I found some incredibly strange ammo in my grandpas shop?

Question

It was shells for a .38 special. It's a silver casing with a blue piece on the end that has bird shot in it. The end of the blue case is like the end of a shotshell where it breaks open to let the shot out?
Is this safe to fire? I probably won't because there are only 8 left now.

thanks alot guys. but he passed away and I was looking through the ammo boxes, and found those. I've never heard of CCI. Oh well. There are also reloaded 12 gauge shells out there labled double handicap. lol I'll pass on shooting those.

Answer 1

Yes they are safe to fire. They are CCI Shotshells. They are aluminum casings, with plastic shot capsules that hold approximately 109 grains of #9 shot, with a muzzle velocity of 1000 feet per second. The only anticipated problem is they lead-foul the barrel, but that can be corrected by using a good bore solvent like Hoppes. The aluminum case cannot be reloaded, and this ammo should never be used in a ported barrel application. They aren't incredibly effective at a distance much over 5 yards.

here is the CCI webpage for them:
http://www.cci-ammunition.com/ballistics/shotshell.aspx


Well, this is funny now, because alot of my 10mm brass is nickel plated brass which is acceptable for reloading, and the funny thing is the CCI shells are not! Nor have I seen any nickel plated brass from them in the last 10 years that wasnt a few of their .22 rounds. And the only round with #12 is the 9mm. Seems like the only thing JD got right was their appoximate effective range. If you are going to contradict all that I say, be right!

Answer 2

Unless CCI has changed their format, their shotshell cartridge cases ARE NOT nickle-plated brass. Nor are the .38's loaded with #12 shot.

Last time I bought any CCI handgun shotshells, the cases were aluminum and berdan primed. That means you can not easily reload them. The .38's and .44's were loaded with #9 shot, while the .22's and .45 ACP's were loaded with #12 shot, I don't know what was used in the 9 mm shotshells.

If they are a dull silver-grey, they are the store bough aluminum cases. If they are shiny nickle, your granddad did as I did and he bought the CCI plastic shot cups and handloaded his own shotshells.

Unless your granddad got careless, these shells should be safe in any non-ported revolver. These things are deadly on snakes at under five yards, beyond about 12-15 feet, the shot pattern is too ragged to be reliable.

Doc

Answer 3

Snake shot. You've found some old snake shot bullets, probably by CCI. CCI loaded snake shot with blue tips & aluminum (silver color) casings.

The only way to find out if they are still good is to shoot one. With snake shot you won't have to worry about a bullet lodging in the barrel of your revolver if you have only partial ignition or only the primer go off.

Best.

H

Answer 4

They were called CCI "Shotshells". They may still be making them. They were used mostly for close in shots, 10 to 15 ft. After that the small shot size and low velocity, made them almost useless.
They should be perfectly safe, mine have always worked fine.

Answer 5

CCI makes these in an aluminum casing, if it is more of silverish colored, it could be a reloaded nickel plated casing. If it is CCI then they are safe to fire, if it is a reload, the only person who would know would be your grandpa.

Answer 6

YES, They are in fact CCI Shotshells in 38 Special Caliber. The are NOT aluminum, but are nickel coated brass casings and are loaded with #12 Birdshot. The Blue Plastic Tips disintegrate upon firing, and the birdshot continues to your intended target. Effective Range of about 20 feet. They can be fired in ANY handgun or rifle made in 38/357 Magnum caliber. They will not harm barrels or rifling inside the barrels they are shot out of.......

Answer 7

as stated yes it is a cci shotshell round.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0003708210838a&navCount=2&podId=0003708&parentId=cat20837&masterpathid=&navAction=jump&cmCat=MainCatcat20712-cat20837&catalogCode=IH&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20837&hasJS=true
yes its safe to shoot.