Paintball Shotgun Shells



To make the "shotgun" style shells that I use with my Launcher / Shotguns, you need the following.

1. Paintballs (mine take 18 per shell)
2. Cardboard tubing that fits your barrel (toilet paper rolls work for me!)
3. Contact Cement
4. Sheet of thin cardboard
5. Sheet of thin foam stuff cut in circles (will explain later)
6. Cotton / Cotton Balls

Here's a pic of the parts (wadding is assembled already)

Ok, and the How-To...

1. I found some foam circles at a local store. They are about 1/8" thick and a bit bigger than the cardboard rolls I use. You should be able to use something like poster board, thin cardboard or something else to make these. I'll explain the principle, and you can do it however you want. The Soft circle is the bottom of the shell. I first make cuts in the middle of the foam circle in a star pattern (like cutting a pizza). Stay a bit away from the edges. We're making a "door" for the air to pass through. Coat the bottom of the cardboard tubing with contact cement, center on your foam circle and glue that puppy in place. Put aside to dry.

2. Start on the wadding for the bottom of the shell. Cut 3 circles that slide easily into into the cardboard. Grab 2 cotton balls and the contact cement. Make a sandwich using 2 cotton balls in the middle and the 2 circles glued to the top and bottom. There's your wadding. A type of wadding that I make uses the circles, cotton balls and a little melted wax to hold them together. I drop it all in cardboard tube and let it dry. It makes a great air-tight seal between the air and paintballs.

3. Ready to assemble. Drop the wadding block into shell. It's your bottom. Add paintballs until the shell is almost full. Take your third cardboard circle and place it on top. Use 2-3 tiny dabs of contact cement to hold the top on.