home defense ammo (bird shot)

You guys with the 3" mag 00 loads.....

Try something. Have someone time you while you fire off a three shot series of your barnburners.

Then, do the same series using some 8 pellet R/R loads.

Note the time difference.

Those howitzer loads will certainly put a hurting, but so will the light loads and do so with less trauma in back and much faster non first hits.

Thanks.....
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I don't doubt you Dave, and I think I know what you were getting at. After about 7 shots(give or take one round), I start noticing the difference. The 3" loads can slow you down a bit, but I wouldn't be affected until firing multiple, multiple rounds off in succession.
 
...."Until firing off multiple, multiple rounds in succession"....

Like when repelling multiple home invaders?

Continued life at times is a matter of not inches and seconds, but fractions of those. Using ammo that takes longer to re-acquire sights and recover rather than effective ammo of less Sturm Und Drang is counter productive.

8 pellet 00 loads at 1200 FPS or less are NOT Nerf shells.....
 
yes dave but my mossberg 500 carries 7 in the tube and one in the chamber. I'm good until about 6 shots / I know this because on multiple occasions I have tried to fire 16shots in succession(reloading the 2nd 8 shells as quick as possible). At about 6 or 7 I am catching myself due to recoil, breathing for an extra second, or whatever. my adrenaline would easily get me thru the 8shots and if thats not enough then I'll have to hope the handgun works better. You know it goes both ways: the 6 (or 7 in your case) extra pellets might be the difference in my favor.
 
"Methhead parrots"....

That's one mental picture I could have skipped.....

Youngunz, time yourself. You'll be glad you did. And maybe do a R Lee Ermy and shoot a couple watermelons to compare terminal effects.

The data base I can't access anymore as a civilian gave shotguns as 99% one shot stops, regardless of choke,load, gauge or number of flat black accessories bolted on.

Even a 410 skeet load has more ME than most magnum handguns can produce.
 
You guys with the 3" mag 00 loads.....

Try something. Have someone time you while you fire off a three shot series of your barnburners.

Then, do the same series using some 8 pellet R/R loads.

Note the time difference.

Those howitzer loads will certainly put a hurting, but so will the light loads and do so with less trauma in back and much faster non first hits.

Thanks.....
Click to expand...



Please listen to this man. I'd bet the farm he knows more than you do on this subject. Furthermore, I'd honestly be surprised to find a single 3" load in many armories across the country and abroad.
 
In more than one state they limit the shot size for turkey hunting incase of an accidental shooting so that the wounds caused by the smaller shot are survivable. If your shooting to save your life do you want to make that bet on a shot load that is selected in the hunting fields to save peoples lives?

#4 buck 2 3/4" minimum for me
 
I appreciate the advice, and I believe you that he probably knows more on the subject. Sometimes you just gotta' trust your gut though and/or go with what is comfortable for you. If I do someday have to pull the trigger to defend myself or the family(I think there is a good chance I will not have to), then I just want to use a little extra. screw the sorry b&%$@#^ who is on the other end. I've already made a decision to change his journey in this world. It's also good practice to shoot the more agressive rounds because you become more used to handling more. I actually stay away from the newer technology or the advertised 'low recoil' rounds. I love shotguns. They like it rough. I am picky about shotgun ammo more than my other firearms too(I only buy winchester&federal).The Mossberg was my first firearm, and I think I would definately feel most comfortable weilding it besides any other of my firearms in a 'true' HD situation. I'll keep this thread in mind, but the 3" does the trick for me. I will time it the next time too+possibly do some comparisons. I didn't time it the 3 times I did the shooting exercise I described above.
 
#8 shot=1.06 grains per pellet

1.06 grains at 1350 fps=4.28 ft lbs

for comparison, a standard .22lr round is 140 ft lbs at the muzzle.

at close range, moving as a group, penetration would be ok, but would not go through bone or more than a few inches of tissue.

at close range, it would be close to 1000 ft lbs of energy delivered over a shallow wound. That might stop (not kill, because its a shallow wound) the average joe, but if your goon is on drugs or pumped full of adrenaline, he will probably not react, and the shallow wound wont cause him to bleed out quickly, if at all.

