Less Lethal Ammo
12-Gauge • Rubber Slugs • Rubber Buckshot • Rubber Baton • Byrna Kinetic
Less lethal 12-gauge shotgun ammunition designed to incapacitate without the lethal terminal effect of conventional buckshot or slugs — for police, security professionals, training applications, and shotgun owners who want a graduated-force response option. Rubber buckshot, rubber bullets, rubber ball slugs, rubber baton rounds, and the modern Byrna Kinetic kinetic-energy projectile, all in standard 12-gauge format compatible with any 12-gauge shotgun. From Fiocchi (Italian, founded 1876), Sellier & Bellot (Czech, since 1825), and Byrna (the modern less-lethal specialist).
About Less Lethal Ammo at Keep Shooting
Keep Shooting's Less Lethal Ammo catalog is the focused selection of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition designed for graduated-force applications — rubber buckshot, rubber bullets, rubber ball slugs, rubber baton rounds, and the modern Byrna Kinetic kinetic-energy projectile. Five SKUs across three manufacturers: Fiocchi (Italian, founded 1876), Sellier & Bellot (Czech, since 1825), and Byrna (the modern less-lethal specialist). For broader personal-defense and crowd-control products see our adjacent Pepper Spray selection or the PepperBall buyer's guide on our blog.
"Less lethal" — what the term means and what it doesn't mean. Less lethal is a deliberate term-of-art used by law enforcement, security professionals, and ammunition manufacturers to describe ammunition designed to incapacitate a target without the lethal terminal effect of conventional buckshot, slugs, or rifle bullets. The terminology is carefully chosen: "less lethal" is not the same as "non-lethal." A rubber buckshot round, a rubber slug, or a kinetic-energy projectile can and occasionally has caused serious injury and death — particularly at close range, when fired at the head or neck, or when used against elderly or medically vulnerable targets. The ammunition is less likely to be lethal than conventional ball ammunition in the same caliber, but it remains firearms ammunition fired from a firearm, and any deployment decision should account for that reality.
Why 12-gauge dominates the less-lethal-ammunition market. Three reasons drive 12-gauge as the dominant platform for less- lethal shotgun ammunition. First, existing platform: every police department, security agency, and corrections facility already operates 12-gauge shotguns as standard equipment, and a less-lethal load that runs through the existing platform doesn't require buying new hardware. Second, energy scaling: the 12-gauge cartridge produces enough chamber pressure and projectile energy to deliver a meaningful kinetic impact across 25 to 50 feet (the typical less-lethal engagement distance), where smaller-caliber less-lethal options struggle. Third, identification: less-lethal 12-gauge cartridges are typically loaded in distinctly colored plastic hulls (orange, green, or marked with high- visibility paint) so the loading operator can confirm at a glance that the shotgun is loaded with less-lethal rather than buckshot — a critical safety feature in tactical situations where the consequences of mixing up the two loads are severe.
Rubber buckshot. The Sellier & Bellot 12-Gauge Rubber Buckshot ($53.90) loads multiple rubber pellets into a standard 12-gauge hull — the rubber-pellet equivalent of conventional 00 buckshot. The pattern spread of multiple smaller projectiles makes rubber buckshot the most-forgiving less-lethal load to deploy accurately under stress, since the spread compensates for moderate aiming error. The trade-off is that the per-projectile energy is lower than a single rubber slug, which means rubber buckshot is more effective at close range (10–25 feet) and progressively less effective at distance.
Rubber bullets and rubber slugs. The Sellier & Bellot 12-Gauge Rubber Bullets ($43.18) and Rubber Ball Slugs ($33.00) are single-projectile less-lethal loads — the rubber equivalents of conventional 12-gauge slug ammunition. The single-projectile design delivers all of the cartridge's energy to one impact point, producing a higher per-shot kinetic effect than rubber buckshot but requiring more accurate placement. The Ball Slug uses a spherical rubber projectile (analogous to a musket ball); the Rubber Bullet uses a more bullet-shaped rubber projectile. Both are intended for center-mass deployment at 25 to 50 feet of standoff distance.
Rubber baton rounds. The Fiocchi 12-Gauge Rubber Baton Rounds ($47.84) are the Italian commercial production of the cartridge that police forces worldwide call "baton rounds" (or, in older British terminology, "plastic bullets" — the term made famous in Northern Ireland during the Troubles). A baton round is a cylindrical rubber projectile, roughly the size and shape of a short metal baton, designed for deployment in crowd control situations where the operator needs the energy of a single projectile but a target profile less likely to penetrate skin or cause critical injury than a compact rubber slug. Fiocchi has produced this category for European police and military markets for decades.
