Save time and stretch your reloading dollar with the innovative Shell Shock Technologies NAS3 cases.
Once in a while something new comes along that gets your attention. That certainly applies to the two-piece 9mm Luger cases from Shell Shock Technologies. This innovative design has a nickel alloy stainless cylinder body attached to a nickel-plated aircraft-grade aluminum base.
The aluminum base is roughly 0.20” tall, and the remaining body is comprised of the nickel alloy cylinder. The two-piece cases are attached by having the flash hole an integral part of the nickel alloy body that extends down into the aluminum base. As part of this design, these cases have larger flash holes than usual brass cases. This helps to eliminate back pressure.
The Nickel Alloy Shell (NAS3) cases have purported advantages over conventional brass cases. They are 50% lighter, less abrasive, stronger – which makes them ideal for +P and +P+ loads, and won’t ‘balloon’ when fired in unsupported chambers. They are self-lubricating and corrosion resistant, and won’t split, chip or crack. And they’re magnetic so you can pick them up with a magnet (finally!).
NAS3 cases are reloadable with special dies made by S3 Reload. They claim these cases can be loaded up to five times more than regular brass cases. S3 Reload has a link on their website to a video that shows the same case being loaded 32 times.
Reloading NAS3 cases is no different than loading brass cases, with the exception of requiring a special sizing die and flaring die. The dies have standard 7/8-14” threading to fit nearly all loading presses. The sizing die has a carbide insert, but the cases require lubrication during the sizing step, just like you would use for bottleneck cases. I used Hornady ONE SHOT, and it worked fine. The sizing die can be used with regular brass cases, as well.
The sizing die has a polyurethane spring that pushes the sized case out of the die, so that it is not pulled out of the die strictly by the shell plate which could damage it by pulling it apart or stretching it. The flaring die is spring-loaded for the same reason.
On five-station presses, the S3 flaring die can be mounted in the station prior to the powder drop. For Dillon presses with an integrated flaring and powder drop tool, the Dillon flaring tool can be used instead of the S3 flaring die as long as the S3 sizing die is used and the cases and flaring die are well lubricated. I use a Dillon XL650, and tried both the S3 flaring die and the Dillon flaring tool. The Dillon flaring tool worked fine, and did not stretch cases.
The cases can handle some pull-stress without stretching or separating but there are limits. I pulled a few bullets from loaded cases and in some instances there was evidence that the steel alloy body was stretched slightly away from the base. The overall length of the case had increased by 10-15 thousandths of an inch, and the gap between the two halves was visibly wider. Some cases did not stretch at all when the bullet was pulled. Any cases that have stretched past the SAAMI length of 0.754” should be discarded.
Sizing the NAS3 cases makes a clunking noise when the case is pushed from the sizing die back against the shellplate/shellholder. Normally the shellholder pulls the case from the die, but with these cases and the spring-loaded size die, the case gets pushed out with a bit of force. It might sound weird or like something is broken when you first hear it, but it’s perfectly normal.
Upon seeing the NAS3 cases, I first noticed that the inside bottom of the case was higher than regular brass cases. I measured the distance from the case mouth to the bottom of the powder chamber in new NAS3 cases and new Starline 9mm brass cases. The internal depth of the NAS3 case was 9% shorter than that of Starline cases.
This could mean that the NAS3 cases have less capacity than regular brass cases. They don’t. Shell Shock says that NAS3 cases have fractionally more capacity than a standard 9mm case. This was confirmed by measuring how much Accurate #7, a fine-grained powder, they would hold. The Starline brass held 13.9 grains, and the NAS3 case held 14.0 grains.
The case walls of both brands were the same 0.012” thickness when measured at the case mouth. As you go deeper in the case, the walls thicken, but the NAS3 walls thicken less. When I put my calipers in the case as deep as I could (which appear to be at essentially the same depth in both brands), the NAS3 wall thickness was 0.023” while the Starline wall measured 0.038”.
Four handloads were tested in NAS3 cases with bullets up to 165 grains and compared with Starline brass cases. The velocity was higher with the NAS3 cases with all four loads. Average increases in speed ranged from 18 to 44 fps depending on the load. It’s not clear why the velocity increased. The greater case capacity of NAS3 cases should produce similar or slightly lower speeds, not higher.
These loads were tested for accuracy at 25 yards with the gun, a Para Ordnance pistol with a 5” Kart barrel, in a Ransom Rest. A single 15-shot group was fired. There was no overall difference in accuracy when comparing the NAS3 cases with Starline cases. Two of the loads produced a smaller group with NAS3 cases and two were larger. That said, switching to NAS3 cases might require you to rework your loads to find the best accuracy because of the increase in velocity or a reduction in your load for the same velocity.
Shell Shock’s advertising says that their uniform wall thickness and proprietary assembly techniques produce reliable and consistent velocity. An independent test report by H. P. White Laboratory, Inc., recorded a standard deviation of only 0.93 fps. True, using Titegroup powder in a 10-shot string, their extreme spread was a mere 4 fps. However, that was a sample of one, and an exceptional example at that. My extreme spreads and standard deviations in NAS3 cases were much larger (see the Table) and did not show a uniform improvement compared to brass cases.
