The Cartridge Box

It’s been a long time since I reloaded any shotgun shells, and recently, I decided it was time to remedy that.  Looking around for just the right reload, I settled on making anti-personnel loads i.e. self-defense loads.  I bought “F” shot.  The pellets are .22 caliber.  Just right for self-defense.

I loaded 1 ounce loads, which is 28 pellets.  Hogdon Clays powder will propel them at 1240 FPS.  That’s the punch of most .22 LR rounds.  But remember, there are 28 of them.

I took my short-barreled self-defense shotgun, as well as my  over and under shotgun to the range for the tests.  I mostly used the self-defense shotgun.  It has a 16.5 in barrel with cylinder bore. The results were satisfying. The target on the left is at “cross the room distance”.  That’s 28 .22 caliber pellets in less than a 4 inch circle.  Ouch.  The one on the right is at 30 feet – “down the hallway distance”.  And as you can see, the pellets gathered in the full chest area.  28 .22 caliber holes in a T-shirt will stop even a determined aggressor.  (The hole in his head is from the wad.  That would leave a mark!)

Then for good measure, I used the over and under at 50 yards to see if any would hold on the target.  It has a 26 inch barrel with a full choke insert on top.  Overall, not bad.  I can see how this would be useful when shooting at a moving aggressor as he approaches your wire.  Not “knockdown” power, but enough to keep them back.

There are 6 in the chest, one in each shoulder, and one in the cheek.

I will load up more, now that I’ve tested them.  I have enough stuff to load about 200 or 8 boxes of shells.  That will be a nice addition to the shotgun ammo I already have.

Now, of course, it’s cleaning time.  Not my favorite part, but keeping your gun running is as important as feeding it. I use CLP and a bore snake.  And I try to keep the work to a minimum.

While it’s not my favorite way to spend time, I will clean my guns.  And I  spend time reloading so that I can feed them.  But all of that time and effort is for only one purpose:  from time to time, when I can go to the range,  I CAN SHOOT MY GUNS!  BOOM! BOOM!  YEAH!