Shell Tech 9mm Ammo Review: Good Lightweight Off-Duty Cartridge

Shell Shock Technologies is a company that first started out making high volume 9mm cases and quickly expanded to rifle and military rounds. The brass design uses unique engineering, and the cartridges made from this brass behave with a completely different set of rules.

When I said “this style” of SST cartridge, bear this in mind. The SST copper polymer cartridges are good for a particular application.  SST has another 9mm available, which is a 124 grain ASP bullet, loaded into the SST cases. The Nosler ASP bullet is a proven performer, and this is a good duty round choice. The SST copper polymer cartridges I tested here have a completely different set of qualities.

Instead of brass, Shell Shock Technologies uses a nickel silver alloy, designated as NAS3. The NAS3 case actually is formed from two components, a NAS3 cylinder, and the base, which is connected to the cylinder by the flash hole, which acts as a rivet to seal the components together. The pistol brass uses an aluminum base. SST rifle brass has a stainless steel base.

The Shell Tech cases look and fit like brass, but their properties are completely different, given the tensile strength of the case, light weight, and slick exterior. Unlike brass, the NAS3 cases expand when the cartridge is fired, but they return to nearly their original dimensions quickly. Brass forms to the chamber when it is fired, and stays that way.  Because of this, brass gives more resistance when it is extracted from the chamber. The smoothness of the slide movement is noticeable when shooting cartridges of NAS3.

NAS3 cases can generally handle higher pressures than brass cases, and some cases also have a little more burning chamber capacity. The potential for higher velocities and greater performance exists. What I found during testing was consistent with this premise.

We tested SST cartridges over the course of several days. The first time I cut the box of cartridges open, my friend and photo guy Robert Marvulli handed me a box of 20 9mm cartridges.

“Very funny”, I said, holding up the box.

“What?”

“You handed me an empty box”

“No I didn’t. You just opened up the case.

It did feel like an empty box, but I opened it and confirmed there were 20 cartridges inside. They were so light, the box and packaging was heavier.

I weighed 3 SST 65 grain cartridges: 311.0 grains. I compared this with 124 grain conventional cartridges: 567.7 grains.

To put this in perspective, 15 rounds of standard duty ammo weighs 2838.5 grains, compared to 1555 grains of SST ammo. If an Officer is carrying two magazines off duty, that’s 5.86 oz difference. This could be the difference between deep concealment and a sloping beltline. I generally carry a 15 oz 9mm, so that’s a lot.

The injection molded bullets have engineered grooves in the nose that displace tissue in a manner that creates maximum wound channel trauma. It is a manner of controlled tumbling, and the design manages to penetrate consistently within the FBI Standard. I ran the SST bullets into bare gelatin, and the average penetration was 14 inches. In fact, the variance only went from 13.5” to 14.5”.

The SST 9mm rounds delivered pretty good numbers. 9mm ammo can run from 250-390 ft lbs in energy. These ran around 385 ft lbs in my tests. Foot pounds are calculated by velocity and mass. The SST rounds do well because they sent these light bullets at incredible velocity for a 9mm.

In bare gelatin, the bullets didn’t expand or deform at all. In fact, when I recovered them, they looked like they could be loaded back into the cartridge.

When we shoot ballistic gelatin, we sometimes consider the “temporary cavity” caused by gelatin displacement not in the path of the bullet. The temporary cavity is a representation of the shock of tissue being moved by a dynamic force. When the bullet expands the tissue past its elasticity, it fissures and tears. The temporary cavity created by the copper-polymer bullet was very similar to those of much heavier design.  

Temporary cavity can give some indication of the energy transfer of a given cartridge. The permanent cavity is roughly the diameter of the bullet. The temporary cavity is caused by material that can’t get out of the way fast enough. The high velocity of the Shell Tech Round is encouraging.

I shot these bullets into ballistic glass. Although this cartridge turned in pretty good performance in bare gelatin, it is not an “after barrier” performer. If your planned use includes shooting into vehicles, please manage your expectations.

Before you dismiss this type of bullet, consider this: There are all kinds of applications where this cartridge would be excellent. I was halfway through this testing and was thinking of all the advantages of an effective cartridge that does not over penetrate interior walls.

This was one of the original qualities that brought about the copper polymer bullet design. They made shooting steel plates safer. On steel, they basically disintegrate, which allowed users to shoot at nearly point-blank. Plates lasted longer, and ricochet was not an issue. Because of this, similar designs were considered for Law Enforcement on airplanes in flight.

I fired the SST cartridges for accuracy, and it was not hard to shoot a 2.5” group at 20 yards. They were very consistent in my two different Glocks and my SIG. SST brought on completely different shooting patterns though. First, they felt as if they ejected the spent brass faster. I have no good tools for measuring this, except the fact that the brass was thrown 10 feet behind the shooter when using my Glock 19. This is consistent with the properties of the NAS3 case, which does not balloon like brass. There is very little resistance from the extracted case.

Although the recoil impulse was only average, there was a lot of muzzle flash and it was a little louder than a standard weight cartridge.

How would I use the SST copper polymer cartridges? First, they are definitely the product with which to pound steel. They give a quick follow-up shot, and they burn cleanly, allowing for extended training sessions.

There is a bonus when using SST cases: One can pick them up off the range floor with a magnet. I use a cheap industrial magnet, which can pick up dozens of cases at a time. This also makes brass sorting much easier.

The SST cartridges would be good for off duty, when an Officer wishes to save as much weight as possible. Even with shorter barrels, the velocities are high and there is no unburnt that sometimes happens in short barrels.

While I would not swear in this product, it has a place in the toolbox.