Ok, I just got them in today and tried cycling them through a few different shotguns, though I haven't fired them yet.
A couple major things I noticed.....
#1. For some reason, the last shell in the mag tube will only HALFWAY extract from the tube and create a jamming situation.... All of the previous shells will load fine except the last one, which gets stuck halfway through causing me to have to break down the shotgun to free it. An interesting note is that this problem can be solved by putting a regular shotshell as the first shell in the tube, but why should you have to bother with that?
I was thinking that it may be one of my shotguns, BUT, I tried cycling them in THREE different guns. An 870 police, a Benelli M3, and an 870 Super Mag. All would only halfway extract the last shell causing a jamming situation.
#2. These shells are LONG. A lot longer than the supposed 2 3/4" length they are supposed to be. In fact, they are actually even LONGER than a standard 3" shell! They are so long that I can fit more 3" shells in my guns than I can these! For example, my 870 super magnum can usually fit six 2 3/4", six 3" shells in the tube, or five 3 1/2" shells in the tube. I can only fit FIVE of these russian shells in my gun, the same ammount as 3 1/2" shells!!
My benelli M3 usually fits five 2 3/4" or 3" shells. It would only fit FOUR of the russian shells in the tube!
In my 870 Police, I can usually fit seven 2 3/4" shells or six 3" shells in the tube. I could only fit six of the Russian shells.
I wonder how hot these are loaded, and how well they pattern. I did open up one of the shells and maybe it's just me, but the pellets seem to look slightly smaller than regular 00. More like 0 size. Could just be me, though.
Any comments, opinions, or advice?