doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 1 3/4" 12 gauge "shorty shells"

I have seen several ammo makers offering short shells, mostly to cram more shells in a home defense gun I assume.
Has anyone shot any? They sell at premium price it looks like. Challenger is a shell I shot a lot of, they have a short offering.Honey, I Shrank the Shotgun Shells (And the Recoil!)

Challenger's Super Shortshell Shotshells - say that three times fast! - are part of the new wave in shotgun ammunition: shorter than standard length shells. The benefit is being able to load more rounds into the tube magazine of your pump action personal defense shotgun. A full 1" shorter than standard shells (1-3/4" vs. 2-3/4"), Super Shortshells also make excellent reduced-power loads for recoil-sensitive shooters, especially in single- or double-barreled shotguns.

Like all Challenger shotshells, Super Shortshells deliver excellent performance at an economical price. "Economical" doesn't mean cutting corners in the wrong places. Cheddite primers give "surefire" reliability, while the slow-burning powder spreads out the recoil impulse to help make Super Shortshells extremely easy on the shoulder. Extra-hard, high-antimony pellets maximize the "punch" of the smaller shot loads.


1-3/4" shell length lets you load more rounds in tube mag shotguns
Light recoil excellent for beginning, youth & smaller-statured shooters
Extra-hard, dense-patterning pellets
Available by the 20-rd box or 300-rd case
Super Shortshells are not just the result of loading up good ingredients and hoping for the best. Like all Challenger shotshells, Shortshells are exhaustively tested in a state-of-the-art (and science!) ballistic laboratory. A universal receiver is used in conjunction with an ultra-sensitive quartz pressure transducer and advanced chronograph to test pressures and velocities. This ensures you enjoy the same light recoil from one round to the next, EVERY time you pull the trigger.

I have shot some Aguila #7 1/2 through a relatively heavy, tighter choked gun a some clays only for curiosity. It broke modest clay presentations, and was expectedly mild shooting. I may carry some for dove coming up. I'll never have to worry about it, but I had the thought to try an over the counter 2 in. shell option, and I saw it sitting on a shelf for about fifty cents a shot.

Mike I bought a number of boxes of the 1 3/4� shells several years ago.David and I shot some hand thrown birds just to see how they performed. Worked pretty well. I will give you some to try when we get together so you can try them on dove if you would like.

Mike, have you tested them in different tactical pumps for reliability in cycling?

SRH

Thanks Phil, I'll check them out, thinking about first shot for doubles.
Stan, I don't have any tactical pumps-just Redwing lace ups....

Stan, when we sold the Aguilas at Cabela�s, a number of the pump guns tried to allow two out of the magazine, causing horrific jams.

�Redwing lace ups� - I like that.

There was a long discussion of the Aguila shorties on CalGuns a few months ago. Lots of uninformed tacticool types on that thread, but consensus seemed to be that they were prone to jamming in a lot of pump guns and not worth the risk in an HD situation.

I don't own a pump gun and I've never tried the short "shorties" but I have used a fair number of the roll crimped Gamebore 2" shells loaded with 5/8 oz #7 shot in my double guns hunting in the uplands (cases are just over 1 3/4" long when fired). They patterned well and were very effective on bunnies, the occasional woodcock or squirrel; and even on one old coon. Recoil was very mild, but what I liked most was how easy they carried over a long day afield kicking brush; was equivalent to having a .410 with the pattern of a 12-bore. I don't worry about home defense; wife would scare anybody off.

Reported fps & pressures

Aguila 12ga MINISHELL 1 3/4� 5/8 oz. shot - 1,175 fps - 11,000 psi
Federal 12g SHORTY 1 3/4� 15/16 oz. shot - 1,145 fps - 9,200-9,500 psi

Hey Doc Drew. thanks for that info. I've actually tried to look for that Aguila info, but hadn't had any luck.