Is There a Reloading Market for 12ga Shorty / Mini Shells?

thegazelle

thegazelle

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Hi there, I recently bought a 12ga and to acclimate me to the recoil (very bad experience years ago for which I swore I would never own a 12ga), I bought some Aguila mini shells and also the Federal Shorty shells (1 3/4"). I know nothing about reloading, so pardon my ignorance on the subject but curious whether there is a market or a point for me to keep these shorty and mini shells for reloading purposes - mostly for others down the road once I collect enough. I understand there is a market for used 9mm, .40, .223/.556, 20ga and 12ga regular 2 3/4" but just wanted to know about the shorty and mini shell versions. I also assume rimfire is not worth the trouble to keep as the cheap of cost of factory ammo far outweighs the effort to try to reload them...

Thanks in advance.
 
I understand your recoil issue.

The next step up is the Challenger Light Target load. 7/8 oz of shot and a 2 3/4 dram equil powder charge. These are full size rounds but low recoil. And cheap, too.
 
Rim fire can not be reloaded, so no point in saving them.
I find the gun type and fit makes as much difference as some shells do, A 2 3/4 target load in a semi ( as Ganderite talks about), I find is easier than a 20 ga in a couple over/ under I have had.
I have never had any of those short ones to try.
I don't know if they would work on a press, and would not work in most SA guns.
A limb saver pad make a huge difference over just a plate.
I find new guys tend to look at short black shot guns, or a coach gun which are the last thing you want, if recoil is a issue. I do not do heavy mag, or 3 1/2 in stuff myself.
 
marshall said:
Rim fire can not be reloaded, so no point in saving them.
I find the gun type and fit makes as much difference as some shells do, A 2 3/4 target load in a semi ( as Ganderite talks about), I find is easier than a 20 ga in a couple over/ under I have had.
I have never had any of those short ones to try.
I don't know if they would work on a press, and would not work in most SA guns.
A limb saver pad make a huge difference over just a plate.
I find new guys tend to look at short black shot guns, or a coach gun which are the last thing you want, if recoil is a issue. I do not do heavy mag, or 3 1/2 in stuff myself.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, these Shortys or Minishells have a very niche market for successful functionality in guns. For my Mossberg 590 SPX Shockwave, these will work in it IF you use an OpSol adapter (otherwise guaranteed feed issues); otherwise in a pump they will not feed properly. Unfortunately the OpSol does not work with an 870 (or anything else aside from another 500 series of Mossberg). And from what I understand the shortys will not work in a SA due to those feeding issues.

I got my 590 due to an amazing sale. But since then I have also purchased a 590 stock to replace the short bird's head grip - undoubtedly this will be needed once I move onto larger loads.
 
A semi auto needs more omf than those short shells will provide. plus feeding issues.
I am way to old to shot any shot gun with just a pistol grip, I have lots of handguns for silly #### like that.
 
marshall said:
Rim fire can not be reloaded, so no point in saving them.
I find the gun type and fit makes as much difference as some shells do, A 2 3/4 target load in a semi ( as Ganderite talks about), I find is easier than a 20 ga in a couple over/ under I have had.
I have never had any of those short ones to try.
I don't know if they would work on a press, and would not work in most SA guns.
A limb saver pad make a huge difference over just a plate.
I find new guys tend to look at short black shot guns, or a coach gun which are the last thing you want, if recoil is a issue. I do not do heavy mag, or 3 1/2 in stuff myself.
Click to expand...

22 Rimfire CAN be reloaded.

http://22lrreloader dot com/design-details/

https://sharpshooter-22lr-reloader.myshopify dot com/products/22-reloader-kit
 
Ganderite said:
I understand your recoil issue.

The next step up is the Challenger Light Target load. 7/8 oz of shot and a 2 3/4 dram equil powder charge. These are full size rounds but low recoil. And cheap, too.
Click to expand...

