What to stoke up as the leadoff shell in a Shockwave or other short shotgun?

[Muss Muggins]

I'll get a chance to find out for myself next week, but so far what I've read here and elsewhere is that the Shockwave isn't as punishing as ya might think. Seen several vids in action. I've got a bunch of low recoil and regular 00, target and birdshot to play with.

Surprisingly easy to control with any load. I am impressed with mine, especially since as a kid I watched an officer test fire a double barrel sawed off that looked like something Jerry Reed carried in Gator and cut his finger on the trigger from the recoil . . .

 

[Ozark Marine]

Going to get some grip tape for the birds head grip like Hickok45 did to his.
Sweaty palms in the summer might let the safety slip into and tear up the web of my hand like it did to him with a relaxed grip.
Other than that I'm loving the little sucker. Hitting what I'm shooting at with every shot.
Next slugs. When the monsoon ends here.

 

[jeeps]

I prefer a stock and 18"barrel. The shockwave is useless,but a conversation piece.

 

[Mainsail]

Hitting what I'm shooting at with every shot.

The shockwave is useless,but a conversation piece.

Weird how it works in Missouri but not in OH.

I hope they work in WA because I have my FFL looking for one.

 

[Ozark Marine]

Weird how it works in Missouri but not in OH.

I hope they work in WA because I have my FFL looking for one.

Got a email from Lanbo's Armory this morning that they have them in stock.
$393.87 shipped.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Just a note on fire power.......

Saw "Jerry" on tv with impossible shots with a new toy.
He loaded a 12 Ga. semi-auto with Remington "Green" STS 12 Ga. shells...

Ten in all and when the smoke cleared the timer read .......
1.21 seconds from the 1st going off, to the last !!

 

[alaskavett]

This depends on what my precived threat level is... Large bear? Griz? Or Meth fueled doper kicking in my door... Literally, a loaded question.. Bear? Gets the slug, garbage gets triple odd buckshot.. Kyle

 

[forrestinmathews]

Going to get some grip tape for the birds head grip like Hickok45 did to his.
Sweaty palms in the summer might let the safety slip into and tear up the web of my hand like it did to him with a relaxed grip.
Other than that I'm loving the little sucker. Hitting what I'm shooting at with every shot.
Next slugs. When the monsoon ends here.

I'm wondering if grip tape isn't adding fresh grit to the sander. Especially since I'm shooting the 3" shells. I'm thinking he did an inner tube grip job. That'd be the safe way to achieve more grip.

 

[forrestinmathews]

So here are patterns shot today with my Shockwave using 3" OO Buck fired cold without sighters or any other bogus cheating. The first pattern was at 10 yards and the second at 20 yards with older Federal Premium 3" OO Buck 15 pellets. I didn't even really notice the difference in recoil, but the magnums spread more than the 2¾" regular shells.

 

[Aldonola]

This is an excellent video (like all of his). It amazed me the regularity with which he can hit the 80 yard gong with slugs and that gun. Even silhouette targets too.

Hickok: I've never tried to hit the gong with this so it will probably take a while to find the range.
Bam-Ding! Bam-Ding! Bam-Ding!

Guy can shoot.


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[BE Mike]

Come on now, you can't do that. We need details!

The Nobel Sport 2 1/4" 00 buck shells are effective out to 10 yards and pattern well. They have 6 pellets (the extra hole is the wad). The recoil is negligible out of my Remmy 870 Gatekeeper II. The Hornady Critical Defense 00 buck loads have 8 pellets and are effective farther out (15-25 yds.), but the recoil is much greater (still pretty controllable).

 

[forrestinmathews]

Well I think in the wake of my test, I need to fire the 3"#1 Buck and 3"#4 Buck to see if they get similar results. I have also found that I can run 3+1 3" magnum shells in the chamber with no loss to original capacity of 5+1 or compression of any of the shells. I ALWAYS CHECK FOR NOSE CRUSHING OR COMPRESSION.

Also the 2¾" Tula OO Buck 9 pellet load will be tested because it will serve as both a practice and backup load as it is readily available at Walmart in 25 round boxes for nearly the cost of two boxes of five rounds of Federal, Winchester, or Remington.
Another load that is of particular interest is the Federal 3" Flitecontrol OOB 12 pellet load. I wonder if this might just be the load that takes me to thirty or forty yards effectively while staying in OO Buck.

