I've been shooting the Benelli Vinci off and on for the past couple of weeks. When I received some of the new Remington HyperSonic steel waterfowl shells with the Xelerator Wad, I could hardly wait to take it to the range with these new shells.

The HyperSonic shells throw a 1.25 oz. load of #2 steel shot at an astounding 1700 f.p.s. from the muzzle!

I picked up some of the wads at the range and thought you might find a "before and after" picture of these wads interesting.



In the picture you can see that when it's fired, the stem that covers the primer and represents the "first stage" of the process, splits into 3 petals and the shot cup portion splits into 4 sections.

Interestingly enough, the base of this wad, which is very thick and hard, looks just like it did before the shell was fired.

The new Xelerator Wad is quite a departure from traditional wads that I've seen over the years. It allows much higher velocities while keeping chamber pressures within acceptable levels. I suspect that we may see this wad in other shotshells from Remington in the future.

The Benelli Vinci is a very light shotgun and I shot several of these shells through it using a factory, flush mount modified choke tube. That's what I usually use for waterfowl with steel shot.

While I could certainly feel the recoil, it was not fierce and I don't think I'd develop a flinch from shooting these loads, especially with more than a "T" shirt on, which is what I was wearing today.

I'll pattern these shells at hunting ranges later and let you know how they work through different guns and chokes.  I just wanted to see how they felt with this very light shotgun and how the wads looked after they were shot.

Lastly, I'd have to say that this Remington steel shot is some of the best looking steel I've ever seen. It appears to be perfectly round and as shiny as a new quarter.

You can read more about these shells at http://www.remington.com/products/ammunition/shotshells/waterfowl-loads/hypersonic-steel.aspx
and you can read more evaluations of shotshells and other shooting products at http://www.allaboutshooting.com