12 Gage Shell Case

A few years ago I was digging around in my off-brand Pelican-style case where I store hunting ammunition. During this excavation I apparently looked at, breathed near, or perhaps lightly bumped into an ancient box of 12 ga shells of unknown parentage. The box, held together by layers of mismatched and dubious tape, promptly disintegrated. The desiccated tape adhesive puffed into carcinogenic dust, and the box, now without its mummified wrappings, collapsed spilling shells to roll around inside the case.

Now, considering the context of this post, you’re probably thinking this was the moment I was inspired to make a replacement case…

You would be wrong…

What I actually did was promptly close the lid, muttering something about “Big Tape” and planned obsolescence, and immediately forgot about it. What followed was a two-year period in which every time I pulled that case off the top closet shelf, I was greeted by the sound of 25 shotgun shells clattering around inside. Each time I made the obvious observation that I should probably deal with that, before promptly forgetting again roughly two seconds later after getting what I needed and closing the lid.

This cycle might well have continued for several generations, but this year the stars aligned. I happened to be in a fortuitously timed productive mood while putting away gear from a recent hunting trip, and the result was this case.

There’s nothing particularly fancy here. It’s a storage case for up to thirty two 12 ga shells. The shells are arranged in alternating vertical stacks, similar to the original paper box, to maximize capacity. Small vertical lips keep adjacent stacks from collapsing as shells are removed. I also wanted to be able to grab a full handful, without picking them out one at a time.

It’s not flashy, but it does its job well. And that’s all I wanted.