Based on your recommendation I bought a few boxes of these today. What I find interesting is I have noticed a few people on the EE who are looking for shotgun shells seem to occasionally put in fine print that they don't want Challenger. Not sure if it is thinking our own products are inferior or something else. I shall try them out. The price is right and I am happy to support Canadian industry.
 
thegazelle said:
Based on your recommendation I bought a few boxes of these today. What I find interesting is I have noticed a few people on the EE who are looking for shotgun shells seem to occasionally put in fine print that they don't want Challenger. Not sure if it is thinking our own products are inferior or something else. I shall try them out. The price is right and I am happy to support Canadian industry.
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I find the plastic in Challengers to be thinner than in the good quality target shotshells like Winchester AAs, Remington STS and Federal Gold Medal. This means they can't be reloaded as many times which is why they are not as desired by reloaders. On the plus side they are considerbly cheaper than the higher quality shells which is good for non-reloaders or for use at ranges where you aren't allowed to pick up your empties. i have reloaded them and they work fine but are only good for two or three reloads compared to the better quality shells which might get 8-10 reloads.
 
ted_dent said:
I find the plastic in Challengers to be thinner than in the good quality target shotshells like Winchester AAs, Remington STS and Federal Gold Medal. This means they can't be reloaded as many times which is why they are not as desired by reloaders. On the plus side they are considerbly cheaper than the higher quality shells which is good for non-reloaders or for use at ranges where you aren't allowed to pick up your empties. i have reloaded them and they work fine but are only good for two or three reloads compared to the better quality shells which might get 8-10 reloads.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information - I had no idea, so this is good to know - and I like the tip of using those at ranges where I have to leave the casings/hulls.
 
thegazelle said:
Thanks for the information - I had no idea, so this is good to know - and I like the tip of using those at ranges where I have to leave the casings/hulls.
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Like most reloaders I'm an inherent scrounger so a few years ago I had accumulated a couple of thousand once fired Challenger hulls. When I decided to start reloading them I found that none of the published data gave me satisfactory results. They seem to have a very large internal volume and no matter which wads I used I ended up with depressed crimps. Even the recommended Federal wads (12SO or 12S3, can't remember which) still gave me depressed crimps. Deciding to go to the source I bought a box of standard Challenger 1 1/8 oz. target shells and cut one open. The wad was an unusual one I had never seen. I did some internet searching and finally found it at Ballistic Products. It's the Spitfire wad made by Gualandi and looks like this:
ht tps://www.ballisticproducts.com/Spitfire-12ga-wad-25mm-250_bag/productinfo/072SF12/

They worked perfectly and gave very good reloads. Unfortunately I see on the BP website that they are now discontinued so I don't know what wads are being used in the current Challenger shells. Luckily I still have a few thousand Spitfire wads so I'm good for a while. Lots of people shoot the Challengers with good results, they just aren't as durable as the premium hulls. As mbogo3 noted the Challenger and Cheddite hulls are the same (colours may vary).
 
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The savings in reloading shotgun is in sub gauges like 28 and 410, perhaps high volume clay shooters. The other benefit would be reloading as hobby unto itself and availability in this time of empty shelves. Then beyond the hardware tooling up it would be component shortages and component price gouging.
 
saskbooknut said:
Next to zero market, since anyone with a box cutter can make short shells from standard 2 3/4 hulls.
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True that. Lots of videos on the process, I think I posted a thread on here some time ago on it.

marshall said:
A semi auto needs more omf than those short shells will provide. plus feeding issues.
Click to expand...
Factory shorties this is probably true in many cases, depending on the action and variables.
However, I found it fairly easy to shorten a 2 3/4” target round by doing nothing more than messing with wads and had no cycling or pressure issues in a Beretta 1301.
So it can be done.
 
As stated previously, you may reconsider your decision to depend upon mini shells for your 12 g. You can buy light 2 3/4 12 g loads (Federal 1 oz, 1150 fps), and you can even get subsonic loads if you look around a bit. In the future, the 2 3/4 hulls can be loaded to a lighter loads, even 3/4 oz, making it effectively a 28 g.
Regarding hulls, the reason experienced old school reloaders disdain the cheap promo hulls is due to the risk of hull separation (bad news). Cheaper shells are made with 2 piece hulls, whereas better hulls are typically one piece. (Winchester AA hulls are now two piece - HS spec.). In addition, the plastic in the better hulls seems to hold up through successive reloads.
I reload Challenger (Cheddite) in 28 g, but limit myself to 3 firings, with careful inspection. I've already witnessed one hull separation, using my O/U, where I can look down the barrel after a shot. I wouldnt like to think what would have happened if I had been using a semi or pump.
 
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