Quote:
Originally Posted by sigp220.45
Even though it almost killed her (severed artery, collapsed lung) she didn’t even stagger.
Would a 00 buck round have left her standing and walking around? I doubt it, but until I saw this I would have thought the close range birdshot load would have more effect than it did.
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Thanks for the extra info.
It's interesting to note that a normal load of 00 Buck and a normal load of #7.5 (Birdshot) weigh about the same; 1 1/8oz.
Most people think that 00 Buck delivers more damage because it's a bigger pellet. Newton would disagree because the total mass is the same. 1 1/8oz of #7.5 is the same mass as 1 1/8oz of #00 Buck. So, why is 00 Buck better for defense?
The difference is velocity. A normal Trap/Bird load is 1 1/8oz of #7.5 and it's traveling about 1290FPS at the muzzle. A normal load of #00 Buck is 1 1/8oz and is traveling 1400FPS (Hornady Critical Defense #00 Buck loads are traveling 1600FPS
). That extra velocity makes a huge difference in force applied to the bad guy.
That's still not the whole story. The size of the pellet DOES matter. Because it's a larger pellet, each pellet has more mass and individually will do more damage. Therefore, each pellet of #00 Buck will penetrate better than each pellet of #7.5. So, even though the total mass is the same, the velocity of a normal #00 Buck load is higher and the individual pellets will do more damage because the bring more mass to a smaller area.
Now, to answer the question asked by sigp220.45; Would a 00 buck round have left her standing and walking around? The answer is likely no. The reason it's no is because the #00 Buck would likely have broken her collar bone based on the shot placement. A normal person's reaction to a broken bone is an emphatic OOOOWWWW!!!! This is usually followed by some kind of movement. Because the birdshot didn't break any bones, she probably didn't understand what had happened due to the surprise. Because an artery or vein being cut doesn't hurt as much as breaking a bone, we tend to react slower. Thus she was likely more stunned by the sound than the initial hit from the shot.
This is all just speculation from me. Still, it explains why #00 Buck, or larger, is a much better defensive load.