Best shotgun shell for self defense in an apartment.

what shotgun shell would you use if you lived in an apartment?

  • 00 Buck

    Votes: 56 35.9%

  • #4 Buck

    Votes: 49 31.4%

  • Turkey Shot

    Votes: 14 9.0%

  • #4 bird shot

    Votes: 37 23.7%
  • Total voters
    156
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birdshot

Remember about spread. As has been noted, the shot charge will have had very little chance to open up at typical apt. distances (3-8 yards). You can expect about one inch of spread per yard with a FC gun. So...that 15 ft. hallway - the pattern is five inches wide at the end. Shoot across a large room and it's still about the size of your open hand. Even with birdshot - think #6 as an example - a field load will have more than 250 pellets going in at the same time. It's not a lot of little holes - it's one big hole and an energy dump.
Pete
 
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Try this little experiment: place a thick phone book, ours is three inches thick, in front of a piece of 3/4" plywood. Now, shoot once from ten feet with #7 bird shot.

I did this with my Mossberg 500a, and was surprised to find that it blew a five inch hole in the phonebook and the plywood. I would say that it's a viable HD round.

That being said I load mine with oo buck. Just in case.
 
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Count me as another one that goes with birdshot in this instance.

I've done my own tests and from 10 yards or less, I know that bigger birdshot will stop an attacker. May not kill them, but it will stop them.

1 milk jug full of water + 3" of phone book + plywood. #2 birdshot went through all of them from 20 feet. The phone book had a good 4" diameter hole as did the plywood. That's plenty effective.
 
Personally, I'd prefer to get something designed specifically for non-lethal defense, such as beanbag or rubber slug rounds.
 
Count me as another one that goes with birdshot in this instance.

I've done my own tests and from 10 yards or less, I know that bigger birdshot will stop an attacker. May not kill them, but it will stop them.

1 milk jug full of water + 3" of phone book + plywood. #2 birdshot went through all of them from 20 feet. The phone book had a good 4" diameter hole as did the plywood. That's plenty effective.
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If the birdshot penetrated all of that, sure it would work well enough for HD in a pinch. But I have to point out that if it's penterating all of that with ease, a little sheetrock isn't going to stop it either. Fact is anything that's going to stop an intruder is capable of passing through the wall.

When it comes to defense I can't (personally) justify this line of reasoning, I live in an apartment with 3.5" 00b in my 12ga. I look at it like this, it's generally inadvisable to try and clear your own home, so you're better off planing in advance and finding a "sentry position," with the best background you can find, to hunker down in until police arrive. In my apartment there's a 10yard hallway that leads to my bedroom door (where the shotgun is, of course). Should I find myself in a defensive situation at home, the hallway is my only concern, I guard that hallway from my bedroom door. And shooting from my bedroom door down the hall meets a brick wall, it's actually pretty ideal.

My point anyway is don't feel like you don't have control of the background, plan in advance, you have no reason to be clearing your home, it's a home DEFENSE gun, not home OFFENSE. Pick a spot and guard it.
 
Anticonn, good advice. Though still since most people don't have such an ideal setup, lower penetration rounds are advised.

And yes, birdshot will go through sheetrock like it's not even there. I tested some out on a spare piece once. It produced a cloud of sheetrock out the other side.
 
Even with poor shot placement, it takes a real tough son of a gun to take a couple pops from a low brass birdshot load and keep coming.
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I hope you'll reconsider that statement. In one of my training courses, we were taught to check ourselves for blood after a shooting to see if we'd been shot, since people can be shot with bullets and feel nothing (immediately).

Real tough son of a gun? I think that's someone who's been fatally shot with real bullets or buck who doesn't know he's supposed to be dead.

The way it works is that 00 buck would be the best for stopping a leather clad Bubba who might use your couch for cover. Small bird shot would be the worst. Make your compromise of choice and take your seat, as a crusty 'ol geezer might say.:D
 
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Agree with the line of thought that anything capable of lethal penetration is capable of going through two layers of sheetrock. I`ve lived in my share of apartments and always used #4 buckshot. Always been able to decorate apt. so I wasn`t worried about penetrating into the neighbors. Bookshelves(makes you seem smart whether you read or not;)), entertainment stands and dressers with plywood behind them are just a few ways. Stained T111 works great.
 
