20Ga Buckshot?

Z

ZVP

New member
I have looked around the net and it seems that #3 is the largest shot you can get in 20 ga? I can understand that the shell has limitations so I guess I would be stuck with whatever I can get for a Stoger Double.
Being new to the Shotgun Home Defenseconcept, I wsa glad to read that my misconceptions about Birdshot being adequate! Apparentlly it dosent penetrate to hit vitals if the range is over about 5 yards. You need some form of Buckshot to be effective.
I am only intrested in stopping action against my home and wether the opponent dies is irellevant.
Is there any source for a buck and Ball load for the 20GA?
ZVP
 
20 gauge 000 has 10 pellets. 12 gauge 00 has 9. A 20 gauge with 00 would only have 5 or 6 at the most
 
I don't buy buck for my 20 gauge and what I have I picked up in odd lots but I have some 000 in 2 3/4" Express and 00 in 3" Federal Premium so it's out there. You might have to special order to get it though. Mostly I am loaded up on slugs and turkey shells in #4 or #6. Deer hunting and turkey hunting are the primary use for my 20 so that's just the way I went at the toy store. Rio Royal sells it in 2 3/4".

Wolf Hill sells 20 gauge tactical 00 in 2 3/4" with 8 pellets.

http://wolfhilltradingco.com/tactical-20-gauge-00-buck-shot-2-34-10-rounds/
 
Well, I actually bought a box of Rio #1 Buck for my 20 gauge single shot just a few weeks ago, just to play around, really. I should note that it was the last box that they had. I know I've seen 0 Buck in a 20 gauge, at least somewhere. I remember wanting to order some from Cheaper Than Dirt. I was making a big order and I figured I'd grab some 00 Buck. But everything above #3 was out of stock. I just went and ordered the #3...

To be honest, I kinda hate when people say "well a 20 gauge is good for self defense if you're recoil sensitive or small statured", etc. Yeah, it's fantastic, WHEN you can find some damn buckshot for the thing... I mean, #3 buck is still .25 caliber. You've got a whole load of them coming out, but it's the principle. PEOPLE WANT BUCKSHOT FOR THEIR 20 GAUGES! I really don't know what's so hard for companies to understand about that. I know the 12 dominates the market, but when .410 000 Buck is easier to find than 20 gauge buckshot above #3, I think we have a problem.

I was also reading a blog a while back. Apparently #1 (.30 caliber) is the absolute best shot size for a balance of both recoil management and stopping power. Recoil is little when compared to the larger shot sizes and still puts a lot of pellets on target, but apparently, there is no demand for it... What a shame...
 
I never seem to have trouble finding buckshot for a 20 ga. No 2 is about the biggest I've ever seen, and I've only seen that in 3" loads, but every Wal-Mart and gun store around here has it as far as I know. I see a lot of No 3 in 2 3/4" loads.

Of course we use it for deer hunting around here, so they sell a bunch of it.

I was also reading a blog a while back. Apparently #1 (.30 caliber) is the absolute best shot size for a balance of both recoil management and stopping power. Recoil is little when compared to the larger shot sizes and still puts a lot of pellets on target, but apparently, there is no demand for it... What a shame...
Click to expand...

No 1 buck is probably the most popular buckshot load around here, or it was when I was doing a lot of hunting. It's all I've ever used, and my grandfather used it before I did. Every deer I ever killed was with No. 1, out a 12 ga with a modified choke.

Years ago "The American Rifleman" magazine did a test on various buckshot loads and determined the same thing. No 1 out a modified choke was the best patterning they tested. Peter Capstick in his book, "Death in the Long Grass, said professional hunters in Africa, prefered a 12 ga double, with British SG buckshot, which he said was the same as American No 1, for following up on crippled big cats.

It is harder to find these days than it used to be.
 
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