.11 Whatzit

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A photo showing the .11 Whatzit, a tiny novelty "cartridge", and comparing it to others such as .22 Long Rifle.
The .11 Whatzit (left). Next to a .22 Short, .22 Long Rifle, .22 HM2, .22 WMR, and .17 HMR for comparison.

The .11 Whatzit is a wildcat cartridge (of sorts), created by opening up a shotgun primer to accept a single #6 Birdshot projectile (which is .11 caliber). The primer itself, becomes the the cartridge.

This is mainly a novelty, and it doesn't appear that any gun has actually been made to chamber and fire this "cartridge". That is, if it can even be considered a cartridge, depending on personal opinion. It has a primer, because it is a primer, as well as a projectile. But of course, it lacks any powder. However, it should theoretically be possible to chamber and fire this round, since gun barrels appear to be available in as small as .10 caliber.

Ballistics

SPECULATIVE: It's unknown what kind of velocity this could achieve, but a single #6 birdshot weighs 1.8 grains. For speculation, perhaps it could be propelled at around 1,000 fps. This would produce just about 4 ft lbs of energy (5 joules). However, the velocity of the projectile could be significantly faster, or slower than that.

The Cowboy Fast Draw Association happens to sell wax bullets and modified cases to drop in primers. However, they do not make .38 cases that accept 209 shotgun primers, as it propels these light wax projectiles at 1,000+ feet per second! Some figures show an average .357 caliber wax bullet weighs about 7 grains. That would equal 15.55 ft lbs energy! It would stand to reason then, that if we assume similar energy, but with reduced bullet weight and increased velocity, it could be that the .11 Whatzit may be capable of firing its 1.8 grain projectile at just under 2000 feet per second for a similar energy output.

Bullet (Grains) Velocity (FPS) Energy (foot pounds)
1.8 gr 1975 fps 15.59 ft lbs

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