 

[6518John]

^^^^We save our pizza boxes for targets too! I though my son and I were the only people to do this.

 

[forrestinmathews]

^^^^We save our pizza boxes for targets too! I though my son and I were the only people to do this.

It's the humane thing to before you burn your pizza box...

 

[BE Mike]

I prefer a stock and 18"barrel. The shockwave is useless,but a conversation piece.

Looks like some disagree: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM_sqSTg2v8[/ame]

 

[OFT II]

I think that a solid hit with any of the loads listed above should take care of the problem.

 

[29aholic]

The first 4 in mine are #4 buck and the last two are OO. Don't ask me why, I don't have a good answer. I have always been a fan of the #4's especially inside a dwelling. I highly doubt I would go chasing a survivor out of my house, but in the unlikely event I think the 00 might be a tad better.


I too learned about the safety the hard way. Since I have changed the way I grip it, it is no longer an issue. I have shot the **** out of mine and I can quarantee if you are within 20yards of me I will own you.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

e-mail just dinged...

If anyone is interested Palmetto has the Shockwave for $389. There's also a note: "Not For Sale for Residents of Texas or Ohio"

Mossberg 590 Shockwave

 

[Kanewpadle]

I'm one who used to believe that bird shot was best used on birds only. But that has changed with the advancement of certain ammo types and testing.

I have personally tested Federal controlled flight #4 turkey loads

and 00 buck.

The shotguns used: 26" barrel with turkey choke. 24" cylinder bore (no choke). And 28" improved.

We shot turkey size targets at varying distances from 5 yards to 50 yards. This testing was done for two reasons. We were going turkey hunting obviously and my dad wanted to use his favorite shotgun for home defense which is the 24" cylinder bore.

Our findings.

We did not shoot the 00 buck through the turkey gun. But we found that out to 50 yards the turkey gun was awesome with the Federal #4 turkey load. We also shot other #4 and #5 loads without flight control and the results weren't near as good. Not even close. Most of the Federal pellets hit the target at 50 yards. Recoil wasn't bad at all.

We shot the other two shotguns with Federal flight control 00 buck at distances from 5 to 20 yards. With both shotguns results were impressive at 20 yards and even more so at 10 yards. All pellets hit the target. Again recoil wasn't bad.

Then we shot the Federal #4 turkey loads with both guns. Results were the same. Even the cylinder bore gun was impressive at 20 yards.

Our conclusions were that either load would work well inside my fathers home from distances as far as 15 yards with his favorite shotgun. He chose the #4 turkey load. At 1250 fps, it's more than enough to do the job.

So my suggestion is, pick either one and test it. The problem with shot guns and ammo selection is that results can vary from person to person and gun to gun.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Phil is correct. We Buckeyes don't get to have one.

Is the Mossberg 590 Shockwave legal in Ohio? | Buckeye Firearms Association

 

[pittpa]

How about a tracer? If you set him on fire , the buckshot will put it out.


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[forrestinmathews]

Hickok 45 does a cool video, but as we can see from the bandage on his hand there are out takes. The slug shots were all practiced ahead of time. The gong targets are also quite large at the extended distances. This is not meant to say that the individual doesn't have shooting ability, just to highlight that there is some practice going on in the background.

There are all very solid loads in the poll. It would be really cool if the guys that had Shockwaves could post their test pattern data and maybe we could find out what works best and gives the most useful range.
The list of interest is growing for me:
Winchester PDX Defender 3xOO Buck and Slug
Federal Flitecontrol OOB 12 pellet 3"
Federal Flitecontrol #1 Buck 15 pellet 2¾"
NSI multi defense 6x#1 Buck 1x.650 round ball

 

[diegobxr]

My house is rather small. Longest distance is probably no more than 5 yards. At that range almost anything out of a 12 GA. is devastating to a human threat.

No, I'm not saying I use the lightest #9 trap load on the market... but yes, at 5 yds that choice is most certainly lethal.

I have 000 BK right now but wouldn't feel defenseless with 00, 0, 4 BK, #6 turkey or whatever.

Any difference between the loads is overshadowed by how much (or little) training and proficiency we have with our guns anyway.

