I got these Minishells, because I liked the 2" shells my buddy loaded for me. His 2" shells carried twice the payload (1 oz. of 7 1/2 hard magnum shot) so they were a little bit more effective than the Aguilas for hunting purposes.
I bought these mostly as training rounds for teaching a friend of mine how to shoot clays. What I worry about now, is that they might not have enough of a payload. Beginners have a tendency to wait too long before shooting and these shells don't carry enough pellets for those self-inflicted long shots. We'll see!
As for HD, I'd stay with the 2 3/4" shells. Sure these Minishells could put the "hurt" on a perp, but I'm still not confident that they will cycle 100% all the time (even in my Wingmaster). BTW, my Wingmaster with 7-rd mag will hold 11 of those little suckers plus one in the chamber. Makes it a 12 shooter. This ought to draw some amazed looks from spectators! The bad thing about this extra capacity is that it gets you out of the habit of "shoot one - load one" rule.
Also feeding shells directly into the open action with your non-firing hand (combat loading) causes problems. These Minishells will not be aligned and guided into the chamber as well as the 2 3/4" shells. I tried this both underhand (preferred method)and overhand and noted the front of the Minishell would sometimes get caught up on the lip of the chamber.
I don't regret getting these little guys, but I don't think I'd recommend them for serious work.
Regards! DaMan
[This message has been edited by DaMan (edited October 28, 2000).]