Defensive Shotgun Ammo

"Was that test YOU did take place at 10 or 15 feet? BTW, unless you were actually present for the test you talk about what you saw is Heresay."

7 yards. I was present. 7 and 8 birdshot. Results were visually impressive but stopped at 7-8 inches. I look for at least 12 inches of penetration in gel.

Have never seen a handgun or shotgun gel test at 25 yards.
 
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A couple of years ago, my old neighbor shot a tweaker who kicked his door in with #8 in the chest from about 5 feet. I helped him fix his door frame and clean up some blood.

Tweaker did not die, nothing penetrated deep enough. However, it was enough to stop him in his tracks and he was no longer interested in coming in my neighbors house (talk about a buzz kill). He laid on the floor crying, until the ambulance scooped him up.

I personally would only use birdshot if I was real worried about over penetration.
 
I don't have much buckshot, never had a use for it. I have several hundred 12 & 20g slugs left over from Ohio deer season. ( we have rifle now) Also have several hundred rounds of 12g 2.75" magnum loads of 4 & 5 shot and a few hundred Turkey duplex loads.

Armchair warriors who bad mouth shotguns for HD/SD have never seen what even Target Load 7.5 will do at short range. Most hunting accidents are short range, loading / unloading incidents. Center body is usually DOA and if in limb, it has to be amputated. Bird shot not good for the running gunfights but good for defense.
 
I was trained as a Combat Shotgun Instructor when I was in the Corps. We fired 350 rounds of 00 & Slugs in a three day time period. Lots of quick reaction drills and hostage drills. So I am partial to 00 & slugs. My copy of a USMC Remington M870 Mark 1 is loaded with six rounds of 00 Buck up first and the last two rounds are slugs.
 
During the 1996 Olympics here the FBI took over our hangar at Dobbins ARB. Tac vehicles, Zodiacs, etc. One room was used by their armorers. When they left they left a wall locker full of ammo, which I inherited. Shot gun ammo was Federal Premium 00 Buck and Federal grey box slugs.

Just like in the military, it easier to dump that stuff than it is to return it to the logistics guy.
 
I don't have much buckshot, never had a use for it. I have several hundred 12 & 20g slugs left over from Ohio deer season. ( we have rifle now) Also have several hundred rounds of 12g 2.75" magnum loads of 4 & 5 shot and a few hundred Turkey duplex loads.

Armchair warriors who bad mouth shotguns for HD/SD have never seen what even Target Load 7.5 will do at short range. Most hunting accidents are short range, loading / unloading incidents. Center body is usually DOA and if in limb, it has to be amputated. Bird shot not good for the running gunfights but good for defense.
One of the deadest guys I ever saw took a single load of cheap 12 gauge 7.5s to the upper chest and neck from 10 or 12 feet away. Pathologists call those 'rat hole' wounds for good reason.

Don't anger your wife by telling her how great your girlfriend performs.
 
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Do dismiss the effectiveness of just plain bird shot at close in-house ranges. I will never forget seeing someone shot at roughly 15' in a living room with 1 1/8 ounces of no. 9 skeet shot. It all depends on what and where your needs are.
 
There was a study out there done by the Ga St Patrol years ago about the effectiveness of various buckshot loads. Their recommendation was #1 buck since it had more pellets, filled the pattern better, and didn't penetrate walls like 00 buck did. The hard part would be finding it nowadays. The only place I've seen it was in Federal 3" shells at BassPro a couple of years ago.
 
I do not know if this is still made
Have not seen it for sale online in a very long time
It used to cost about $6 for a box of 10
Fiocchi Reduced Recoil 12LE00BK
My favorite defensive shotgun load
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I just use buckshot. I have a ton of it.

Birdshot fans should check out the video from a shooting at Seattle Pacific University of few years ago. The shooter killed a student outside, went into a campus building, and shot 19 year old Sarah Williams in the chest from about 4 yards away. He used a full length over/under 12 gauge and birdshot.

At the shot, young Sarah stops, turns around, walks down a hallway, where another student helped her to the floor and called her Mom for her. She told her mom she'd been shot, and waited for the ambulance.

She describes what it felt like in this article.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...about-shooting-at-seattle-pacific-university/

I won't link the video, but its not hard to find.

Now personally I subscribe to the "shoot them with anything and they'll probably go away" school of thought. But some folks might wonder if a heavily muscled guy with a leather coat and a grievance might not press on through the birdshot.
 
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I have 4 buck, but only about 20 rounds.

Plus 50 rounds of #3 lead bird shot for my 12 ga Mossy 500.

I live in a suburban area with close neighbors and need to limit over-prmetration.
 
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