Quote from: Okiehntr12 on January 16, 2013, 01:43:01 PM
I just received two boxes of three inch white hevi in the mail today. Opening the box I noticed what looked like sand or salt around the shells and in the box. I picked up a shell and some started coming out of the hull. It's the filler and the shot. Is this normal and are they still safe to shoot. Out of 20 shells there is probably 3 or 4 that don't leak when turned up right. I looked closer at the end of the hull and the plastic wad o guess you could call it has a small pen sized gap along the wall. Everyone of them has this.
Those shells have a rolled crimp and plastic over-wad. At this point they are almost 9 years old, since they were loaded late in 2004. They may have been handled a lot and exposed to variations in temperature and humidity. They are very subject to leaking buffering material and shot if the over-wad gets cracked or loose.
There's really nothing you can do to stop that once it's started. You can keep them upright and that will help. They would not be unsafe to shoot as they are but they probably won't pattern as well as a shell without damage. Unfortunately, anything that might stop the leaks could also increase pressure in the shell.
By the way, that buffering material is some crazy stuff. If it gets on your floors it's like ice and makes everything very slippery. Be careful.
Thanks,
Clark