Crimp and Glocks
Crimp is always important, and might be especially important with NAS3 cases for some Glock pistols. I experienced extraction failures with improperly crimped NAS3 cased ammunition in my Glock 19C. During the extraction phase in my Glock, the barrel unlocks and drops down low enough that the rim of the extracting case is exposed to the case mouth of the top round in the magazine. The case mouth has a very sharp edge and can snag the edge of the extracting round’s rim, and prevent the fired case from extracting. Shell Shock Technologies advised me that they have not seen this in their test of Glock pistols, so mine might be an exception. I stopped extraction failures in my Glock by applying a -0.003”crimp. Some Glock owners might experience the same problem I did, and might need to tune their crimp to get reliable function.
High Pressure Testing
One question was how the primer pocket in the NAS3 case’s aluminum head would hold up to higher-than-normal pressure. Brass cases, when loaded to very high pressure, can, in just a few uses, end up with loose primer pockets. Shooters who load 9 Major for competition, where the pressures can easily exceed 9mm +P pressures, can end up with loose primer pockets after just a couple loads.
The durability of the NAS3 cases’ primer pockets was tested by firing high pressure loads in new cases then re-priming them to assess how ‘loose’ the primer pockets were.
The first high pressure load was a published +P load in the Western Powders manual. This was a 115-grain jacketed bullet seated to 1.100” over 6.2 grains of True Blue. The Western manual indicates that this load produced 38,373 psi and 1,197 fps in their 4” test barrel. This load clocked at 1295 fps from my 5” Kart barrel and 1277 fps from my Lone Wolf 4.6” barrel.
The +P load was fired four times in the same NAS3 cases. The primer pockets were in good shape. They were not as tight as new cases, but they were not loose.
A second high pressure test was conducted by loading cases to 9 Major performance levels. Nine Major (or Major 9) is a term used by competitive shooters who load 9mm Luger ammunition to meet a minimum power factor. Power factor is defined by bullet weight times velocity divided by 1000. In USPSA competition, Major power factor is 165, which means a 115-grain bullet must go at least 1435 fps to qualify. Most shooters load their ammo to around 170-172 power factor to make sure it meets the requirement. These velocities and pressures far exceed the usual 9mm Luger’s performance and should only be loaded by very experienced reloaders and only fired in guns specially designed for this type of ammunition.
The chamber pressures of 9 Major can be extremely high with some loads and can exceed the SAAMI pressure limits of 38,500 psi for 9mm +P. The NAS3 cases have a 65,000-psi pressure rating, which could make them good candidates for this application.
A load was developed using Winchester AutoComp and a 115-grain jacketed bullet seated at 1.150” OAL. This load produced 1475 fps (169 power factor) in the Lone Wolf 4.6” barrel and 1521 fps (175 power factor) in the 5” Kart barrel. Thirty seven percent of these cases had primer pockets that were too loose to safely hold a new primer after just one firing. The primer pockets in the remaining cases were noticeable looser than new brass, but were still tight enough to be used again – although I would not use them for this same high pressure load.
AutoComp is one of the faster powders used for 9 Major. A second series of 9 Major ammunition was loaded with Accurate #7, a slower powder, with the same weight bullet and OAL. This powder should, in theory, be able to reach the same power factor level as AutoComp but at lower pressure.
Four different charge weights of Accurate #7 were loaded in 10 new cases each. The rounds chronographed from the 5” Kart barrel at 170, 176, 179, and 183 power factor. None of the 170 power factor cases had loose primer pockets, though many were not as tight as new cases. One of the 176 power factor cases had a primer pocket too loose to trust with future loads, but the remaining cases were fine. None of the 179 power factor cases had loose primer pockets. With the 183 power factor cases, one primer was so loose that it fell out during handling! Surprisingly, the primer pockets in the remaining cases were okay. One was a little loose, but would still work for a standard pressure load. The primer pockets in the remaining eight cases were not as tight as new cases, but were still reasonably tight.
These extreme pressure tests show that NAS3 cases can be used for 9 Major loads, but depending on the powder and the performance level required, the primer pockets might be loose after a single or a few loads, just like brass cases.
NAS3 Cases Final Thoughts
Loading NAS3 cases is just like loading regular brass cases. I experienced no problems setting up the dies and cranking out several hundred of rounds of ammo. Other than requiring lubrication, which I don’t normally use for non-bottleneck pistol cartridges (though some people do), and the clunking sound made during sizing, it’s reloading as usual.
Part of the appeal of these cases is that they’re magnetic. If you’re a reloader, you have to pick up your cases. Using a magnet can make that task easier. I was able to pick up 3-4 cases at a time at the range with my moderate strength magnet. The NAS3 cases are not strongly magnetic, so a strong magnet is the best tool for picking them up. There were also steel rifle cases on the ground, and they were more strongly attracted to the magnet than the NAS3 cases.
Shell Shock’s NAS3 cases are an interesting new product and have several advantages over brass. There is no reason to doubt that they can be loaded as many times as claimed for standard pressure loads, so they could offer a practical way to stretch your reloading dollar.
Do the advantages of NAS3 cases make them worth switching to? Each person has to decide for themselves. With respect to cost, the dies cost $80-$100. The good news is that NAS3 cases are less expensive than brass cases. One thousand new NAS3 cases cost $100, whereas 1000 new brass cases cost a lot more. One of the lowest prices I know of for new, high quality brass cases are from Starline, and they run $130 per 1000. If you want new Winchester or Remington or some other brand cases, expect to pay much more, like $200 or more per 1000. The money you save on cases will quickly pay for the reloading dies.
For more on Shell Shock Technologies, please visit shellshocktechnologies.com.
For more on S3Reload, please visit s3reload.com.
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