Shawn,

You are probably correct on the legalities of shell. Black powder is considered an explosive by BATF and a shell loaded with such would come under the heading of a "Destructive Device". The line may be very vague but I feel it's probably better not to antagonize some overzealous agent looking to make his career. There already exists enough difficulty obtaining black powder in quantity these days. The feds see bad guys behind every tree at present.LOL So we "Weekend Warriors" have to take what we can get.

Len