People have been basically homebrewing shot gun shells since shotguns have existed. Everything from flachetes, to bolos, to XREP - even idiots that have shoved a shell full of .17 hmr rounds to see what happens. I 100% know that homebrewed anti drone shells exist and range from tying fishing line around pellets, to just launching a rope.
There’s an old story that cowboys would load nickles. It ends up being something like $1.25 in nickles, which would be enough to spend the evening with several prostitutes at the time. So probably no unless they were in a real pinch.
Anyway, they stopped being minted in 1857, but that’s still within the early timeframe of ‘The West’, and I’d bet they were still used in circulation for another decade or two.
Looking up the size of coins compared to shotgun gauges, I’m guessing the tale was dimes rather than nickles. Dimes would fit in a 12 gauge just fine. A half penny would need a 6 gauge, and a full penny would need a 10 gauge. I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think 6 or 10 gauges were ever popular shotgun sizes.
People have been basically homebrewing shot gun shells since shotguns have existed. Everything from flachetes, to bolos, to XREP - even idiots that have shoved a shell full of .17 hmr rounds to see what happens. I 100% know that homebrewed anti drone shells exist and range from tying fishing line around pellets, to just launching a rope.
Oh yeah, I was trying to stick to retailed products, but yes, homebrew shotgun rounds have been around for basically as long as shotguns.
Another kind of homebrew shot is coin shot:
https://www.alloutdoor.com/2020/06/17/shooting-pennies-shotgun/
I’ve heard anecdotally that people have been doing that for quite a while.
There’s an old story that cowboys would load nickles. It ends up being something like $1.25 in nickles, which would be enough to spend the evening with several prostitutes at the time. So probably no unless they were in a real pinch.
So I have no actual source on any kind of coinshot…
But why not use half pennies?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_cent_(United_States_coin)
Yes, the US used to have half pennies.
Imagine buying an apple for $0.03½
Anyway, they stopped being minted in 1857, but that’s still within the early timeframe of ‘The West’, and I’d bet they were still used in circulation for another decade or two.
That’d be cheaper than using nickels, haha.
Looking up the size of coins compared to shotgun gauges, I’m guessing the tale was dimes rather than nickles. Dimes would fit in a 12 gauge just fine. A half penny would need a 6 gauge, and a full penny would need a 10 gauge. I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think 6 or 10 gauges were ever popular shotgun sizes.