Byrna Kinetic — the modern alternative. The Byrna Kinetic Less Lethal 12 Gauge ($39.99) is a modern entrant in the less-lethal-shotgun segment from Byrna Technologies, the Massachusetts-based less-lethal-defense company best known for their compressed-air Byrna SD and HD launchers (which fire kinetic and chemical projectiles without requiring a firearm at all). The Byrna 12-gauge Kinetic round adapts the same kinetic-energy-projectile concept to the standard 12-gauge platform, bringing modern projectile engineering to the existing shotgun-equipped law-enforcement and security market.
Use cases. Less lethal 12-gauge ammunition serves a narrow but well-defined set of applications:
- Police crowd control and escalation-of-force scenarios. The historical primary use case and what most less-lethal shotgun ammunition is engineered for. Allows a shotgun-equipped officer to deploy graduated force in situations short of lethal justification.
- Corrections facilities. Cell extraction and inmate-control operations use less-lethal shotgun rounds extensively in many jurisdictions.
- Private security in commercial, industrial, and event-security applications. Less common than police use but represents a real market.
- Wildlife dispersal and agricultural pest deterrence. Some ranchers and agricultural operators use rubber buckshot for deterring large pest wildlife (bears, deer breaking into orchards, etc.) where lethal options are inappropriate or illegal.
- Civilian home defense (limited / state-dependent). Some civilian shotgun owners stock less-lethal rounds as a graduated-response option for home defense scenarios. Legal framework varies considerably by state — verify your jurisdiction before adopting this approach. For most home-defense applications, a conventional buckshot load from our Shotgun Ammo selection is the more legally-defensible choice.
- Training and force-on- force exercises. Less-lethal loads are widely used in police and military training when realistic shotgun deployment scenarios are needed at reduced safety risk.
Important deployment notes. Three points worth knowing before running less-lethal ammunition:
- Distance matters. Less-lethal rounds become more dangerous at close range and less effective at extended range. The "sweet spot" for typical 12-gauge less-lethal deployment is roughly 25 to 50 feet. Closer than 15 feet, the projectile energy can cause serious injury or death; beyond roughly 60 feet, the energy falls below the threshold for meaningful incapacitation.
- Aim point matters. Less-lethal ammunition is engineered for center- mass deployment. Head, neck, and groin shots with rubber projectiles produce serious-injury outcomes inconsistent with "less lethal" intent and represent a substantial legal and ethical liability.
- Dedicated firearm or color-coded magazine tube. Mixing less-lethal and conventional buckshot in the same magazine tube without a clear loading protocol is the single most common cause of less-lethal ammunition tragedies. Many police departments require a dedicated, distinctively- marked shotgun for less-lethal deployment to eliminate the risk of mixing up the loads under stress.
Legal and regulatory considerations. Less-lethal ammunition is legal at the federal level under the same regulatory framework as conventional shotgun ammunition — it ships with ordinary ground-shipping services, requires no special license, and is sold over the counter in most jurisdictions. However, several states impose restrictions on civilian use, deployment circumstances, or possession requirements: California regulates less-lethal weapon deployment; Massachusetts has specific state requirements for less-lethal-firearm ownership; Illinois treats less-lethal- ammunition possession differently than buckshot in some circumstances. Civilian buyers should verify their state's specific framework before stocking less-lethal rounds. Police and agency buyers should refer to their department's specific deployment policies.
Companion personal-defense categories. Less lethal ammunition is one component of a graduated-force toolkit. Adjacent categories on our site include Pepper Spray (chemical less-lethal options for civilian and police use, with the dedicated PepperBall guide covering the modern alternative); Police Batons (impact weapons in the same escalation-of-force tier); and the broader Shotgun Ammo selection for the conventional buckshot, slug, and less-lethal contexts in one place. For the shotguns themselves see our Shotguns catalog.
Keep Shooting ships less-lethal ammunition from our Pennsylvania warehouse with free shipping on orders over $49.95 and hassle-free returns. Whether you're a police department stocking up rubber buckshot for crowd-control deployment, a corrections facility building a cell-extraction ammunition reserve, a private security company training force-on-force scenarios, a rancher equipping a 12-gauge for wildlife dispersal, or a civilian home-defender supplementing conventional buckshot with a less-lethal escalation tier — every cartridge in our catalog is from a respected American or European less-lethal-ammunition manufacturer with police, military, or commercial track record. Match the load to the deployment scenario, train with the same ammunition you'll deploy with, and verify your state's regulatory framework before stocking these rounds.
Frequently Asked Questions — Less Lethal Ammo
Keep Shooting carries a wide selection of Less Lethal Ammo products from trusted brands. Browse our catalog to see the full range, and use the filters on the left to narrow by brand, price, or product type.
Yes! All orders over $49.95 qualify for free shipping, including Less Lethal Ammo products. Orders typically ship within 1–2 business days.
Keep Shooting offers hassle-free returns on Less Lethal Ammo products. If you're not completely satisfied, contact our customer service team for a return authorization. All products must be in original, unused condition.
If you need help choosing the right Less Lethal Ammo product, our team is available to assist. Check individual product descriptions for detailed specifications, or contact us directly and we'll help you find the best fit for your needs.