Buck shot, on the other hand, will penetrate all the way through a person with ease, most likely hitting vital organs and major blood vessels along the way, meaning that even if your attacker/invader is high, crazy, and adrenaline pumped, he will be rendered incapacitated from blood loss or organ damage very quickly. 000 Buck is at 294 ft lbs per pellet at the muzzle at 1350 fps. a regular 9mm round is about 350-400 ft lbs, and you only have one of those hitting the target.

if you are afraid of over-penetration, go with a compromise. get #3 shot. at 1350 fps, each #3 pellet is delivering 98 ft. lbs of energy, which would be like getting hit with a dozen or more .22lr rounds at 25 yards. good stopping power, not too much penetration.
 
Having once discharged a 12ga shotgun, loaded with #6 birdshot, inside my house - I can give direct observation that it worked perfectly.

While most of the errant pellets did penetrate two interior plaster/wood lath partition walls, they ended up lodged inside an exterior wall w/o exiting my house.
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You have no evidence that it worked perfectly. What you have is evidence is that it will fail perfectly, i.e. a miss will not overpenetrate walls.

If you ever get into a situation that justifies lethal force, you'll need to provide it, lots of it and right now. The best way to avoid unintended damage caused by misses is to not miss.
 
I've killed and witnessed multiple hogs killed w- #4 - #6's. I have killed a half dozen or so with #5's because that's what my turkey gun shoots best.

That being said, I still don't use them purposely for SD but they would work in a pinch.

If you are still desirous about stepping up to a buckshot load there are several larger pellet sizes. There is the “Dead Coyote” Hevi-Shot load in T size shot but it’s real pricey.

I have seen a Winchester shell loaded with lead BB’s but can’t find it off hand. I’ll look a little more and post it if I can find it.

OO or #1’s for me though…
 
I've killed and witnessed multiple hogs killed w- #4 - #6's. I have killed a half dozen or so with #5's because that's what my turkey gun shoots best.
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i am curious about this. at what range were these hogs killed. not saying it isn't true. just curious about the effectiveness of birdshot on larger animals.
 
The range on all that I have personally killed have been w- in 30 yards. We take our shotgun patterns seriously in the Lowcountry.

The longest I have seen killed was at 58 paces w- #4's. Didn't have a range finder on hand so we had to go old school and walk it out. My average "measuring" gait is between 2.8 - 3.2 feet. My boot sole print is right at 13" but doing the "heel to toe" DUI walk isn't (almost always not) conducive to measuring distance due to undergrowth, etc...

Feral pigs are considered a nuisance in our area and cost land owners and farmers significant monetary loss. Therefore, we put a bullet or shot into everyone we feel we can cleanly kill, so long as we aren't actively working a bird. I've had over 30 walk w- in 20 yards during turkey season and wished to put a bullet in their hide but turkeys come first, no need to "educate" the birds to shotgun blasts and turkey calls.

By the way, it is illegal to carry buckshot during turkey season in SC. Gotta work with what the law allows...
 
You guys that keep saying birdshot won't kill someone need to stop.
It may or may not be the best home defense load, but birdshot most definitely can kill. Saying otherwise is extremely irresponsible.
Let me say it again- AT CLOSE RANGE, BIRDSHOT CAN KILL. IT'S NOT A TOY!!
 
My wife works the surgical postop trauma floor of the local gsw/auto wreck "patch em up & bill the taxpayer county hospital. She's seen some devastating wounds with birdshot that take out great swaths of soft tissue. Some of those folks recover, some linger for days then expire due to the nasty complications that come with such wounds. Most are gangbangers shot from contact to 10 feet or so for the gravely wounded.

But, birdshot generally can't penetrate bone at noncontact range and does not act as a single projectile. She doesn't see hardly any bukshot or slug recipients, as they die before they get to the hospital or on the table. Her lesson learned is that birdshot can kill up close, eventually, but buck and slugs kill drt. Or much more likely to kill drt.

Ftr, 00, 000, and slugs for my hd shotguns.

Good luck whatever you use.
 
jfruser & Bill DeShivs are dead on the money. Excuse the pun.

While birdshot is not the ideal SD/HD it will kill you just as dead as larger shot size.
 
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