Low Recoil Buck & Slugs?

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JayFramer

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Anyone shooting low/reduced/managed recoil buckshot or slugs in their shotguns be it for hunting, home defense, or at work as a police officer etc.?

If so, how do you like (or dislike) it for your specific task? Just curious. I bought some 9 pellet Federal reduced recoil law enforcement 00 buck and slug loads from the LGS and they’re a lot easier on the shoulder.

Thoughts?
 
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Anyone who has much experience shooting full power buckshot or slug loads in a 12-gauge riot gun will certainly appreciate the reduction of recoil. 2-3/4" "magnum" loads (much less the 3" magnums) are somewhere between punishing (with a conventional stock pump 12-ga. riot gun) and brutal (with folding stock riot guns). I spent many years doing annual qualifications with the shotguns, and came to dread the punishment from 10 or 15 rounds of buckshot loads and 5 or 10 rounds of slugs. The folding stock riot guns are particularly brutal.

Now I'll sit back and watch as everyone tells me what a wimp I am.
 
LoboGunLeather said:
Now I'll sit back and watch as everyone tells me what a wimp I am.
Click to expand...

Not me dude. I shot a handful of slugs through that KSG and that was plenty. Pumps tend to beat you anyway, but that bullpup can be a b*tch.

I don't think the bad guy will know I used low recoil rounds while laying on the floor. At typical home defense distances, it's not going to make a difference.
 
Many years ago our issued ammo was switched over to the reduced recoil "00" Buckshot & Slug loads and hits on target improved markedly for everyone, especially those most recoil sensitive. We also noticed that the "00" Buckshot held better patterns. Once a year we switched out our issued duty ammo and it got turned in for training/quals. At the range all the shot loads were dumped into a 5 gallon bucket and you just grabbed however many you needed for the course of fire. Occasionally an old full power load was left over and mixed in with all the others. It was fun to sit back and watch other shooters when unexpectedly touched off a full power load.
 
First time I shot my 590A1, I put 10 full power 00 buckshot through it. That was all I could handle and my shoulder was sore for a couple days. The next time at the range, i put 25 Federal LE #1 buck Low Recoil though it and could have kept going. No sore shoulder the next day either.
 
I use these bad boys because 1) a bunch of them mysteriously followed me into retirement and 2) the name makes me laugh. Reminds me of being on double super-secret probation.

Once I taught a shotgun class for the tribal cops I worked with. I asked the Indian Country Unit at FBIHQ for the ammo, and about five cases of this stuff showed up, all dusty and still with yellowed shipping labels showing it had originally been foisted upon the the Butte Division, which hadn’t existed for quite a while, even then.

Good enough, says I. Those poor cops - I’ll always remember their heads whipping back when they touched them off. Indian cops are tough, and no one complained, but nobody asked for any of the leftovers either.
 

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Low recoil? Why would you use anything else these days?

I have a few boxes of old magnum #4 shot. I mix one in every session or two to remind myself why I like low recoil so much more. 100-200fps lost in low recoil buck seems a fair trade off for less pain. The overall terminal effectiveness is likely to barely be hampered.

We are all getting older. Less pain is generally better.
 
I use the Federal low recoil 00 in my 870. Out to about 7 yards or so all 9 pellets stay in the wad so it groups like a slug. I cannot think of any threat in my home that 9, 54 grain pellets at 1100 fps would not take care of.

As far as that goes I think 9 to 12, 33 grains pellets of #1 buck at the same velocity would be enough and further reduce recoil. I wish some company would make such a load in a standard length shell. The mini-shells would be great if they worked in a 870 but they don't. Ammo like this would not work in a semi-auto but I would bet there quite a few of us with pump guns that are tired of getting our shoulders beat up who would buy ammo like that.

I have considered switching to a 20 gauge but the lighter guns take away some of the recoil advantage and ammo selection is limited to a few loads with #3 buck which is a bit smaller than I prefer. And most of those few loads are full power. If there were a bunch of companies making reduced recoil 20 gauge buckshot I probably would switch but I can only find one such load, the Remington reduced recoil 20 gauge. You would think that since most people that use a 20 for home defense do so for the reduced recoil almost all the buckshot loads would be reduced recoil. Deer hunters that have to use a shotgun typically use slugs so I can see the preference for full power slugs. But most 20 gauge buckshot loads should be reduced recoil.
 
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May I suggest: Hornady TAP (Tactical Application Police). 12 gauge, 2 3/4" shell, 8 pellets/00 Buck, 1100fps. From a Shockwave bbl at approx. 7 yds, the target looks like a slug hit it: one 12 gauge hole, no pattern dispersion. Did not try it at greater distances.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103
 
2 3/4 w/12 pellets? F'dat. I bought most of my stash before the low recoil stuff had become common, but my old agency switched to it and found that the patterns and performance were better. There is some good writing from Doc Roberts on the #1 low recoil and why it actually is better than any other size (total surface area, in short). I doubt the performance increase is worth it to me right now, but if I were laying in a new stock, I would look hard for that Federal #1 low recoil.

Most of my HD use would be an AR, which has many advantages, but a 12 huge loaded with slugs has some other utility.
 
Thanks for the reports, gang!

Anyone have a lead on the Federal Tactical #1 buckshot loads? Seems a Federal only makes this every once in a while and they must be in between runs or something?
 
JayFramer said:
Thanks for the reports, gang!

Anyone have a lead on the Federal Tactical #1 buckshot loads? Seems a Federal only makes this every once in a while and they must be in between runs or something?
Click to expand...

I haven’t seen it n stock for a long time either. Maybe they’ll notice if folks keep complaining. I have issues even getting 00 regularly.
 
JayFramer said:
Thanks for the reports, gang!

Anyone have a lead on the Federal Tactical #1 buckshot loads? Seems a Federal only makes this every once in a while and they must be in between runs or something?
Click to expand...

I can't recall where I got mine from. I think it was Ammunition Depot, but they don't show it on their site. I remember that it was the only online source I could find, so I bought a lifetime supply of 20 5-round boxes.

Perhaps your LGS can order it direct from Federal?
 
JayFramer said:
Anyone shooting low/reduced/managed recoil buckshot or slugs in their shotguns be it for hunting, home defense, or at work as a police officer etc.?

If so, how do you like (or dislike) it for your specific task? Just curious. I bought some 9 pellet Federal reduced recoil law enforcement 00 buck and slug loads from the LGS and they’re a lot easier on the shoulder.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

That same load cycles great and patterns great out of the Benelli M2 Tactical that my wife has. No complaints.
 
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