Bottleneck Shotgun?

[WestKentucky]

Did anybody ever experiment with bottleneck shotgun shells? Yes it sounds silly, but I bet that the first bottleneck rifle rounds were laughed at too for a while.

I know people have tried just about everything, I just never heard mention of many shotshell “improvements” that have been tried over the years.

 

[Deus Machina]

I'm sure someone has, but since shotguns rely on volume more than velocity, I don't see it catching on much.

 

[LRDGCO]

Could you perhaps expand on your idea for a bottleneck shot shell concept. Because, without further information, it sounds like a recipe for disaster. The abrupt effort at choking at the high pressure end of the barrel would seem to present catastrophic, if not cataclysmic, dynamics.

I suspect that perhaps you are thinking something like a 12 ga head containing powder and a @ 16ga section of the shell containing wad and shot ? I cannot see where there would be any benefit. Powder technology currently allows all the charge suitable to shotgun pressure ranges in a straight wall shell. In fact, modern powders have allowed the shotgun equivalent perhaps of the bottleneck metalic cartridge in shotguns: the mini-shell.

But again, I may not understand the concept that you envisage, so a description of the bottleneck shot shell as you imagine it might spur more discussion.

 

[Jim Watson]

The Greener Police Gun cartridge was a 12/14 gauge bottleneck.
https://forum.cartridgecollectors.org/t/greener-mk-iii-police-14-bore-cartridge/6417/10
They were not after ballistics, they wanted a weapon that could not be shot with conventional 12 ga shells if stolen from a colonial police station.
Not only bottlenecked, the firing pin had three points; the outer ones had to drop into a groove in the case head for the center point to reach the primer.
Apparently some guns either lacked or had the outer points removed, there is a Youtube of homemade 12/14 shells.


But bottlenecked for a heavier load? No, they just get longer; 12 gauge made from 1 3/4" to 3 1/2"

 

[ATLDave]

The Greener Police Gun cartridge was a 12/14 gauge bottleneck.

Absolutely fascinating! I'd never heard of that.

Don't let the anti-gunners know about it, they'll think it's the original "smart gun." ;P