So I agonized over which semi auto shotgun to buy for 3gun until I decided on a 3” Beretta 1301 Comp.As you know Canadian gun laws make no sense and in 3gun a semiauto with a 3 1/2” chamber offers an advantage due to magazine capacity laws.
I had read of short shells but also read they don’t cycle in semi’s...
So I put on my thinking cap and tackled the problem.
My math showed that 7, 2 1/4” shells (unfired oal =2”) can legally fit in the same space as 5 1/3 - 3” shells (unfired) which should eliminate the advantage of the 3 1/2” gun as you can only start with 9 (7 in the tube, one in the chamber and one ghosted).
I also knew I only needed to use them at the start and regular unmodified loads would work after the “beep” because loading twins means 6 in a reload, the single seventh is never topped up.
So after looking at videos on YouTube I came up with all the tools:
I show 2 different roll crimpers; a drill mounted unit from BPI and a hand crank tool from Russia off eBay, personally I prefer the hand crank (plus it was cheaper).
I used Remington trap loads as my starting point, 12 gauge, 11/8 oz, #8. It’s what I had, ymmv.
Here’s an unmodified round and a completed round.
So this loading is actually 2.348” oal.
After I’m done it’s now 2” (+/-).
So to get there I started by chucking up an unmodified round in my shell shortener.
Give the shell a circumcision...
Watch as you get into the cut, them little bb’s can spill out quickly...
This is what you end up with after cutting it to length.
Remove the shell from the shell holder and carefully pull out the wad (CAREFULLY). These are the original components.
And this is what I used to put them all together.
First, ram down the obitrator disc, it can be finicky to get in but once you get the hang of it it’s no problem. But it is a seal so if you don’t hear the air escaping as you ram it down it will rise up (listen for the air, it has to stay down).
Next, cut the fibre wad to the correct height (in this case around .275 +/-).
Then ram down the new wad.
Reloading the shot is next, careful, it all has to get in there.
All that’s left is to pop in the nitro disc and roll crimp it, either tool will work and the end results are the same.
Nitro disc is in and I prefer the manual roll crimper.
Pull, crank and the roll crimp is done.
And there you go, a shortened trap load.
Note: this worked flawlessly in my gun, it cycled 100%, felt like normal recoil and the ejected casings showed no signs of over pressure or other abnormalities and appeared to pattern the same as an unmodified round.
However, this is in my gun.
Use at your own risk, YMMV.
I had read of short shells but also read they don’t cycle in semi’s...
So I put on my thinking cap and tackled the problem.
My math showed that 7, 2 1/4” shells (unfired oal =2”) can legally fit in the same space as 5 1/3 - 3” shells (unfired) which should eliminate the advantage of the 3 1/2” gun as you can only start with 9 (7 in the tube, one in the chamber and one ghosted).
I also knew I only needed to use them at the start and regular unmodified loads would work after the “beep” because loading twins means 6 in a reload, the single seventh is never topped up.
So after looking at videos on YouTube I came up with all the tools:
I show 2 different roll crimpers; a drill mounted unit from BPI and a hand crank tool from Russia off eBay, personally I prefer the hand crank (plus it was cheaper).
I used Remington trap loads as my starting point, 12 gauge, 11/8 oz, #8. It’s what I had, ymmv.
Here’s an unmodified round and a completed round.
So this loading is actually 2.348” oal.
After I’m done it’s now 2” (+/-).
So to get there I started by chucking up an unmodified round in my shell shortener.
Give the shell a circumcision...
Watch as you get into the cut, them little bb’s can spill out quickly...
This is what you end up with after cutting it to length.
Remove the shell from the shell holder and carefully pull out the wad (CAREFULLY). These are the original components.
And this is what I used to put them all together.
First, ram down the obitrator disc, it can be finicky to get in but once you get the hang of it it’s no problem. But it is a seal so if you don’t hear the air escaping as you ram it down it will rise up (listen for the air, it has to stay down).
Next, cut the fibre wad to the correct height (in this case around .275 +/-).
Then ram down the new wad.
Reloading the shot is next, careful, it all has to get in there.
All that’s left is to pop in the nitro disc and roll crimp it, either tool will work and the end results are the same.
Nitro disc is in and I prefer the manual roll crimper.
Pull, crank and the roll crimp is done.
And there you go, a shortened trap load.
Note: this worked flawlessly in my gun, it cycled 100%, felt like normal recoil and the ejected casings showed no signs of over pressure or other abnormalities and appeared to pattern the same as an unmodified round.
However, this is in my gun.
Use at your own risk, YMMV.
