"Quiet"er 12ga ammo?

gtodave · Jul 23, 2019

I'm looking for some less-noisy 12 gauge ammo. A few nights ago I came home to 4 raccoons in my chicken coop. No damage was done to livestock, but there are four less raccoons in the 'hood. Anyways, the only open box of ammo I had was 1350fps Nitro rounds, and the neighbors heard all of the commotion. I'd like to minimize that in the future.

Is there a round that maybe has a little less powder that I can use for dispatching critters, and impact my neighbors a little less?

Occam · Jul 23, 2019

For raccoons, up close and personal like that? A .22, and suppressed if you have the toys.

gtodave · Jul 23, 2019

Occam said:
For raccoons, up close and personal like that? A .22, and suppressed if you have the toys.

For trapped animals I would agree. But animals that aren't stuck in a 1'x2' space and are aware that you are trying to kill them, you need some spread on the shot.

These four scurried up a tree. I tried to whack them with my pellet gun, but it wasn't getting penetration through the branches. Had to break out the big gun. If I had a .410 I would have grabbed that. Maybe this is an excuse to get another gun :brows:

Normally I crack unknowing critters with the .22, but it wasn't going to work in this case.

alucard0822 · Jul 23, 2019

aguilla minis, relatively quiet out of a manual action with long barrels, I'll use them if it's something too big for 22CBs, although they are still "gunshot loud"

Occam · Jul 23, 2019

Ah. I was picturing “in the chicken coop,” not Tarzan mode. Definitely better not to lob even small rifle rounds up like that.

So, yes ... new gun! Maybe a S&W Governor. So you can use .45LC or 410?

Biggfoot44 · Jul 23, 2019

Yes , there are low recoil/ low noise shot shells . BUT they are aiming for ( pun is unintended by product ) youth/ novice clay ( generic ) shooters, and have small shot .

More so than trying to save a few cents more high volume reloading , this is where loading your own can get you somthing uniquely suited for your needs, not readily available . Somthing like 7/8oz of lead #2 @ 1090 fps

SRD · Jul 23, 2019

gtodave said:
For trapped animals I would agree. But animals that aren't stuck in a 1'x2' space and are aware that you are trying to kill them, you need some spread on the shot.

These four scurried up a tree. I tried to whack them with my pellet gun, but it wasn't getting penetration through the branches. Had to break out the big gun. If I had a .410 I would have grabbed that. Maybe this is an excuse to get another gun

Normally I crack unknowing critters with the .22, but it wasn't going to work in this case.

You answered your own question.

gtodave · Jul 23, 2019

SRD said:
You answered your own question.

It just came to me as I was typing the sentence :lol:

gtodave · Jul 23, 2019

alucard0822 said:
aguilla minis, relatively quiet out of a manual action with long barrels, I'll use them if it's something too big for 22CBs, although they are still "gunshot loud"

I like the idea of these:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2...on-12-gauge-1-3-4-4-and-1-buckshot-11-pellets

#4 and #1 shot mixed. They also have #7 shot.

John from MD · Jul 23, 2019

They are still going 1200 FPS so you will definitely hear it.

pbharvey · Jul 23, 2019

Doitsouthstyle · Jul 23, 2019

pbharvey said:

Good idea but 12 months from now he will go from a Crew to a Whole Clan of Racoons.

Sirex · Jul 23, 2019

Do you have a .22? I have some Winchester .22s that are very quiet even unsuppressed.

jimbobborg · Jul 23, 2019

John from MD said:
They are still going 1200 FPS so you will definitely hear it.

They're about as loud as AA low recoil/low noise shells. And dirty. And they don't cycle through most shotguns. They worked great out of my coach gun and my Superposeds.

engineerbrian · Jul 23, 2019

jimbobborg said:
They're about as loud as AA low recoil/low noise shells. And dirty. And they don't cycle through most shotguns. They worked great out of my coach gun and my Superposeds.

We did a video testing the mini shells, and yeah they dont cycle in many guns. If you own a mossberg 500, 590, 590a1 or Maverick 88 the OPSol mini clip will cycle them 100%

erwos · Jul 23, 2019

How much are you willing to pay, OP?

https://detroitammoco.com/product/subsonic-12-gauge-2-34-00-buck-12-pellets-box-of-5/

cstone · Jul 23, 2019

Roll your own. With or without a press, loading 12 gauge is pretty easy and the variety of loads you can produce is pretty much up to your imagination and the type of shotgun you are loading for.

Single shot break actions can easily take short shells and you can shorten the shell to whatever length you need for your wad of choice. Most pistol powder will run in a shotgun, but I tend to stay with Red Dot/Promo because it is inexpensive. In a pinch, you can work up black powder loads. Obviously you can get quieter rounds with less powder and shorter range. Depending on what you are trying to do with the rounds, you can drive off, scare off, piss off, or kill just about anything in a 30 yard (or well illuminated flashlight) distance. Cut shells, bird shot, tacks, wax and sand slugs, glass marbles, etc... Stick to things softer than your steel barrel and pattern some loads to see what does what you want.

Be safe.

gtodave · Jul 24, 2019

erwos said:
How much are you willing to pay, OP?

https://detroitammoco.com/product/subsonic-12-gauge-2-34-00-buck-12-pellets-box-of-5/

Not that much! I like my neighbors, but not enough for $2 per round

gtodave · Jul 24, 2019

cstone said:
Roll your own. With or without a press, loading 12 gauge is pretty easy and the variety of loads you can produce is pretty much up to your imagination and the type of shotgun you are loading for.

Single shot break actions can easily take short shells and you can shorten the shell to whatever length you need for your wad of choice. Most pistol powder will run in a shotgun, but I tend to stay with Red Dot/Promo because it is inexpensive. In a pinch, you can work up black powder loads. Obviously you can get quieter rounds with less powder and shorter range. Depending on what you are trying to do with the rounds, you can drive off, scare off, piss off, or kill just about anything in a 30 yard (or well illuminated flashlight) distance. Cut shells, bird shot, tacks, wax and sand slugs, glass marbles, etc... Stick to things softer than your steel barrel and pattern some loads to see what does what you want.

Be safe.

a neighbor has 12ga loading equipment, maybe I will load a few light loads

fabsroman · Jul 28, 2019

I load 1 1/8 oz 1,200 fps loads all the time and they are my main clays load. I also have 1 1/8 oz loads in 1,350 fps. Pretty sure that the 1,200 fps loads would wake up the neighbors in the middle of the night. This might be an exercise in futility.

I did not click on the link for the $2 shells, but if they work, I would buy them. $2 a round isn't all that expensive if you only use them to dispatch raccoons and other chicken eaters at night. Heck, I use $2 a round for deer and $3 a round for geese. How many raccoons could you possibly be shooting in a year? Sounds like you took out the entire neighborhood family of raccoons by dispatching those 4.

I have killed raccoons just fine with #7.5 shot in target loads out to about 30 yards. They aren't really that large of a body. Optimal shot size for them might be #4 or #5 though.

"Quiet"er 12ga ammo?

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