Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
I purchased some closeout Zanoletti Double Impact 3" shotshells and finally got around to shooting them out of my Remington 870 Marine Magnum. Two of us shot from varying distances of 15, 25, and about 50 yards. The shells are loaded with 2 oz. of 0 shot. We cut open one round and the shot appeared to be steel, but we did not verify this in any way. They are advertised to produce two shot patterns. The first is at 30 yards and the second around 100-110 yards. We compared the shooting of the Double Impact rounds with Brenneke's KO slugs (2 3/4" shells).
At 15 yards, three things were readily apparent. First was that the gun was louder than usual. Second, the recoil was not pleasant. Third, as near as we could tell, only one hole was in the target per shot. On closer inspection, there was a couple of BBs that got loose but usually patterned within about a half inch of the main punched hole.
At 25 yards, main holes continued to be punched, but on closer inspection of the target and the targets to each side, the pattern appeared to be about 4 feet across and completely irregular. The main load that punched the main hole did impact where aimed.
At 50 yards, the aim continued to be true for the main load and the holes punched in the IDPA cardboard target were still just as crisp and round as they were at 15 yards, indicating that the shot cup was not tumbling. The shot loosed in mid flight, however, had a very irregular pattern of about 8-10 feet as near as we could estimate.
For comparison, a few rounds of Brenneke slugs were shot for comparison. The recoil was positively cushy compared to the Zanoletti Double Impact rounds and the Brenneke performed fine in regards to accuracy. Both the Brenneke and Zanoletti produced clean 12 ga. holes at 50 yards, supposedly both with 1 oz loads. The Zanoletti just had the benefit or detration of considerable irregular patterned BBs doing collateral damage.
Thoughts: The Zanoletti Double Impact rounds would probably suck for hunting which was their advertised purpose. The pattern is far too irregular to be reliable althought a hunter might be able to get some of the birds at much longer ranges with the late opening second oz.
As a defensive use round, mixed emotions. Within the home and inside 15 yards, hitting a bad guy with 2 oz. of 0 shot sounds great. In a rural setting, outside, where neighbors are not in the line of fire, the round might work well for a defense round where you might want the single oz slug performance out past 50 yards (maybe further, but we only shot to 50) and collateral shot spread might be good for doing some damage if you miss with the main 1 oz or if there are more than one bad guy that you might be satisfied with damaging while trying to take out the main guy. In an outdoor urban setting, this ammo would be a nightmare.
At 15 yards, three things were readily apparent. First was that the gun was louder than usual. Second, the recoil was not pleasant. Third, as near as we could tell, only one hole was in the target per shot. On closer inspection, there was a couple of BBs that got loose but usually patterned within about a half inch of the main punched hole.
At 25 yards, main holes continued to be punched, but on closer inspection of the target and the targets to each side, the pattern appeared to be about 4 feet across and completely irregular. The main load that punched the main hole did impact where aimed.
At 50 yards, the aim continued to be true for the main load and the holes punched in the IDPA cardboard target were still just as crisp and round as they were at 15 yards, indicating that the shot cup was not tumbling. The shot loosed in mid flight, however, had a very irregular pattern of about 8-10 feet as near as we could estimate.
For comparison, a few rounds of Brenneke slugs were shot for comparison. The recoil was positively cushy compared to the Zanoletti Double Impact rounds and the Brenneke performed fine in regards to accuracy. Both the Brenneke and Zanoletti produced clean 12 ga. holes at 50 yards, supposedly both with 1 oz loads. The Zanoletti just had the benefit or detration of considerable irregular patterned BBs doing collateral damage.
Thoughts: The Zanoletti Double Impact rounds would probably suck for hunting which was their advertised purpose. The pattern is far too irregular to be reliable althought a hunter might be able to get some of the birds at much longer ranges with the late opening second oz.
As a defensive use round, mixed emotions. Within the home and inside 15 yards, hitting a bad guy with 2 oz. of 0 shot sounds great. In a rural setting, outside, where neighbors are not in the line of fire, the round might work well for a defense round where you might want the single oz slug performance out past 50 yards (maybe further, but we only shot to 50) and collateral shot spread might be good for doing some damage if you miss with the main 1 oz or if there are more than one bad guy that you might be satisfied with damaging while trying to take out the main guy. In an outdoor urban setting, this ammo would be a nightmare.
