They really are, at the moment. They were supposed to serve more like caltrops, pushing enemies back and stunning them, but it isn't useful enough to warrant the 5-shell cost.
Right now i buffed them to the average damage of a shotgun blast (10 x 8 = 80). and made them affected by the Flareshot enhancer, so hopefully they'll be more useful.
I'll be upping it (hopefully) tomorrow.