page_title: Shotgun shell
section_title: Standard
hierarchical_section_title: Shotgun shell / Sizes / Standard
caption_attribution_description: English: M35 .410 shotgun shells for M-6 survival gun w/.22 long rifle for comparison
context_page_description: A shotgun shell or shotshell is a self-contained cartridge often loaded with multiple metallic "shot", which are small, generally spherical projectiles. The shells consist of a paper or plastic tube mounted on a brass base holding a primer. The shot is typically contained in a small container inside the shell casing. Shot has traditionally been made of lead, but steel, tungsten and bismuth are frequently used due to restrictions on lead. A shotgun shell can contain a single, large projectile known as a shotgun slug. They can also be made with specialty non-lethal rounds such as beanbag rounds, and rubber.
  Shotguns have an effective range of about 35 metres with buckshot, 45 metres with birdshot, 100 metres with slugs, and well over 150 metres with sabot slugs in rifled barrels.
  Other rounds include:
  Ferret rounds: rounds designed to penetrate a thin barrier and release a gas payload.
  Bolo rounds: two large lead balls attached by a wire.
  Piranha rounds: shells full of sharp tacks.
  Dragon's breath rounds: shells full of chemicals that burn when fired, and can ignite a flammable target at close range.
context_section_description: Shotgun shells are generally measured by "gauge", which is the weight, in fractions of a pound, of a pure lead round ball that is the same diameter as the internal diameter of the barrel; in Britain and some other locations outside the United States the term "bore" is used with the same meaning. This contrasts with rifles and handguns, which are almost always measured in "caliber", a measurement of the internal diameter of the barrel measured in millimeters or inches and, consequently, is approximately equal to the diameter of the projectile that is fired.
  For example, a shotgun is called "12-gauge" because a lead sphere that just fits the inside diameter of the barrel weighs ¹⁄₁₂ pound (38 g). This measurement comes from the time when early cannon were designated in a similar manner—a "12 pounder" would be a cannon that fired a 12-pound (5.4 kg) cannonball; inversely, an individual "12-gauge" shot would in fact be a ​¹⁄₁₂ pounder. Thus, a 10-gauge shotgun has a larger-diameter barrel than a 12-gauge shotgun, which has a larger-diameter barrel than a 20-gauge shotgun, and so forth.
  The most popular shotgun gauge by far is 12-gauge. The larger 10-gauge, once popular for hunting larger birds such as goose and turkey, is in the decline with the advent of longer, "magnum" 12-gauge shells, which offer similar performance. The mid-size 20-gauge is also a very popular chambering for smaller-framed shooters who favor its reduced recoil, those hunting smaller game, and experienced trap and skeet shooters who like the additional challenge of hitting their targets with a smaller shot charge. Other less-common, but commercially available gauges are 16 and 28. Several other gauges may be encountered but are considered obsolete. The 4, 8, 24, and 32 gauge guns are collector items. There are also some shotguns measured by diameter, rather than gauge. These are the .410 (10 mm), .380 (9 mm), and .22 (5.5 mm); these are correctly called ".410 bore", not ".410-gauge".
  The .410 bore is the smallest shotgun size which is widely available commercially in the United States. For size comparison purposes, the .410, when measured by gauge, would be around 67- or 68-gauge (it is 67.62-gauge), The .410 is often  mistakenly assigned 36-gauge. The 36 gauge was in fact a .360 diameter cartridge which was 1.5 inches (38 mm) in length and is now obsolete.
caption: M35 .410 shotgun shells for M-6 survival gun w/.22 long rifle for comparison
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