The goal is to stop an attacker. If you make the decision to pull the trigger it should only be because the intruder is posing a greater danger than any collateral dammage you may cause. Use a round that will stop the agression NOW.

When you call 911 the police officer that arrives at your home will not have birdshot in his gun. In fact buckshot is used because it is considered a safer alternative for bystanders. The rounds in almost any handgun will far outpenetate buckshot, yet most people would never hesitate to say a handgun is an option for home defense.

I have never heard of or read about any trained self defense expert suggesting birdshot as a viable alternative except under 2 conditions. #1, it is all you have. #2 you, or others in your home simply cannot master the greater recoil of buckshot loads.

At near contact ranges birdshot will PROBABLY get the job done, but once the SHTF you never know what will happen. You may find you are forced to take a shot at much greater range than you had planned on. During winter months intruders may be wearing heavier thicker clothes that will at least slow the shot down enough to limit penetration.
 
I have a cousin who was accidently shot by #7 1/2 birdshot. He was shot from about 8-10 feet and the wad hit him in the bicep right above the elbow.

The shot stayed together tight enough to take a big chunk of muscle out of his elbow, so it obviously penetrated. So birdshot can do severe damage at close range. Most likely would have been completely different if the shot were in self defense and at center mass. The wad would have performed completely different.

The only way to really know how shotgun loads will perform is to take your shotgun out and experiment with different loads at different distances on different objects.
 
Non lethal bean bags would be the safest in a small
area such as an apartment :D

Ok maybe birdshot.

If I was in the country I would have nothing else but,
00 buck or slugs.
 
7.5 or 8 Shot Dove Loads

Across the room, 1 1/8th ounces at 1275fps is devastating without the worry of shooting through several rooms.
 
Longest distance I am likely to be shooting at my house is 24', at that range in my 20 gauge #4 shot, (the same as I use for turkey), is barely 1 1/2". It will go through a 2x4 at 10' which is a more likely shooting distance than 24'. I don't expect to have to shoot twice but if I do they will be carrying the booger man out, he won't be walking. Survival is entirely up to God after that.
 
without the worry of shooting through several rooms.
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That is a very irresponsible thought. There are no guarantees. Have checked the thickness of the drywall? 2 layers of half inch or is it the preferred 5/8ths? Also if it will penetrate into one room what is the difference? And yes it will penetrate 2 walls with the force capable of doing great bodily harm.
Since there isn't a safe round that eliminates the risk of over penetration related injury or death than why use a round not intended for use on humans?:confused:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_24_112/ai_n24381753/
Rodney King, whose 1991 beating by Los Angeles police led to deadly rioting the next year, was recently shot on a street corner, but his wounds were not believed to be life-threatening, police said.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

King, 42, was hit in the face, arms, back and torso by birdshot fired from a shotgun. He was shot "possibly two or three times from a distance," then he bicycled about 1 1/2 miles back to his home in neighboring Rialto and called local police, Rialto police Sgt. Craig Crispin said.

King was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. His condition was not immediately known.

"They are non-life-threatening wounds," San Bernardino police Lt. Scott Paterson said.

No arrests were made and details were sketchy.

There was "speculation" that the shooting may have involved some kind of domestic dispute, but "we're not sure about that yet," Paterson said.

King was videotaped being beaten by White Los Angeles police officers after he was stopped for speeding in 1991 (JET, March 25, 1991). King sued the city over the beating and obtained a $3.8 million settlement.
COPYRIGHT 2007 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
I realize the shots may have been "from a distance" but the guy was able to ride home to call police with birdshot to the face as well as the rest of the spots...
Brent
 
you should also check into your lease about owning and using guns for self protection.......some have a 0 tolerance to guns in their buildings written in somewhere......
 
you should also check into your lease about owning and using guns for self protection.......some have a 0 tolerance to guns in their buildings written in somewhere......
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I actually have no idea if there's any clause about firearms in my lease or not, but I do know that they won't know anything about them until I have to use them. At which point I'll be moving out anyway, last thing I'd want is some gangbangers buddies to come for revenge, so I'd be packing my crap within 24 hours.
 
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