Hmm, so I checked again this morning, and the pictures did not show up here nor on my Android phone.  Then one minute later, they show up on both.  Weird.  But now I see them!

Thanks for the explanation, Mako, and I knew some of that stuff but not that name.  However, the pictures did not show up for me.  And when I tell one to open in a new tab, I get a message from https://live.staticflickr.com... that says "These aren't the droids you're looking for."

Okay, I changed my votes, since I use both plastic and brass.  But on wads, I checked both plastic and nitro, etc cards because that's what I use in all brass.  Plastic hulls get plastic wad only.

Now for the question, I've never heard of reifenhauser hulls.  What common hulls would be an example?

Abilene,
Your primary preference for a plastic Hull is not a Reifenhauser style shell, you use a one piece compression formed or unibody Hull..  Those include the Rem STS and Nitro Hulls, the Peters Blue Magics (i still have a large bag of those from over 30 years ago), Win AA hulls, not the newer AA-HS and the Federal HOA shells.  There may be a few others and the Federal Gold Medal used to be but it has changed.  People are now hoarding the One Piece Win AAs like I do the Peters Blue Magics.

In the center photo below the old Federal Gold Medal Compression hull is flanked on either side by two different kinds of Reifenhauser two piece hulls.

 


A Reifenhauser style is named after the company that developed the extrusion process maybe 70 years ago to make extruded tubes strong enough and heat resistant enough to make shell bodies out of.  Almost every shell I didn't list above is a Reifenhauser style and that arguably includes the newer Win AA-HS hulls (but Winchester wants to act like they are a "one piece" equivalent).  If you look down into the shell if there is a separate base wad whether compressed paper or plastic then it is a Reifenhauser style.  Those shells are described as "two piece" which is confusing because they are actually three piece if you count the metal base.  Technically the unibody shells are "two piece" because they have a metal base.



Most but not all Unibody hulls have a tapered interior, they get thicker towards the base, so they require a wad that gets a bit smaller at the base.  You can use the red WAA12 wads in your Rem Nitros as well as the Win AAs.  Actually  Winchester made the Win AA-HS mimic the tapered shape so you can use that wad in the AA-HS even though it is a two piece plastic hull.

This is the new AA-HS hull:  Note the "taper" type of bases.

Paper Hulls are actually very strong and they resist the heat, but they wear out faster than a unibody shell.  The Win AA, the Rem STS/Nitro and the Blue Magic hulls all have a tapered compression formed base and will last until you literally melt them.  As you know Real Powder burns a lot hotter than the smokiless powders.

Reifenhauser hulls with flat base wads normally have more room for powder and they will accept a larger variety of wads and often work better with fiber wads.  Your Nitro Card will fit deeper if you are using a load like 40-60gr of BP.  If you use a full 3 Dram equivalent (80gr BP) then you will probably be above the tapered area in a Compression Formed Hull enough that the Nitro Card will fit well.

Does that help?

~Mako

Just one note on actual S&W 1917 revolvers. Their barrels have rifling set up for FMJ bullets. Unless you use a very hard cast bullet, it will not play well with non-jacketed bullets.

Okay, I changed my votes, since I use both plastic and brass.  But on wads, I checked both plastic and nitro, etc cards because that's what I use in all brass.  Plastic hulls get plastic wad only.

Now for the question, I've never heard of reifenhauser hulls.  What common hulls would be an example?