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Mini Shotshell Review

Ernst

Ernst

.30-06
"Philanthropist"
Over the weekend I listened to this review of mini shotshells regarding their applicability for home defense. The video shows both shot patterns of various offerings at typical home defense distances and includes penetration tests for each. The results IMO are mixed.

Was wondering if some of you who are using mini shells have actually done simular testing and what results you're seeing?

I've not used mini shells so I have no opinion on their effectiveness.

 
Interesting video. I’ve shot a few of the Aguila mini buck in my garage but haven’t busted off any of the mini slugs yet. I have no idea what sufficient or even adequate penetration would be for a clothed intruder. No velocity testing and only visual penetration inspection. The video, as far as my situation is concerned, was that it was overly generous in the distances fired in regard to penetration and spread. I live in a relatively small house and there is only 8 yards max of unobstructed space in any area of my house. I also don’t store my Shockwave on the back porch to accomplish that shot. The more likely distance is 15-18’ if they were to be nice enough to come in the front door and MUCH less if they chose a window. Lol. At 15-18’ the mini bucks spread less than 6 inches and traveled much deeper than a forcefully driven ice pick into my “assailant”. There is so much variation in home defense scenarios that ones first choice, most comfortable HD piece isn’t always going to get the nod. My S/W 9 is a foot away when I’m laying in bed, but the Shockwave is the more formidable choice, no matter the loading, if I’m allowed that couple extra seconds to shut the bedroom door. My first pull, in any case, is a full juice OO load, followed by 8 mini slugs or bucks in some configuration.
My neighbor has an even shorter “likely” shot and depends on an AR15 so…..
 
I've shot a couple dozen Russian imports I picked up several boxes of. They have a "kick" to them and the specs seem equal to 2-3/4" shells. I'll have to post pics if I can find them but I HAVE posted them here in another thread.

From my readings, back in the "old" days, 2-3/4" were filled with black powder. With the invent of smokeless powder, they required less of it for the same performance so filling a mini-shell with the same smaller amount of 2-3/4" powder produces the same performance. At least that is what I have been lead to believe... ;)
 
I use them. Mostly sticking to Federal Shorty Shells, as I’ve gotten better results than with Aguila or Challenger. They are mostly for my Shockwave (4B and slugs) but I’ll occasionally take a box or two of the 8-shot to bust clays on the local trap range.

Here’s a good video from Demonstrated Concepts and another from Paul Harrell. I like Chris Baker, but I often don’t agree with his conclusions.


 
I liked the videos, but again, just my opinion, some of the distances were good for showing potential but not representative of a living room encounter. And while the spread was at times wide in their opinions, in my mental worst case scenario, I’ve just been startled awake by my front door being smashed in, getting up, in the dark, without glasses, crossing 6 feet of familiar space to grab the Shockwave behind the door and swinging it into any firing position, always offhand in this scenario and pulling the trigger. Those flyers may be the only thing that lands in this case. I’ll still feel like I can count on the minis, even if they bat cleanup after dumping a mag or two of 9mm down the hall. Lol
 
I have some Aguila buck shot and slug ammo but have not shot it yet. My home defense doctrine in bird shot followed by buckshot followed by slugs. The 1 3/4” rounds are a range toy at this point. I hope that I only need 1 or 2 rounds of birdshot to deascslate any situation and that the more lethal rounds are in reserve. As far as the length goes or mag tube capacity I’m ok with 5 minimum 2 3/4” shells.
 
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Just a couple of additional thoughts - beyond the spread differences between the offerings I find the demonstrated penetration a little concerning. One thing that we should all consider is the environment where we live. While living in Florida where t-shirts are the dress of the day year round, many of us live in cold climates where for the majority of the year people layer up. Not unusual to see folks wearing a t-shirt, a long sleeved shirt, a vest or sweater and a heavy coat like a Carhratt work jacket. I'm not sure the demonstrated penetration is adequate for some of these home defense situations. Does anyone have additional penetration tests?

Regards
 
Ernst said:
I'm not sure the demonstrated penetration is adequate for some of these home defense situations.
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I agree with your concern but consider that even though penetration may be "inadequate", the ENERGY is still going to be absorbed by the perp. This could be akin to hitting he/she in the chest with a sledgehammer. :) Whether or not adrenaline allows them to recover quickly will depend on the scenario, but it should definitely get the perp thinking about exit stage left... ;)
 
My eyes aren't what they once were, nor are my hands as steady. I'm certain two rounds aimed at the chest (carhart encased) would ultimately end up with at least one striking the groin or head.

Especially in the dark chaos.
 
Bobster said:
I agree with your concern but consider that even though penetration may be "inadequate", the ENERGY is still going to be absorbed by the perp. This could be akin to hitting he/she in the chest with a sledgehammer. :) Whether or not adrenaline allows them to recover quickly will depend on the scenario, but it should definitely get the perp thinking about exit stage left... ;)
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Bobster, while I understand your point, I guess the question that still comes to mind is why anyone one would select a round for home defense that doesn't provide adequate demonstrated penetration?

To me that like say you're going to use 22 LR vice 223. Same caliber bullet.

Everyone raved about mini's and the ability to carry more rounds but if the required penetration is not there and like you said you can just fire two rounds vice one, does the extra capacity really provide any advantage?

As I said earlier, I have no dog in this fight, and I've not used any mini's but before I would select any round, shotgun, pistol or rifle for hunting, carry or home defense I'd make sure the round meets my needs. To me the lack of penetrations demonstrated in the first video is a non starter. As I ask earlier if anyone has other actual penertation test they could provide. To date I've seen none.

Regards
 
Ernst said:
Bobster, while I understand your point, I guess the question that still comes to mind is why anyone one would select a round for home defense that doesn't provide adequate demonstrated penetration?
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I think if you are worried about lack of penetration, you should be using a higher powered rifle instead of a shotgun. ;) But now you will have to consider OVER-penetration of walls and such...
 
When I first shot my shockwave, the available shells were some heavy ass waterfowl loads that totally took me by surprise with the big flash boom erupting from the 14” barrel, followed by the sight of my own blood from the safety gouging into the meat of my hand, somewhat valiantly attempting to hang on for another shot. Still got 98 of those SOBs under the bed,lol. Tried some double O shells, which are manageable and are in the chamber as my first shot, while the tube is now filled with minis as the ability to make repeat shots on target with a perp even somewhat closing the rapidly diminishing distance between us is more important to me. Plus if the knucklehead keeps coming, every shot is gonna go deeper, in my book..lol
 
Lol, might have to reevaluate using the mini slugs in a living room width scenario. Let off a couple of the Aguila’s and at a bit over 15’, they EASILY blew through a half inch of Sheetrock AND 7 layers of 1/2” OSB plywood and lost themselves in the woods another 100’ away. I can’t guarantee I’ll hit studs with an errant shot, so I’ll be sticking with the full/mini buck combo from here on out…even the wads cleared all the plywood..
 
Rodburner, I doubt you will see much difference in slug penetration between a mini and regular a 2 3/4 inch shell. The video, in the original post, shows good penertation of a mini slug.

Would be interesting to see the results if you tested your mini buchshot rounds against the same target you described above and see the penetration results as compared to a regular length shell. Wonder what both 00 and number 4 buck would do.

Regards
 
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