I was recently organizing my reloading bench when I came across a load data sheet (printed by Ballistic Products Inc.) that I acquired a few years ago. The subject of the sheet was reduced length (shorter than 2-3/4 inch) shotshells. Since I had the materials required for the project and too much time on my hands – on account of being recently laid off – I decided to put together some twelve- gauge, two-inch length shotshells with payloads of both birdshot and buckshot.
The details of the project can be found by clicking the links at the end of the article, but the condensed version is that while the mini-shells were fun to make and did increase the capacity of my Benelli Nova by two rounds, the patterns they produced left a bit to be desired. At five yards, patterns were acceptable, but at ten yards, some pellets apparently went wild and missed the 14x22 inch poster board targets completely. Wild projectiles are never a good thing.
My theory is that the pellets suffered a great deal of deformation before leaving the muzzle. None of the loads incorporated any kind of buffer, Teflon wrap, or shot cup, all of which can cushion shot and/or prevent it from scrubbing against the chamber and bore. Additionally, since my gun has a 3-1/2 inch chamber, it’s possible that the shot column began to expand in the chamber itself before passing the forcing cone, which may have exacerbated pellet deformation. The rounds may have fared better fired from a 2-3/4 inch chambered gun.
On a positive note, all tested rounds fed and cycled perfectly in my pump action Benelli Nova.
The complete articles I wrote on reduced length shotshells can be found on guns.com by clicking the links below.
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