Message no. 1

From:	dhinkley@***.ORG
Subject:	Automatic Shotguns
Date:	Tue, 17 Dec 1996 00:38:54 +0000

Given the receint discussions on full automatic shotguns. I think
that the following may be of interest.

Conventional (i.e. civilian) shotgun shells do not fuction reliably
when fired full auto. I seems that the chamber heats up past the
melting point of thier plastic hulls. At this point ther is
incomplete extraction (part of the shell is left behind) cuasing a
jam that can not be easly cleared.. The present day solution has been
to resort to all brass shotgun shells.

While this may be an acceptable solution for military and security
units (they do not have to pay for them) it does present a bit
greater problem for the general public as this type of shell is hard
to get.

There is one current shotgun that can fire plastic shells the
"Jackhammer Mark 3A4". It does so by incorperating the chamber with
the removable magazine or "cassette" every time the cassette is
changed a new cold chamber is added. One other neat feature of this
system is that the expended shells stay in the cassette. No expended
shells left at the scene.




David Hinkley
dhinkley@***.org
******************************************************
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a
little temporary safety deserve niether liberty or
safety.
Ben Franklin