If you've spent any time scrolling through ballistic testing channels on YouTube, you've almost certainly seen someone mess around with 12 gauge kitchen sink ammo just to see what kind of chaos it causes on a block of clear gel or a stack of plywood. It's one of those things that taps into our collective curiosity. We see a shotgun shell—basically a little plastic cup filled with lead—and we can't help but wonder what happens if we swap that lead out for literally anything else we can find in the garage or under the sink.
The term "kitchen sink" here isn't usually literal (though I'm sure someone out there has tried grinding up a porcelain basin), but rather a reference to the old saying "everything but the kitchen sink." We're talking about shells packed with nails, screws, glass, coins, rock salt, or even more bizarre items like Legos and gummy bears. It sounds like something straight out of a post-apocalyptic movie, but is there any actual utility to it, or is it just a fast way to ruin a perfectly good shotgun?
What exactly goes into these loads?
When people talk about making their own 12 gauge kitchen sink ammo, the "recipe" is usually whatever is within arm's reach. The 12 gauge is the perfect platform for this kind of experimentation because the bore is relatively massive. You've got a lot of internal real estate to play with.
Most of the time, people start with a cheap birdshot shell. They'll cut the crimp off, dump out the tiny lead pellets, and then stuff the remaining space with their chosen "payload." I've seen everything from stacks of dimes—the classic "poor man's slug"—to drywall screws and even bits of broken drill bits.
The idea is to see how different shapes and weights affect flight and impact. A handful of finishing nails, for instance, behaves a lot differently than a wad of copper wire. Some people get even more creative, mixing materials with epoxy or wax to create a "slug" made of junk. It's a DIY ballistics lab, usually conducted in a backyard with a high-speed camera and a lot of safety glasses.
The physics of shooting random junk
Here's the thing about ballistics: shape really matters. A standard lead pellet or a slug is designed to be aerodynamic and predictable. When you start messing with 12 gauge kitchen sink ammo, you're throwing physics out the window.
Most of these random objects are incredibly un-aerodynamic. If you fire a handful of hex nuts, they're going to catch the air in the most erratic ways possible. They tumble, they veer off to the side, and they lose velocity incredibly fast. This is why you'll notice that in most videos of people testing this stuff, they're standing about ten feet away from the target. If they tried to hit something at thirty yards, they'd probably miss the entire hillside.
Drag is the biggest enemy here. A jagged piece of metal has a lot of surface area relative to its weight, so the air pushes back against it hard. While it might look terrifying coming out of the muzzle in a cloud of sparks and debris, it usually peters out long before a standard buckshot load would. It's high-drama, low-performance ammunition.
Why safety is a massive concern
I can't talk about 12 gauge kitchen sink ammo without sounding a little bit like a worried parent, but for good reason. Shooting random crap out of a firearm is inherently risky. The biggest danger isn't usually the gun exploding—though that's a non-zero possibility—it's what happens to the barrel and the person standing nearby.
Barrel damage is almost a guarantee
Shotgun barrels are generally made of relatively soft steel compared to things like hardened wood screws or steel drill bits. Most commercial shot is lead or soft steel encased in a plastic wad that protects the barrel walls. When you stuff a shell with jagged hardware and fire it, there's a good chance those items will bypass the wad or press right through it.
You can end up with deep gouges inside your barrel, which not only ruins the accuracy for future "real" shots but can also create weak points. If you're using a choked barrel, you're basically asking for a disaster. Trying to squeeze a bunch of stainless steel bolts through a "full" choke is a great way to turn your shotgun into a metal banana peel.
The risk of ricochets
Standard lead shot flattens or shatters when it hits something hard. That's a safety feature, in a way. When you use 12 gauge kitchen sink ammo filled with hardened steel objects, they don't deform. They bounce. If you're shooting at a hard target or even just rocky dirt, those nails or screws can come whistling back at you with enough force to cause a really bad day.
Is it actually useful for anything?
If we're being honest, 12 gauge kitchen sink ammo is almost entirely for entertainment. There's a persistent myth in some survivalist circles that knowing how to make "junk shells" is a vital skill for when the world ends and you run out of real ammo. But in reality, if things are that bad, you'd probably be better off using your limited powder and primers to make simple lead slugs or even round pebbles.
In terms of self-defense, "kitchen sink" loads are a terrible idea. Not only are they unreliable and inaccurate, but the legal implications of using "homemade torture shells" in a defensive situation are a nightmare. Most experts will tell you to stick to what's proven. A standard load of 00 buckshot has a century of data backing up its effectiveness; a shell full of broken glass and pennies does not.
The fascination with "The Mess"
So why do we keep watching people fire this stuff? It's the visual. There's something undeniably cool about seeing a "kitchen sink" load hit a watermelon or a 2-liter bottle of soda in slow motion. Because the projectiles are all different shapes and sizes, the impact is chaotic. It's not a clean entry and exit; it's a shredding effect.
It's the same reason people like watching demolition derbies. We like to see things break in unpredictable ways. When a shell full of carpet tacks hits a ballistic gel block, it creates a "cloud" of permanent wound tracks that looks like a spiderweb from hell. It's visually fascinating, even if it's practically useless.
Final thoughts on DIY loads
At the end of the day, 12 gauge kitchen sink ammo is a fun hobby for people who have the right equipment and safety gear, but it's not something the average gun owner should be messing with on a whim. It's an experiment in "what if," and usually, the answer to "what if" is: "it's messy, it's loud, and it probably scratched your barrel."
If you're curious about it, stick to watching the pros on the internet do it with their specialized setups and sacrificial shotguns. There's plenty of entertainment value in seeing what a handful of hex nuts can do to a pumpkin, but it's definitely not a replacement for a box of shells from the local sporting goods store. Sometimes, the stuff in the kitchen sink is better off staying in the kitchen.