I did an article recently on how to shoot the shorties, the Shockwaves, the Mafteahs, the 990 Aftershocks, and all those fun little stockless 12-gauge firearms. I mentioned ammo selection being a key part of a successful Shockwave use. Let’s expand on ammo for these little guns. What’s the best Shockwave ammo?
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- Mini Shells and Game Loads
- Federal Flitecontrol Reduced Recoil
- Fiocchi Defense Dynamics No. 1
- Herter’s Defensive Buckshot
- Federal LE Low Recoil Slugs
- Shockwave Ammo
Obviously, it depends on what you’re planning to do. If you just want to turn money into noise, that’s a valid reason to own one of these guns; they are fun. Others have turned to the shorties for self-defense purposes. Heck, some guys are even hunting with them. With that in mind, I wanted to provide a competent ammo choice for each goal.
For the guys and gals looking to have fun, my suggestion is going to be mini shells and game loads. Mini shells are a fun novelty, but they only work in pump-action shorties. In fact, they really only work in the Mossberg series guns thanks to both adapters and Mossberg’s S-series of Shockwaves.
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Mini-shells increase capacity and drastically reduce recoil. This makes them accessible to nearly anyone who can reliably aim the Shockwave. They come from several companies, and as slugs, buckshot, and birdshot. Any of the three will be quite satisfying to shoot and enjoyable.
The other option is the closest thing we have to plinking rounds for shotguns: game shot. A cheap game shot of the 7.5 variety loaded to around 1,200 feet per second is perfect for fun shooting with any of the shorties.
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The recoil is light, it will cycle in semi-autos, and it’s probably the most common Shockwave food in my experience.
One of the softest shooting shotgun rounds on the market is Federal Flitecontrol Reduced Recoil. It’s the best defensive Shockwave ammo out there. I prefer the 8-pellet load, but the 9-pellet load is more common. Both have a 1,145 feet per second velocity, which is quite tame.
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It makes it easy to shoot with little recoil. With a good push/pull, the gun will barely move. With a Shockwave or TAC-14, I can put two rounds on target in just less than a second. When I shoot a 990 or Mafteah, I can do it in about .75 of a second.
The Flitecontrol wad creates tight patterns. Within ten yards, it’s just starting to look like a buckshot load and not a slug. The 9 pellet variety does have the traditional 9th pellet flyer, so that’s why I prefer the 8 pellet.
The Fiocchi Defense Dynamics line has a few different shotgun loads out there, including one of the best Shockwave ammo choices, a nine-pellet No. 1 load. Yep, 9 pellets in a 12-gauge round. With a velocity of 1,250 feet per second, it’s effectively a 20-gauge load being fired from a 12-gauge.
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This results in tame recoil. It’s incredibly easy to control, right on par with Federal Flitecontrol, but much cheaper. You can occasionally find it on sale for around 50 cents a round. This makes it one of the cheaper buckshots on the market.
It cycles fine in the Aftershock, but it’s better suited for pump guns than semi-auto firearms. With that said, in my shoulder fired semi-auto shotguns it fires quite well. The pattern isn’t on par with Flitecontrol, but it’s actually quite nice. Within 10 yards, it fits inside the head zone of an FBI Q Target from a cylinder bore choke.
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Never forget that the largest pyramid in the world is a Bass Pro in Tennessee. With that fact in mind, if you have a Cabelas or Bass Pro local to you, one of the cheapest sources of Shockwave ammo is the Herter’s Defensive Buckshot. For ten dollars, you get 15 rounds of eight-pellet 000 buckshot moving at 1,145 feet per second.
This load works in semi-autos without an issue. It’s soft, easy to control, and makes it easy to keep the gun from getting away from you. The eight pellets of 00 keep a decent pattern, nothing fancy, but at 10 yards, all eight pellets stay inside of a B-8 target.
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The low price point makes it easily accessible, and the load is a capable defensive option. For the price point, it’s tough to dislike. While the Fiocchi is great for pump guns, this is a great budget load for semi-autos.
To me, these short, stockless 12-gauge shotguns are buckshot guns. They lack a third point of contact, and firing slugs at slug ranges is difficult. It can certainly be done, but it takes a lot of practice and skill. As far as I know, these are bead-sighted guns, which makes it even harder to shoot slugs with precision.
If you want to shoot slugs, my recommendation is going to be the Federal LE Low Recoil Slugs. They are an ounce of lead moving at 1,300 feet per second. This creates mild recoil and throws a hefty slug downrange. I’m not a big slug gun guy, but with a red dot on my Aftershock, I can nail a man-sized target in the chest out to 50 yards.
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The Federal LE slugs have more recoil than most low-recoil buckshot loads, but they are still manageable in a pistol-grip-only gun.
I use the term Shockwave ammo to cover all of these small, pistol-grip-only guns. Each offers good performance and low recoil, which combine to make a good pistol grip-only gun load. Reduced recoil does not mean reduced effectiveness inside of defensive ranges. It might not reach out like a 3-inch magnum, but we can dang sure control it.
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