Shotgun shells are consumables, not magazines. The shell is what loads into the tube, holds the BBs, and gets ejected after firing — lose one and you've lost a third of your shotgun's capacity.

Airsoft shotguns work differently from rifles when it comes to ammunition feed. Most spring-powered tri-shot shotguns use a tube magazine that holds 5-8 plastic shells, each shell holding 30 BBs internally. Pump the action and one shell is chambered. Trigger pull, the shell vents three BBs, and the pump-back cycles the next shell into position. The empty shells aren't ejected from the side like a real shotgun — they reload from the tube each pump — but they wear, crack, and occasionally get lost.

Spares fall into two main categories. Replacement shells for spring tri-shot shotguns are the most common purchase — sold individually or in 5-packs, brand-specific (a Tokyo Marui shell doesn't fit a CYMA shotgun and vice versa). Buy spares with the shotgun and again periodically as they age. Gas shotgun magazines are a different product entirely — magazine-fed gas shotguns (rare in airsoft) use detachable mags rather than internal shell tubes, sold like rifle GBB mags.

Brand compatibility matters. Tokyo Marui spring shotguns use TM-specific shells — the quality benchmark for tri-shot platforms. CYMA and ASG shotguns use their own shell designs — check the listing for compatibility. JAG Arms for gas shotguns. For the shotguns themselves, see Shotguns.

💡 Titan Forge tip: Always buy at least 4-5 spare shells with a shotgun — replacing them at a UK site mid-game is almost impossible (no airsoft site stocks them in any meaningful range), and a shotgun with two shells is significantly less effective than one with eight. £15-20 of spares with the shotgun saves £200+ of underperforming primary.