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"Short" Shotgun Shells


Col Del Rio

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I reckon they'd be legal - I've made 'em as short as 1 5/8", like the Aguila mini-shells, but... half inch? Allowing for the crimp, the finished length would be about a quarter inch long - the brass base is all that would be left!

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They are also very pricey.  If they were all you had, then yes you could shoot them.  I scrounged some empties once and loaded BP in a few (before the days of knockdowns) as an experiment.  They were pretty wimpy.  :)

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I've been working on a load for them as I cut off the crimp of regular hull and then roll crimp them.  

 

so this make them a bit shorter than regular ones.

 

I can get them to "just" take down the KDs but have been known to use a regular reload to finish the job.

 

 

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11 minutes ago, Singin' Sue 71615 said:

Uhm....why would you want to use one that short???

Very clumsy for CAS, but the 1 5/8"ers will fit nine in the magazine of a Mossberg Shockwave. :)

Shockwave.jpg

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16 hours ago, Singin' Sue 71615 said:

Uhm....why would you want to use one that short???

I'm guessing he meant 2 1/2 inch.   If you are shooting Wild Bunch, and your 97 won't hold 6, you can load two- 2 1/2 inch rounds and four- 2 3/4 rounds to get 6 rounds into your gun.

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28 minutes ago, Jeb Stuart #65654 said:

I'm guessing he meant 2 1/2 inch.   If you are shooting Wild Bunch, and your 97 won't hold 6, you can load two- 2 1/2 inch rounds and four- 2 3/4 rounds to get 6 rounds into your gun.

I believe he is talking about the super short loads...I have seen the tiny 'c battery' size shells. Wierd little dudes!

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I, too, am certain that he did not mean 1/2 inch. But regardless of what he intended the answer to his question is there is no minimum length for shotgun shells in SASS.

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Assuming 2-1/2" was meant, they are perfect;y legal.  I normally run Magtech all brass at that length, but I also have a few boxes worth of AA's that I have trimmed back.  You don't need a special or different press for them, and you can run the exact same load you put in the 2-3/4" ones.  All you have to do is put an overshot card over the shot and run it through your normal press.  You will get a nice "roll crimp" that holds the card in place.  Overall length of the finished shell is the same overall length as a  2-3/4" one, so you don't get any extra capacity in your magazine using this method.  Or with the all brass ones for that matter.

 

901045994_AAs.thumb.JPG.183934a54908c0f83e470d5aa1dd8776.JPG961500480_AAsTop.thumb.JPG.25f4f935c3a6222f15074ffe8ae08c37.JPG

 

I have never understood why Wild Bunch stages are written for a 6 rounds in the mag of a gun that is only designed to hold 5.

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You can get wads from Ballistic Products for Short shells.

                                                                                                              Largo

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think the question has to do with these, as I was recently asked about them for use at our State Match.Minishell_7-1-2-Shot-merged.thumb.jpg.9611ab8470f8508bad4835eb23a54183.jpg

 

Minishell-Shot.thumb.jpg.d1798728e43c6f7617d409698564cb2f.jpg

 

 

 

 

Not much attraction for me as they don't hold enough BP.  Besides, with my fumble fingers, they would be strewn all over the ground like rice at a Chinese Buffet!

 

 

But the question remains, Are They SASS Legal?

 

 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Dogmeat Dad, SASS #48563L said:

Not much attraction for me, as they don't hold enough BP, and with my fumble fingers, they would be strewn all over the ground like rice at a Chinese Buffet!

 

But the question remains, Are They SASS Legal?

 

YES.

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I experimented with super short rounds.  In the first photo the orange round on the left is a standard 2 3/4" round.  On the right is a round where the sizer and crimper were turned down so low that the plastic got pushed out the bottom of the shell resuling in a negative 2 3/4" round.  Despite the good idea, they don't work for squat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

DSC_0003.jpeg

DSC_0004.jpeg

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Been building 2 inch 12 ga for a couple years. They run ok but you do need to remember to tilt the gun a hair left to help them find their way. More so in my Model 12 as they will hit the front of the ejection port. They give me another round in my WB shotguns, 7+1. Recoil is about the same as my full sized shells. I use the red wad shown. 
 

1CD2243F-C2D6-4092-9FF0-E86D6949C939.jpeg

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On 5/21/2021 at 5:07 PM, Singin' Sue 71615 said:

I believe he is talking about the super short loads...I have seen the tiny 'c battery' size shells. Wierd little dudes!

My first BP match a cowboy loaded for me

and had short rounds with a roll crimp. They were AWESOME! I loved shooting them! I don’t have a way to do roll

crimp but will investigate while at EOT! 
 

HUGS!

Scarlett

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4 hours ago, Scarlett said:

My first BP match a cowboy loaded for me

and had short rounds with a roll crimp. They were AWESOME! I loved shooting them! I don’t have a way to do roll

crimp but will investigate while at EOT! 
 

HUGS!

Scarlett

 

Roll crimping is easy to do but it is more time consuming then star crimping.  I’m sure that’s a primary reason manufacturers use star crimps. 

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12 hours ago, Baltimore Ed said:

Been building 2 inch 12 ga for a couple years. They run ok but you do need to remember to tilt the gun a hair left to help them find their way. More so in my Model 12 as they will hit the front of the ejection port. They give me another round in my WB shotguns, 7+1. Recoil is about the same as my full sized shells. I use the red wad shown. 
 

1CD2243F-C2D6-4092-9FF0-E86D6949C939.jpeg

That looks like my Bair loader you're using?

If so, I might have to contact you with questions!

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18 hours ago, Dogmeat Dad, SASS #48563L said:

I think the question has to do with these, as I was recently asked about them for use at our State Match.Minishell_7-1-2-Shot-merged.thumb.jpg.9611ab8470f8508bad4835eb23a54183.jpg

 

Minishell-Shot.thumb.jpg.d1798728e43c6f7617d409698564cb2f.jpg

 

 

 

 

Not much attraction for me as they don't hold enough BP.  Besides, with my fumble fingers, they would be strewn all over the ground like rice at a Chinese Buffet!

 

 

But the question remains, Are They SASS Legal?

 

 

 

 

THESE are the shortys I have seen.

 

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the shorties i have are south american dove loads that i got from michael mccintoshes stash after he passed , i have kept them as reserve in case i found myself 'short' at a shoot - they have traveled a lot of miles at this point , im not anxious to shoot them up but nice to know they would be acceptable in that pinch that could present itself , 

 

ive also held them back because they do afford an extra in the mag in some situations - not that most of us worry of that and certainly not in the SASS venue as we dont load a mag most of the time , 

i have both 12 and 20s but i have no 20ga gun any more - might be an incentive to buy one tho , ive bought in the past for such a reason , 

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Yes you can Sue. I’ve got two, a Pacific and a Bair.  One’s is 12 ga and one is 20ga. They are great machines.

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