The Aguila 12 Gauge Minishell Tiny Shotgun Shell
Russ Chastain 02.07.17
One item that had folks talking at the 2017 SHOT Show was Aguila Ammunition‘s little bitty 12 gauge shotgun shells. These Minishells are not new, but they sure are fun.
At a diminutive 1-3/4″ in length (one inch shorter than the average 12 gauge shotshell), you get some of what you’d expect: lower recoil and less noise. What I didn’t expect was that I busted more clays than I missed with them!
Yes, you heard that right. I fired several rounds of these little jewels and broke flying clay targets with most of them. Admittedly, the targets were flying pretty much straight away, which is an easy shot, but still, it was impressive.
The Minishells I fired were No. 7-1/2 bird shot. Two other loads are also available: 00 (double-ought) buckshot and a 7/8-ounce slug. The grapevine tells me these Minishells ought to become more common than they have been in the past.
Specs:
- 12 gauge
- 1-3/4″
- 5/8 ounces of 7-1/2 lead birdshot
- Velocity: 1175 fps
- 20 rounds per box; 500 rounds per case
Specs:
- 12 gauge
- 1-3/4″
- 5/8 ounces of 00 lead buckshot
- Velocity: 1200 fps
- 20 rounds per box; 500 rounds per case
Specs:
- 12 gauge
- 1-3/4″
- 7/8-ounce lead slug
- Velocity: 1250 fps
- 20 rounds per box; 500 rounds per case
Using shells this short can allow you to cram a lot more rounds into your shotgun’s tubular magazine. I would recommend testing your gun to make sure the short shells will feed okay in them; Mossberg was demonstrating it in at least one of their shotguns at the 2017 SHOT Range Day, but most guns require modification to reliably feed these little boogers.
Have you tried them? If so, let us know how it worked for you.
