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The Aguila family of Minishell ammo–available in 7 1/2, buckshot and slugs–is ready for the spotlight.

There’s something you ought to know, but we’ll cut you some slack if you don’t. Aguila Ammunition has made 12-gauge Minishells for more than 20 years and aren’t stopping any time soon. Minishells are, without doubt, the best combination of practicality and performance you can find in shotgun ammo.

What’s so great? Maybe you’ve never shot one. Maybe you’ve chuckled at the miniature fad and written it off. Not so fast. There are a few obvious benefits you might be missing.

The low recoil produced by a shot with a Minishell is a noticeable improvement from other shells and that doesn’t just translate to the overall feel. The quiet report saves on overall hearing damage and surrounding disturbance, making this is an ideal choice for any level. Those two traits in particular, though, combine to make the Minishell a great choice for new shooters trying to get rounds under the belt.

Minishell fans tout how quickly the difference loading Minishells can make in a home-defense shotgun. By almost doubling how many shells the typical gun can hold, you’re gaining a big advantage on intruders should you choose Aguila. In fact, a gun like the Kel-Tec KSG 25 can hold 41 Minishells! That’s a ton of firepower. The shorter shell size means firearm capacity naturally increases, leading to less reloading and more shots taken.

To get a better idea of these features and more, check out this video to see what Aguila Minishells can do.

And if you have any doubts about how well they’d do at longer distances, just watch this…

Where else are you going to find this kind of performance in a 1-3/4-inch shotshell?

Aguila is the originator of all the Minishell designs. Their buckshot is great for hunting and self-defense purposes, and the 7-1/2-shot versions are favorites of competition clay shooters looking to maximize their training with more ammo and less felt recoil. Plus, Aguila’s 25-gram slug gets traveling at 1,300 fps and still maintains less recoil. That means faster target acquisition and a better response time.

It’s time more shooters realized what a Minishell from Aguila Ammunition is capable of doing.

Find out where to buy Aguila Minishells and see for yourself. They’re one of the ammunition trends that deserves more attention the next time you’re looking to restock or try something new.

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31 COMMENTS

  1. When they can be used on all shotguns w/o having to have a modification made to the gun or an attachment then they’ll be more useful. No go on Rem. 870s

      • ^^^

        My Mossy 500 runs them nearly 100% if you don’t lollygag on the pump. With the little rubber adapter (which is cheap can be installed and removed in seconds without tools, just saying) it’s 100%.

    • No go on an Ithaca Model 37 either…they usually flip around backwards and jam the carrier when you try to rack one.

      My shooting buddy’s KelTec KSG feeds them flawlessly.

      • The old Ithacs’s or the ones with trigger disconnect? I once reloaded, ,I was doing it my self. I have not tried the cut down shells in this M37 old style, however the shells I cut back worked in a Rem mod10 and also an 870. I was looking for a good 12ga.snake blaster that had just enuff, with lower noise and recoil. I first tried stuffing the wad with ” all kinds a crap, toilet paper, sawdust, that plastic( it’s all over in the action) buffer. I just started everything over by cutting the wad and case back.

        • It’s an old DS Police Special that is pre-disconnector (purchased in the mid-70’s). Absolutely love the bottom load / bottom ejection (perfect for southpaws too). It has never experienced so much as a burp on any ammo – EXCEPT – for the Aguila Mini-Shells.

      • Now you got my old lady’s attention. She’s into getting flipped around backwards and jammed deep in the carrier. She also is built for racking.

  2. So THAT’S how you pronounce Aguila.

    My 500 handles these without the adapter, but I might get one for my 590A1.

  3. It’s weird that this article doesn’t contain any honest discussion of feeding issues with various shotguns….

  4. This one loves a woman that settles for things “one and three quarters inch long”. Two and three quarters inch and three inch would be spoiling her anyhow, plus the recoil is less manageable with the same load.

  5. I would be fascinated by the details of the internal ballistics.

    Conventional shotgun shells of the 12 gauge 2&3/4″, 3″, and 3&1/2″ persuasion include considerable otherwise empty space to accomodate the wadding or the base of the shell cup. Contrary to common misconception, that compressible base doesn’t cushion the shock as the shot or slug is accellerated down the barrel. That compressible base enables controlled expansion of the propellant gases during the initial phase of combustion which regulates the chamber pressure and the propellant burn rate. This need for controlled expansion is a legacy from the black powder era and early smokeless powders that tended to deflagerate to rapidly.

    My suspicion is that Aguila uses a proprietary, very progressive powder that can generate a 10,000 psi chamber pressure during the time the projectile travels down the first several inches of barrel before it is consumed.

  6. I had a bad experience as a youth that kept me away from shotguns for most of my life. As a teen my choice of gun was a 22LR and I used it for everything. Loaded with 22 bird-shot I could even go after the wild turkeys in the back woods there. Then pappy gave me a 410. One day i was out shootin it with my girly friend until she got restless and started diverting my interests to something else. Now the only thing harder than booze or cigarettes for a young boy to buy in our town was a box of jimmys. Giving necessity is the mother of invention my girlfriend came up with this crazy notion. So I bagged us a big ol’ Jack rabbit and she helped me skin it right there on the spot. I wrapped that jack-hide around my crankshaft and we started singing to the choir. It was bulky, awkward and quite frankly you couldn’t feel a god damn thing, but we liked it so it was good nuff for us. Not being very experienced with a shotgun I failed to recognize that it left so many holes in that rabbit hide. Sure as hell two weeks later my girl came up pregnated. With twins. I was forced to grow up quick and take one of those unrewarding “money” jobs down at the bait shop. Ironically that old rabbit skin is still in my sock drawer. Now that the family making years are behind me, I may try out the 410 again.

  7. If these work in the KSG, I wonder if they would do good in my DP12. It holds 16 2 3/4, and has never had a problem with any Ammo I have fed it. High brass, short brass, slugs from numerous makers, and any type of shot. I may at least pick some up for the wife’s mossberg. It was my dad’s patrol shotgun, and is a short as legally possible. I’m sure she would appreciate less recoil.

  8. I go into a lot of gun stores and have quite literally never seen Mini Shells for sale. Now that online sellers are forced to pay state sales tax, there’s very rarely any advantage to ordering online. So until either a) online ammo sellers get cheaper or b) I find them on the shelves, I’ll just have to take everyone’s word that they’re super awesome little nuggets of fun.

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