In this series of reviews we look at some fast (above 1200fps) 1 ounce 12 gauge shotgun shells that would be a great choice for FITASC sporting. Of course they would also be an excellent choice for English sporting clays as well. All of the clay shooting shells we look at in this series are of the "premium" variety and cost bracket, though they are all very popular among sporting clay shooters who swear by their high quality components and hard shot. Be sure to look for the other installments in this series at the bottom of the page to find out about more excellent shot shells.
Vinci
This time we’ll have a look at Vinci shotshells from AbleAmmo.com. Able Ammo is the exclusive distributor of these shells in the U.S. and they are manufactured in Spain by Maxam Outdoors, the same people who make Rio, Kemen, Diana and many other brands of cartridges. Right away that should tell you it is a quality shot shell.
I tested the black hulled 1oz. shell with #8 shot going at 1350fps. It features a fairly high nickel plated base and the batch I shot had perfect crimps throughout. In fact it is one of the best manufactured shells I’ve ever seen. There were no problems with the sizing of the base, seating of the primer, length or crimps and the shells have a nice tapered nose for smooth feeding. Vinci shells feature a "unitized wad" that has a cork base in the bottom of the shot cup. This is there to guard against setback and pellet deformation during firing.
I achieved very good consistent patterns with my gun, a .740 bore Browning with Briley Spectrum and Muller chokes. The picture at right is a pattern thrown from 20 yards with a Briley Light Mod choke. For reference the surface of the plate is approximately 30 inches and the pattern about 20 inches in diameter as it should be at this range. At the range in competition I saw good hard breaks, just the way I like them. You get good feedback as to where you were on a target if you see the nose or rear turn into smoke. It’s a very clean shell too. I didn’t notice any unusual amount of powder or plastic buildup after use.
The recoil, I would say, was a bit heavy but not as heavy as the Gamebore Black Gold that I also tested. That’s just personal perception of course but I just didn’t feel the shell was as smooth as others in the group with nearly the same speed. Overall if you like a fast hard hitting shell and don’t mind a little heavier recoil the Vinci 1oz. is a great choice and the price is generally a little less (depending on where you live) than the other shells I tested.
I also shot some of the green hulled Vinci 7/8th oz. loads. I did not pattern them but they were a very nice shooting shell with mild recoil and on medium range birds I didn’t notice much of a difference in breaks over the 1 oz. loads. Personally I wouldn’t shoot 7/8th unless I had too because nothing can take the place of pellet numbers down range when it comes to breaking targets. The more pellets the better.
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