Patent ID: 8171849

Claim:
A shotshell comprising: a shotshell casing having a head portion and a mouth portion; a primer contained within the head portion; a propellant contained within the casing and proximal to the primer; a wad contained within the casing and proximal to the propellant; and a payload of shot pellets located within the casing and proximal to the wad, wherein the payload of shot pellets includes a plurality of shot pellets with overall shot pellet shapes, and further wherein the plurality of shot pellets includes at least short-range shaped pellets adapted to provide an effective shot pattern at short ranges and long-range shaped pellets adapted to provide an effective shot pattern at long ranges; wherein the long-range shaped pellets have a different overall shot pellet shape than the short-range shaped pellets, wherein the short-range shaped pellets have an oblique cylinder overall shot pellet shape.