I figured I would do some testing of the Federal Premium .410 buckshot ammunition to give people some information as to its capability.
The gun I have is a Bond Arms Derringer in 45 Colt/410. The Ammunition or course is the 4 pellet OOO buckshot, not the birdshot load.
The first question I had was what kind of penetration would I get with this. I subscribe to the FBI standard of 12" through bare ballistics gel. Since I have more time than money I used old milk jugs full of water. From what I have read bullets will penetrate twice as far as they will in gel so we are looking for at least 4 jugs of penetration.
Me testing the penetration of the Federal Premium .410 000 Buckshot 4 pellet load in water filled milk jugs.
Water penetration test: Federal Premium .410 000 Buckshot 4 pellet in a Bong Arms Derringer - Youtube
I screwed up in the intro, it's the 4 pellet OOO buckshot load, NOT birdshot. I didn't realize my mistake until I got home.
Gun is a Bond Arms Derringer chambered for 45 Colt and .2.5 410 shotshells.
Test Setup: 5 milk jugs full of water and shot from a distance of about 4' into the bottom half of the milk jugs.
Test Results: All 4 pellets penetrated into the 4th jug. Two of the pellets impacted the end of the 4th jug hard enough to make large indents on the 5th jug, but they did not break the 5th jug. This means that 2 pellets had between 18" and 24" of water penetration and two pellets would have had slightly more than 24" of penetration had they not been stopped by the jug.
Recoil was slightly greater than a 45 colt round, but not enough to make getting off two shots difficult.
Observation of recovered pellets: All 4 pellets were at the bottom of the 4th jug, gathered toward the far end, indicating that the two pellets that didn't impact the far side of the 4th jug at least made it close to the far end.
It is quite clear in what order the pellets were loaded into the shell as one pellet is seriously flattened and the others get progressively less flat.
The path through the jugs appeared to be straight except for one pellet that seems to have corkscrewed a bit as it's path through the jug is slightly curved it seems. I'm not sure.
Personal Conclusion: This ammunition, from my derringer, appears to meet the 12" of penetration that many people desire. It offers a reasonable, but not excessive, spread at distances up to 5 yards. This is NOT a long range weapon, nor is it intended to be. At 5 yards it is easy to keep all 4 pellets on a pizza box sized target but beyond that you will probably have one or more pellets miss.
If you do the math you find that 4 000 buckshot pellets have a frontal area of .363 square inches while an unexpanded 45 colt bullet only has a frontal area of .159 square inches. The 45 colt makes a bigger hole, but the buckshot makes more holes.
I hope people find this helpful.
Recovered pellets.
1st Jug Entrance. ~4' from muzzle.
4th Jug Entrance.
Dents in the 5th jug. Seems like they almost went through.
Spread at 5 paces. Unpredictable, but all the pellets stay on the pizza box. Again, NOT a long range weapon. Point of aim is on the box, marked "AIM"
The gun I have is a Bond Arms Derringer in 45 Colt/410. The Ammunition or course is the 4 pellet OOO buckshot, not the birdshot load.
The first question I had was what kind of penetration would I get with this. I subscribe to the FBI standard of 12" through bare ballistics gel. Since I have more time than money I used old milk jugs full of water. From what I have read bullets will penetrate twice as far as they will in gel so we are looking for at least 4 jugs of penetration.
Me testing the penetration of the Federal Premium .410 000 Buckshot 4 pellet load in water filled milk jugs.
Water penetration test: Federal Premium .410 000 Buckshot 4 pellet in a Bong Arms Derringer - Youtube
I screwed up in the intro, it's the 4 pellet OOO buckshot load, NOT birdshot. I didn't realize my mistake until I got home.
Gun is a Bond Arms Derringer chambered for 45 Colt and .2.5 410 shotshells.
Test Setup: 5 milk jugs full of water and shot from a distance of about 4' into the bottom half of the milk jugs.
Test Results: All 4 pellets penetrated into the 4th jug. Two of the pellets impacted the end of the 4th jug hard enough to make large indents on the 5th jug, but they did not break the 5th jug. This means that 2 pellets had between 18" and 24" of water penetration and two pellets would have had slightly more than 24" of penetration had they not been stopped by the jug.
Recoil was slightly greater than a 45 colt round, but not enough to make getting off two shots difficult.
Observation of recovered pellets: All 4 pellets were at the bottom of the 4th jug, gathered toward the far end, indicating that the two pellets that didn't impact the far side of the 4th jug at least made it close to the far end.
It is quite clear in what order the pellets were loaded into the shell as one pellet is seriously flattened and the others get progressively less flat.
The path through the jugs appeared to be straight except for one pellet that seems to have corkscrewed a bit as it's path through the jug is slightly curved it seems. I'm not sure.
Personal Conclusion: This ammunition, from my derringer, appears to meet the 12" of penetration that many people desire. It offers a reasonable, but not excessive, spread at distances up to 5 yards. This is NOT a long range weapon, nor is it intended to be. At 5 yards it is easy to keep all 4 pellets on a pizza box sized target but beyond that you will probably have one or more pellets miss.
If you do the math you find that 4 000 buckshot pellets have a frontal area of .363 square inches while an unexpanded 45 colt bullet only has a frontal area of .159 square inches. The 45 colt makes a bigger hole, but the buckshot makes more holes.
I hope people find this helpful.
Recovered pellets.
1st Jug Entrance. ~4' from muzzle.
4th Jug Entrance.
Dents in the 5th jug. Seems like they almost went through.
Spread at 5 paces. Unpredictable, but all the pellets stay on the pizza box. Again, NOT a long range weapon. Point of aim is on the box, marked "AIM"
That's kinda soft shot they be using there.