III. Firearm Information by Type

E. Shotguns

1. Shotshells and Loads

g. Shot Storage

by Scot E. Heath (scot@hpfistu.fc.hp.com)

Dealing with 25 lb bags of shot and tall shot hoppers on shot shell loaders has been the mother of the following invention:

I recommend storing shot in 2-liter plastic pop bottles. They hold a bag of shot, are easy to pour out of and are tough as the dickens. I made a funnel that I find extremely valuable out of 2 caps, a plastic 35mm film canister and a 2 liter bottle. Assemble the two bottle caps and the film canister by cutting the top out of the caps, the bottom off the film canister and gluing the caps top to top into the canister as shown below:

  
                          _________________________ 
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                        ||        bottle cap       ||
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                        ||_________________________||
                        | _________________________ |<---- plastic 35 mm 
                        ||                         ||      film canister
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                        ||         bottle cap      ||
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                        ||_________________________||
  
Cut the bottom 1" or so off a 2 liter bottle and screw the cap/canister assembly onto the top. You now have a big funnel that will screw onto your 2 liter shot storage bottles. When you empty a bottle, screw the funnel on, open a shot bag and up-end it into the funnel. Pull the bag out slowly and all the shot ends up in the bottle, not on your loading bench. Pouring from the bottle into the shot hopper is a snap.