A Reddit user has sparked confusion on the “mildly interesting” subreddit, after discovering that their shotgun shells contain shot (predictable) and a whole load of flax seed (not so much).
“These shells were made specifically for waterfowl hunting,” Reddit user Benbablin explained, after posting an image of the shells. “The BBs themselves are steel as opposed to the lead that most are made from.”
So, what is going on here? Are these special shotgun shells used for planting crops? Are shotgun shells secretly plants?
Well, that first point might not be so outlandish. Back in 2013, one designer attempted to make a shotgun shell for that very purpose.
“It basically started out as an art project,” Per Cromwell, inventor of the Flower Shell, which contains seeds for poppies, peonies, and cornflowers, told Fast Company at the time. “I got the idea that it would be interesting to use something meant to be lethal and used to be bringing life into the world. And then I realized that it actually worked.”
While it worked, the idea didn’t really catch on, and this is likely not why Redditors are suddenly finding their shotgun shells are filled with bird food. Instead, the seeds are likely used as a buffer material inside the shells, to give a more consistent shot.
“Buffered loads produce superior, more consistent patterns by reducing random pellet to pellet influences during setback,” Ballistic Products explains. “Each pellet is embedded into a protective cushion of buffer.”
Generally, buffer is made of a synthetic material, which helpfully can provide evidence in the cases of shootings.
“Buffer material is particulate in nature and usually composed of polyethylene or polypropylene,” the National Institute of Justice firearms training website explains.
“Many older buffer materials were pigmented (black, blue, light yellow), but currently are generally white in color. Shot pellets and the hollow bases of slugs fired from a shotshell containing buffer materials show microscopic impressions of the buffer material on their surface.”
While plastics are a common material for a buffer, seeds can be used too, or a combination of both.
“There were also two different kinds of flax and a polymer buffer inside the shotshell, taking up space that more shot should have occupied,” Outdoor Life complains of one type of shotgun shell, adding “the shot is lightly buffered and includes a few pieces of flax at the end of the shell” about another in the same review.
Amateurs will place flax seed inside their shells too, as shown by Bob Moloney below.
So if you find flax seed in your shotgun shells, you either have a very rare “flower seed” and could get planting, or you have some ordinary shotgun shells containing flax seed as a – slightly more environmentally friendly – buffer.
Source Link: People Are Just Now Learning Why Shotgun Shells Sometimes Contain Seeds
