Buckshot pattern with 18.5" barrel

M

motorhead0922

New member
I have always considered a 20ga pump to be an excellent home defense gun, so a couple of years ago I got an 18.5" barrel for my Mossberg 500. I never patterned it though, so I decided to do that a few days ago, using buckshot.

Here are the shells I used:
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Pattern pix in the next post.

Just though some of you might be interested.
 

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Here are the patterns at 10, 20, and 30 ft.

10 ft:
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20 ft:
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30 ft:
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There are some who would consider this a good pattern for HD purposes, and others who prefer a tighter spread. For HD I use Federal LE 132-00, Flite Control, 00 buck, in my 870 and my pattern is essentially a 2 /1/2" hole at 7 yds. Rumor has it that Federal will be introducing a #1 buck w/Flite Control early next year and, if so, that will be my new HD round.
 
pattern

Assuming that the choke on that barrel is Cylinder, those are about right for those distances. Cylinder patterns open at about two inches per yard +/-.
Those three appear to be close to that (4", 9", 15" ??) maybe a bit tighter (the 10 yard pattern is surely tighter than 20 inches and has 95% of the pellets on the silhouette. Nice.
Is it cylinder choked?
Pete
 
It's a cylinder bore.

Pattern sizes are roughly 3.5", 7", and 10". Bear in mind my distances are in feet, not yards.

Edit: I think the Mossberg part number is 90035.
 
mtorhead, where did you ever find them Remington #3 buck at? Haven't seen any of them for years, just the winchester and federal's.
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I got them at Academy Sports. They have them in stock here all the time. YMMV.
 
BTW, I love that second group you shot, awesome close saturation of pellets.
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Those patterns are certainly good enough to ruin a goblins night at household distances.
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Like everyone else at TFL, I make a lot of holes in paper. But very rarely with a shotgun. When I saw the results at 10 ft, I was struck by the fact that all 20 pellets went in an area the size of a human heart...

If there is anything that can be considered a one-shot-stop, it is a shotgun blast.
 
If there is anything that can be considered a one-shot-stop, it is a shotgun blast.
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^ +1

I don't hear people say this much, but you can do a double tap with an auto-loader as quick as you can do a double tap with a handgun.

With with 2¾" 12ga #1 Buck, each pull of the trigger puts sixteen 30 caliber projectiles 12 to 14 inches into the attacker.

BLAM BLAM !
 
Be ready to explain to a jury why you needed to double tap a bad guy with a second load of 12 gauge #1 buck. If you only winged them and they still posed an imminent threat perhaps it is reasonable, but if the first load caught Mr. BG square you may be looking at Murder 2 if you execute the guy as he lays defenseless on the ground.
 
A douple-tap can be thought of as a single event. There isn't a decision point in between the second shot and the first shot. It is done extremely quickly.

If someone is not capable of doing a double tap for whatever reason - like, maybe they just aren't good with controlling a shot gun, can't control the recoil, maybe they never practiced doing doublle taps to the point where its second nature, maybe the first shot surprises them and they need time to recover. You see this on YouTube a lot with videos called "930 SPX Ammo Dump" There is a pause after their first shot... then they proceed to take the next 7 or 8 in rapid succession, but the first shot seems to stun them or something.

You're either capable of doing it or you're not.

If you're not, then by the time you get back on target BG is either still standing or he isn't - but that's not a double tap at that point.
 
NYCShooter said:
For HD I use Federal LE 132-00, Flite Control, 00 buck, in my 870
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+1 on the Federal Flite Control buckshot loading. We use it in our cruiser shotguns, and during qualifications last year that load was putting all the shot inside the 8-ring of a B27 target at 25 yards. At the end of the qualification (10 rounds), there was generally just one ragged hole in the target.
 
That 20ft pattern looks about like my 7yd 12ga cylinder bore #1 buck pattern. Should be about perfect for home defense.

I'm not a shotgun defense expert, but that Federal Flight Control pattern sounds a little too tight for HD to me. It might be great for shooting it out with bank robbers, or what not from cover, but not too good for up close.

Most of us know you need to aim a shotgun for it to be effective. Contrary to the myth that you can just point it in the bad guys general direction. However, it seems to me, that too tight a pattern, would negate some of the shotguns forgiveness of less than perfect aim.
 
Juries may not buy the argument that the two shots are all part of a single event. Expecially if witnesses recall any hestitation between the two or if the physical eveidence sugguests that the BG was incapacitated when executed by the second. Especially if you blow chunks out of a kid with a well connected uncle. If you avoid criminal prosecution, forget conviction since the cost of a successful defense will destroy you, you will have to deal with a wrongul death action.
 
Forensic folks have told me the most effective buck patterns are A, 4-5" across and delivered to the CNS.

IMO, there's no too tight here. Spread's a poor substitute for poor shooting.

Remember, any HD shotgun may be needed as a Community Defense shotgun. Any law abiding citizen with a firearm is by default, in the Militia.

So, a load/choke combination that seems a little too tight in the house may be just the ticket when something outside needs controlling.
 
I want a hole in the torso I can drive a John Deere thru and not get the green paint bloody!

As for the "double tap" 2 CoM aspect, I would simply tell the jury that my training has engrained the principle of double tap from the info I gleaned from police use of force to "stop" the same threat I may face in my home...

If it is how you trained, the second shot has found the mark before the BG knows the first one did the job...

Brent
 
As for the "double tap" 2 CoM aspect, I would simply tell the jury that my training has engrained the principle of double tap from the info I gleaned from police use of force to "stop" the same threat I may face in my home...
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Brent, If it goes to the jury you will already be bankrupt from defense fees for the criminal case and then may have to face the civil law suit. In either the direct or implied argument based on the above will be that you trained to shoot your victim a second time even if they were already stopped and that you are not the police just as you are not a judge or executioner.

Someone in the same situation that didn't even realize they had shot twice would be far better off, IMO. What with the rush of adrenalin and fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones it all happens so fast.

The two arguments somewhat intertwine, but the first can make the defender sound like a calculating killer why the second emphasizes that all you were doing was your best to defend your self and loved ones.
 
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