Drone Defense Update: Shotguns Part III
More of my predictions come true...
Popular YouTuber Chris Cappy (Task and Purpose) posted a video this week about using shotguns to defend against drones and how this is being normalized not just in Ukraine, but in the US military as well. I read something about this before. Where? Oh yeah… I went into great detail about this back in August.
The Best Drone Defense: Shotguns
I’ve seen some war commentators say that they have seen more than a 1000 hours of war footage. I’ve seen some say that they have viewed more than a 1000 Russian’s die. I’m sure I am well over those unfortunate milestones after 900 days of war. The research I do has me spending hours each day trying to understand the conflict, one thing is clear.
The thing that gets me is that it seems the Ukrainian government went from a bad purchase of a few thousand cheap Turkish made guns (Hatsan Arms) to a few thousand more cheap Turkish made guns from a different manufacturer (Hima Arms). Now don’t get me wrong. Turkey is capable of manufacturing a great firearm. It’s just not this gun in question. The gun in question is a box magazine fed semiauto. Shotgun shells and box magazines don’t get along. Shotgun shells have a flat face, and this flat face does not like to slide smoothly from the magazine into the chamber. In contrast, the conical face of a rifle bullet is perfect for being box magazine fed.
Tube magazines work best for shotguns because there is a ramp that lifts the shotgun shell into position before being slid into the chamber.
I’m left hoping that this was some kind of back-room deal between Ukraine and Turkey in exchange for Turkey’s help in some other more important area. And, that these shotguns sit in a warehouse somewhere never to be used on the battlefield. Because these are death traps. There is no amount of fitment and refinishing that can improve a box fed shotgun to the point of being reliable. I’d rather have grandpa’s old double barrel with only two shots!
One thing that is new from Cappy’s YouTube video is that it seems ammo manufactures are putting R&D money behind coming up with drone specific ammo. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is mostly just rebranded waterfowl shotgun shells. Generally speaking to take down a large goose you need a powerful powder charge, a tight and dense shot column (a lot of shot pellets in a small area) and the shot pellet itself should be dense. Like stainless steel, titanium, or bismuth.
Ideally you want a 3 inch shell (76mm), high velocity ~18 grains of powder, and a shot charge of 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 ounces of shot. Size BB to #2 buckshot. I would be willing to consider a 3.5 inch shell, but the wear and tear of the firearm is greatly increased. I would want to see long term testing data rather than anecdotal info.
None of this going to happen with the guns that Ukraine has purchased. Turkey does manufacture a Benelli M4 clone. This should have been the choice. No, it’s not a compact bullpup in design. No, there is no way to have it hold 10 rounds of 3 inch shotgun shells. But the design is combat and law enforcement tested. I also imagine the US has 1000s of them in a warehouse somewhere. Not the clones, but the actual Benelli M4s.
Hey, Tim Mak… get me in touch with someone in the Ministry of Defense so we can protect Ukrainian soldiers and field the best close range drone defense possible. Oh… and stop wasting resources! (You need to be following Tim Mak over at CounterOffensive here on Substack.)
You are probably asking yourself, “how does Benjamin, who knows a lot about Ukraine, also know so much about firearms?” Well, once upon a time I was a gunsmith, I owned a gun store, and I am a life long hunter. I also have done a great deal of research on this topic. Professional research costs time and money. That’s where you come in. If you got something out of this update you should either join my Substack as a paid member, or make a one time contribution at Buy Me a Coffee.
https://buymeacoffee.com/researchukraine