 

[josp]

Don't have a shockwave, but have an 18" 500 and a 6" super shorty. I've tried the good stuff with flite control wads and the cheap Walmart stuff, all 00 buck. The 18" gets cheap stuff cause it patterns better at my realistic distances. The super shorty gets flite control cause it actuall spreads while the cheap stuff doesn't at those distances from that gun. My advice is try it where you'll most likely use it (hopefully never) and use what works for you.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Phil is correct. We Buckeyes don't get to have one.

Is the Mossberg 590 Shockwave legal in Ohio? | Buckeye Firearms Association

It is, but I immediately discount the author's intelligence due to this unfortunate mistake:

First, he/she cites this:

Sawed-off firearm means a shotgun with a barrel less than eighteen inches long, or a rifle with a barrel less than sixteen inches long, or a shotgun or rifle less than twenty-six inches long overall." Emphasis added.


Then, he/she cites this:

The Mossberg Shockwave has a barrel length of 14". Accordingly, with a barrel of less than 16" long, it is considered a "Sawed-off firearm" under Ohio Law. In Ohio, there is no barrel length exception, even with an overall length of 26" or greater.


Stopped paying attention after that misstatement, which constituted the first two paragraphs of Sean's legal opinion. Thanks for trying . . .

 

[Rustyt1953]

Good eye!!

 

[Rastoff]

So, is the Governor illegal in Ohio?

 

[forrestinmathews]

It is, but I immediately discount the author's intelligence due to this unfortunate mistake:

First, he/she cites this:

Sawed-off firearm means a shotgun with a barrel less than eighteen inches long, or a rifle with a barrel less than sixteen inches long, or a shotgun or rifle less than twenty-six inches long overall." Emphasis added.


Then, he/she cites this:

The Mossberg Shockwave has a barrel length of 14". Accordingly, with a barrel of less than 16" long, it is considered a "Sawed-off firearm" under Ohio Law. In Ohio, there is no barrel length exception, even with an overall length of 26" or greater.


Stopped paying attention after that misstatement, which constituted the first two paragraphs of Sean's legal opinion. Thanks for trying . . .

I saw the "supposed error" in the interpretation also, BUT since the gun is not an SBS or AOW under BATFE rulings this week he's trying to revert to the 16" for the firearm. Then he has the whole phrase in about the law not being interpreted to an absurd result and taking common accepted definitions so that puts it right back in the shotgun category as far the state is concerned. Finally, we have all the OR's which pretty much turn the whole thing into a nope show catch all. Two out of three nopes is bad.

 

[forrestinmathews]

Don't have a shockwave, but have an 18" 500 and a 6" super shorty. I've tried the good stuff with flite control wads and the cheap Walmart stuff, all 00 buck. The 18" gets cheap stuff cause it patterns better at my realistic distances. The super shorty gets flite control cause it actuall spreads while the cheap stuff doesn't at those distances from that gun. My advice is try it where you'll most likely use it (hopefully never) and use what works for you.

Am I reading this correctly that you are trying to tell us that the Flitecontrol makes even bigger patterns than the cheap buffered buckshot from Walmart?

In other news, I watched some videos of folks patterning their Shockwaves​. First up is "long beard" who single loads OO Buck from the box, but somehow he found a magic load from Speer Lawman of OO Buck that is either glued or magnetized together out to fifteen yards. Or that goofball shot over the target with the patterns at the closer ranges and only the shot cup hit paper. The follow up with Winchester OO Buck clearly shows he didn't miss the target, but he gives cause to wonder.
For your viewing pleasure:Mossberg 590 Shockwave Review - YouTube
A better video where a guy does two tests of #4 Buck one Fiocchi and one Remington followed by Federal Classic OOB. This video is a lot better with someone who is at least comfortable with the pump shotgun:Patterning Buckshot With The Mossberg 590 Shockwave - YouTube
ETA: Speer Lawman OO Buck was/is an eight pellet Flitecontrol offering...no wonder it was super tight.

 

[Muss Muggins]

I saw the "supposed error" in the interpretation also, BUT since the gun is not an SBS or AOW under BATFE rulings this week he's trying to revert to the 16" for the firearm. Then he has the whole phrase in about the law not being interpreted to an absurd result and taking common accepted definitions so that puts it right back in the shotgun category as far the state is concerned. Finally, we have all the OR's which pretty much turn the whole thing into a nope show catch all. Two out of three nopes is bad.

I have no idea how to relate what you typed to the law at hand . . .