Centurion Multi Defense Shells

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billyjoebob

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Anyone ever hear or have any experience with these shells?

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They look like a good all-around defense round, but being new to shotguns, I'm not sure...

Any input is appreciated :)

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Edit-

By the way...Hi...New to the forum...long time lurker.

Lots of great info here for anyone new to firearms!
 
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Welcome...
about those shells... I rank them as "novelty" ammo. Too few buckshot and one round ball that isn't up to snuff as a "slug".
I would rather an alternated magazine load of 00 and slugs. But I do not do this as I feel the 00 Winchester Cheap shells are fine in my book.
Brent
 
billyjoebob

I am not familiar with this brand of shot shell. However, the concept of a "buck & Ball shell has a long and checkered past. It was first developed as a hunting load as a generalist round capable of taking both foul and large game. This hunting round was loaded with shot in the #4 to # 6 range and a single musket ball.

Later this type of round saw wide spread use as a military load in the Civil War. a 5 buckshot 1 ball load seemed to be the preferred load. A rather devilish close quarter load from smooth bore muskets deployed specifically for close quarter combat. This type of load was used extensively by Marines deployed aboard sailing ships to increase the probability of hits raking the decks of enemy ships while perched atop the masts.

With the development of GOOD consistent buckshot loads this type of loading has gathered dust and sank into history. It would not be my first choice in a fighting scattergun, but it could be very effective.

Good Luck & Be Safe
 
I have patterned this ammo in my 20" cyl bore shotgun...VERY tight pattern (3-4") at 10-12 yards. The patttern looks evil, with a big .60 cal hole and the buck all arround it. The pattern opens up dramatically (mainly due to a flyer!) at 25 yards. It is decent stuff, but kind of expensive ($1/round). I would prefer to practice more with reasonably priced 00. I still have a box or 2 left, just in case. Would it be my 1st choice, no, its to expesive to do extensive patterning and practice...but would it do the job...OHHH YA!
 
Greetings billyjoebob, and welcome aboard

Thanks to my friend, Scattergun Bob, for reminding us of the historical significance of the traditional 'buck-n-ball' load. Bob is correct, as usual, with his evaluation: It would not be my first choice in a fighting scattergun, but it could be very effective.

And, thanks to wnycollector for his patterning data and opinions.

I'm not familiar with Centurion shells; however, the Remington site still shows a Premier® Duplex load. It's a turkey load stacked with two different sizes of bird shot, not a buck and ball like the Centurian.
 
However, the concept of a "buck & Ball shell has a long and checkered past. It was first developed as a hunting load as a generalist round capable of taking both foul and large game. This hunting round was loaded with shot in the #4 to # 6 range and a single musket ball.

Later this type of round saw wide spread use as a military load in the Civil War.
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Seems like it was also fairly commonly used in Rhodesia. I'm not talking that current ninja special ammo for sale--whether it is similar or not--but I do remember it being reported by Chuck Taylor or some other gun mag author "back in the day".

Edit: looks like that may have been more of a buckshot and birdshot kind of arrangement.
 
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Nothing particularly wrong with this kinda stuff...just falls into the same traps that other awkwardly combined devices do ("it's a hammer AND a saw!")

IE by trying to get the benefits of both a slug and buck, when you need a real slug you'll find it makes a lousy slug, and when you need actual buck you'll wonder where the rest of it is.

Or look at it this way: as a defensive load, are you definitely going to hit him with the "slug"? If so, then why aren't you just using a real slug gun? If not, you're left hoping that the 6 lower energy buck-wannabes do the job, so why not just use buck?
 
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