Shotgun cartridge

A shotgun cartridge, or shell is the standard type of ammunition for a shotgun. It is fired after being loaded into the chamber of a shotgun. The cartridge is cylindrical in shape and is normally between  and  long. It holds a charge of gunpowder and either lead shot or a shotgun slug made to be fired from the shotgun. Shotgun cartridges are usually mostly plastic but have thin brass at the base, though they can be made of solid brass, paper, or other combinations of these materials.

A shotgun cartridge's size is usually measured in gauge (also known as bore). The most common size of cartridge is the 12-gauge. When measuring gauge, a smaller number means a larger cartridge: 12-gauge is larger than 20-gauge. Cartridge gauge is an old measurement. Except for the .410 bore or gauge, which is not a gauge at all but a caliber, 
the gauge of a shotgun was equal to the number of lead balls that added up to . So in a 12 gauge, 12 balls add up to about a pound of lead. So the diameter is equal to a ball weighing 1/12th of a pound of lead. A 20 gauge, another popular size today, has the diameter of a ball weighing 1/20th of a pound of lead.

Besides lead shot and slugs which are designed to be lethal, there are special less lethal types of shotgun cartridges which shoot things made to hurt but not kill people. Less lethal cartridges are most often used by police. These can be loaded with plastic or rubber shot,J.M. DiMaio, Gunshot Wounds: Practical Aspects of Firearms, Ballistics, and Forensic (Boca Ratan; New York; London: CRC Press, 1999), p. 250 rubber slugs, beanbags, or salt.

 References 

 Other websites 
 Shotgun Gauges Explained - Shotguns 101 #3; YouTube
 Less Than Lethal Shotgun vs Ribs, Rock Salt & Bean Bags; YouTube

Category:Ammunition
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