2" shells?

bikeguy · April 20, 2002, 08:55 PM

I recently saw the Aguila mini-shells and was intrigued. I have read that they do not perform well in an 870. I was wondering if anyone has seen or created a 2" shell and whether such a thing would work in an 870. Don't know if it would increase mag capacity over 2 3/4 enough to be worth the trouble, but it might be interesting.

Benjamin · April 20, 2002, 09:51 PM

2" and other odd length shotgun ammo is commercially available in the USA. To the best of my knowledge it is chiefly used in old shotguns with short chambers. Only place I can think of offhand that sells this would be Old Western Scrounger.

Navy joe · April 21, 2002, 12:48 AM

The Minishells absolutely rock in an 870 as a matter of fact. The only problem I have is with the last round out of the tube for some reason, it flips over backwards in the port. Solution is to make your last shot 3" magnum buck, problem solved. I use my normal stroke which is very deliberate anyway, snap to the rear, pause snap to the front, I think some people baby the action in regular use and then with the minis they really screw up and try to short stroke them. Problem with the slugs is they are small diameter with no rifling grooves, group about 8 inches at 25 yds. The upside is with a last round of 3" buck and the first two the same I can find room for a tube capacity of 10. I would love to see buckshot, I know they offer #7 shot or something right now. they are way too much fun to shoot, if Mark Serbu can make a Super Shorty run well with them, then you know I'll have to get one.

Dave McC · April 21, 2002, 05:00 AM

There's been a number of short 12 gauge shells brought out over the last century.

The Brits were first. Back around the 1920s, I believe, the fad was a super light 12 gauge with 2" shells holding down to 5/8 oz of shot, tho most used 1 1/16 oz,like longer sporting shells. Here we use 20s and 28s for the same effect. Of course, lots of light Brit and European doubles were built for their standard 2 1/2" shell also.

Back around 1980,the Feds tested 2" shells in some short shotguns they had, mostly 870s, IIRC. Results were mixed. One agent I knew liked the short shells in his standard 870, and was a master at getting center hits in very short time frames with it. BTW,the official FBI buck during this time was #4, not 00.

After the Feds turned down the concept of using short ammo, those shells were marketed as "Bantam Mags" or something else testosterone inducing. Feeding reliability was suspect, tho patterns seemed excellent compared to "Generic" 00.

As to the new stuff,I'm a hidebound conservative. The possibility of feeding probs weighs more heavily than the supposed benefit of having one more round in the mag,IMO.

bikeguy · April 21, 2002, 09:59 AM

i figured that the feeding problems would negate any real or imagined benefit from the extra capacity. I imagine that in order to rely on shorter shells, the receiver would have to be made/modified for them.

The mini shells just seem a little too "mini" for my purposes, but I guess looks can be decieving. Too many people have reported feeding problems for me to try them - although Navy Joe seems to have sucess with them. Ahh, maybe I'll try them out for Schlitz and giggles.

BTW, how did 2 3/4" (and 3") become the standards? Has any US company ever tried to market a SG and ammo of different size? Just curious.

K80Geoff · April 21, 2002, 10:42 AM

I have always been made to understnd that the 2" shells were marketed to the "Tactical" crowd so that they could jam more rounds into their magazines.

Kind of like using 22shorts in a tube fed rifle

The Brits had a go at using 2 1/2 " shells in their SXS guns in the early part of this century. Apparently it was their answer to the 28 ga that they should have been using

April 20, 2002, 08:55 PM	#1
bikeguy Senior Member Join Date: October 16, 2001 Location: Georgia (North-East) Posts: 217	2" shells? I recently saw the Aguila mini-shells and was intrigued. I have read that they do not perform well in an 870. I was wondering if anyone has seen or created a 2" shell and whether such a thing would work in an 870. Don't know if it would increase mag capacity over 2 3/4 enough to be worth the trouble, but it might be interesting. __________________ I find that common sense just ain't all that common.

April 21, 2002, 12:48 AM	#3
Navy joe Senior Member Join Date: January 28, 2001 Location: VA, USA Posts: 1,804	The Minishells absolutely rock in an 870 as a matter of fact. The only problem I have is with the last round out of the tube for some reason, it flips over backwards in the port. Solution is to make your last shot 3" magnum buck, problem solved. I use my normal stroke which is very deliberate anyway, snap to the rear, pause snap to the front, I think some people baby the action in regular use and then with the minis they really screw up and try to short stroke them. Problem with the slugs is they are small diameter with no rifling grooves, group about 8 inches at 25 yds. The upside is with a last round of 3" buck and the first two the same I can find room for a tube capacity of 10. I would love to see buckshot, I know they offer #7 shot or something right now. they are way too much fun to shoot, if Mark Serbu can make a Super Shorty run well with them, then you know I'll have to get one. __________________ FY47012

April 21, 2002, 09:59 AM	#5
bikeguy Senior Member Join Date: October 16, 2001 Location: Georgia (North-East) Posts: 217	i figured that the feeding problems would negate any real or imagined benefit from the extra capacity. I imagine that in order to rely on shorter shells, the receiver would have to be made/modified for them. The mini shells just seem a little too "mini" for my purposes, but I guess looks can be decieving. Too many people have reported feeding problems for me to try them - although Navy Joe seems to have sucess with them. Ahh, maybe I'll try them out for Schlitz and giggles. BTW, how did 2 3/4" (and 3") become the standards? Has any US company ever tried to market a SG and ammo of different size? Just curious. __________________ I find that common sense just ain't all that common.

April 21, 2002, 10:42 AM	#6
K80Geoff Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 1998 Location: NE Pennsylvania Posts: 3,639	I have always been made to understnd that the 2" shells were marketed to the "Tactical" crowd so that they could jam more rounds into their magazines. Kind of like using 22shorts in a tube fed rifle The Brits had a go at using 2 1/2 " shells in their SXS guns in the early part of this century. Apparently it was their answer to the 28 ga that they should have been using __________________ I am no longer a member of this forum. Bye!

April 20, 2002, 09:51 PM	#2
Benjamin Senior Member Join Date: December 27, 1999 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 358	2" and other odd length shotgun ammo is commercially available in the USA. To the best of my knowledge it is chiefly used in old shotguns with short chambers. Only place I can think of offhand that sells this would be Old Western Scrounger.

April 21, 2002, 05:00 AM	#4
Dave McC Staff In Memoriam Join Date: October 13, 1999 Location: Columbia, Md, USA Posts: 8,811	There's been a number of short 12 gauge shells brought out over the last century. The Brits were first. Back around the 1920s, I believe, the fad was a super light 12 gauge with 2" shells holding down to 5/8 oz of shot, tho most used 1 1/16 oz,like longer sporting shells. Here we use 20s and 28s for the same effect. Of course, lots of light Brit and European doubles were built for their standard 2 1/2" shell also. Back around 1980,the Feds tested 2" shells in some short shotguns they had, mostly 870s, IIRC. Results were mixed. One agent I knew liked the short shells in his standard 870, and was a master at getting center hits in very short time frames with it. BTW,the official FBI buck during this time was #4, not 00. After the Feds turned down the concept of using short ammo, those shells were marketed as "Bantam Mags" or something else testosterone inducing. Feeding reliability was suspect, tho patterns seemed excellent compared to "Generic" 00. As to the new stuff,I'm a hidebound conservative. The possibility of feeding probs weighs more heavily than the supposed benefit of having one more round in the mag,IMO.