Bartholomew Roberts
Moderator
Epyon, here is the problem as I see it. Any round that meets the FBI minimum criteria for defensive use is going to penetrate into your neighbor's apartments (and quite possibly THEIR neighbor's apartment as well) if you completely miss the target.
One solution is to use very light rounds that do not penetrate drywall. The problem with this approach is that you may only use lethal force to defend yourself from an immediate threat of death or serious injury. Very light rounds, such as birdshot, do not penetrate bad guys any better than they penetrate drywall - as a result, they may not penetrate deep enough to cause a physiological stop (the attacker stops because he physically cannot continue to attack). This leaves you in the awkward position of having to rely on that same someone who just threatened your life in your own apartment suddenly changing their mind.
The best answer to this problem is not to miss your target - this not only helps with stopping the threat quickly, it also means you can use more effective loads without endangering your neighbors. Unfortunately, always making a hit is easier said than done.
My advice would be:
1. Get professional training from a qualified instructor on self-defense with the firearm of your choice. Not only will this help you make the hits should that situation arise, in the event a bystander is injured, it can help show that you went the extra mile to exercise your rights responsibly and non-negligently.
2. Take some time to establish and examine likely lanes of fire in your apartment. What offers you good cover while giving you a good field of fire with a safe background? Take some time to figure out what your background is in different positions and how you can compensate for that problem.
3. Solving the problem with as few shots as possible reduces the potential for a miss.
8" is great if you get an unobstructed frontal torso shot. If he has his arms up in front of him (say as if he was aiming a handgun back at you), then 8" may not get it done. Consider this ballistics gel test of Winchest 2 3/4" 12ga 7.5 shot. Using a 24" barrel, with the bare ballistics gel only 10' away from the muzzle, the DEEPEST shot penetration was only 5.9" with most of the shot right around 4". Something as simple as a couch pillow can turn your perfected unobstructed torso shot into "not enough penetration" pretty easily with those numbers.
There are plenty of examples where birdshot failed to stop:
Elias Stacy shoots Clell Miller in the face with birdshot at short range during James gang raid on Northfield.
Shot in the face with birdshot from across a stairway - unarmed victim survives by running away
Shot in the back of the head at point blank range with birdshot - no pellets penetrate skull
94yr old man shoots himself in the abdomen point blank with bird shot - treats wound himself and then waits until 8:30am the next morning for his home health care nurse to arrive to go to hospital
Winchester 97 duel - man takes a load of #6 shot to the face from 6', kills person who shot him with buckshot loaded 97 and then drives 100 miles to his home before seeking treatment.
Birdshot certainly can kill or stop a threat. It just doesn't do so reliably as heavier shot that meets the FBI criteria.
One solution is to use very light rounds that do not penetrate drywall. The problem with this approach is that you may only use lethal force to defend yourself from an immediate threat of death or serious injury. Very light rounds, such as birdshot, do not penetrate bad guys any better than they penetrate drywall - as a result, they may not penetrate deep enough to cause a physiological stop (the attacker stops because he physically cannot continue to attack). This leaves you in the awkward position of having to rely on that same someone who just threatened your life in your own apartment suddenly changing their mind.
The best answer to this problem is not to miss your target - this not only helps with stopping the threat quickly, it also means you can use more effective loads without endangering your neighbors. Unfortunately, always making a hit is easier said than done.
My advice would be:
1. Get professional training from a qualified instructor on self-defense with the firearm of your choice. Not only will this help you make the hits should that situation arise, in the event a bystander is injured, it can help show that you went the extra mile to exercise your rights responsibly and non-negligently.
2. Take some time to establish and examine likely lanes of fire in your apartment. What offers you good cover while giving you a good field of fire with a safe background? Take some time to figure out what your background is in different positions and how you can compensate for that problem.
3. Solving the problem with as few shots as possible reduces the potential for a miss.
ADB said:
8" is great if you get an unobstructed frontal torso shot. If he has his arms up in front of him (say as if he was aiming a handgun back at you), then 8" may not get it done. Consider this ballistics gel test of Winchest 2 3/4" 12ga 7.5 shot. Using a 24" barrel, with the bare ballistics gel only 10' away from the muzzle, the DEEPEST shot penetration was only 5.9" with most of the shot right around 4". Something as simple as a couch pillow can turn your perfected unobstructed torso shot into "not enough penetration" pretty easily with those numbers.
There are plenty of examples where birdshot failed to stop:
Elias Stacy shoots Clell Miller in the face with birdshot at short range during James gang raid on Northfield.
Shot in the face with birdshot from across a stairway - unarmed victim survives by running away
Shot in the back of the head at point blank range with birdshot - no pellets penetrate skull
94yr old man shoots himself in the abdomen point blank with bird shot - treats wound himself and then waits until 8:30am the next morning for his home health care nurse to arrive to go to hospital
Winchester 97 duel - man takes a load of #6 shot to the face from 6', kills person who shot him with buckshot loaded 97 and then drives 100 miles to his home before seeking treatment.
Birdshot certainly can kill or stop a threat. It just doesn't do so reliably as heavier shot that meets the FBI criteria.