Remington claims their new HyperSonic Steel is the worlds fastest waterfowl shotshell. The HyperSonic loads feature their new Xelerator Wad technology which allows shotshells to blast out shot at 1700 fps! How does it achieve these speeds? In their own words …

The primer ignites a small portion of the powder charge captured in the “Ignition Chamber”, this captive charge accelerates the wad and payload forward until the remainder of the powder charge is ignited. The increased volume behind the wad allows for the remainder of the propellant to burn, driving the shot to 1700 fps without causing excessive pressure – all in just a fraction of a millisecond.

Simply overcoming the inertia of the wad and shot would help greatly with velocity and chamber pressure.

This is a possible design for an accelerating wad shotshell. Solid fuel rockets and, I think, some artillery shells have a “blast tunnel” (excuse my ignorance) that runs through the propellent.

A possible configuration

I can’t wait for somebody to cut one open and take tell us what the wad looks like.

A 3″ 12 Gauge Remington Nitro Steel High Velocity with a 1 1/8 oz. load has a velocity of 1550 fps. This means that the HyperSonic steel achieves a 10% increase in velocity. Impressive!

The HyperSonic loads are available in 3″ (1 1/8 oz.) and 3.5″ (1 3/8 oz.) loads in either BB, no. 2 or no. 4 steel shot. All loads have a velocity of 1700 fps. The price for a 25 round box ranges from $23 – $33.