw them all away, but there were several brands, several different loads (printed on the plastic), and a few different shot shells.

I still have a couple plastic 9mm Luger and .44 Special cases laying around, ...somewhere...
 
Yep, those are the ones I was thinking of, Natman.

Sheaffer's Sporting Goods in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, had them on display for awhile while I was going to college in town.
 
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