Home Defense loads

I think any shot smaller than 4's is getting too small. I wouldn't recommend real "birdshot."

I'm all for Hevi-Shot T's but 6, 7 1/2, 8, or 9 is asking for trouble. I read on another webpage about a guy who took a chest of 9's at close range. The shot made it as deep as his sternum, and mushroomed out under the skin. Only a few pellets made it between the ribs. Ugly injury, but probably wouldn't stop someone high on drugs (for example).
 
Good example Duck.

I've read a number of LEO AARs RE: Birdshot. Ugly, nasty surface wounds, w/o much penetration. Body armor, drugs, or drunk is always a possibility in somone who has the mindset that it's acceptable to invade somones home.

I'm still not down with Hevshot until I run my own tests and comparisons, but, your point is well taken.

You might try sending a few rounds to Old_Painless at http://www.theboxotruth.com and have him run some penetration tests. Might be an eye opener for some people. He's a really good guy, and some of his tests are pretty illuminating.
 
I'm concerned about overpenetration..my shotgun is a hunting shotgun with a 26 inch barrel and a full choke..it's not a fighting shotgun
 
trigger happy,
Mix them up. Load a couple of buck in the magazine. Put a high brass #4 or #6 in
on top of them. If the birdshot doesn't do the trick across the living room, the buck
sure will across the coffee table. Same principle if you have a double.
 
Swampdog...

You may only get one shot.

That would be a bad time to find out that shot designed to stop birds didn't work on a BG on drugs, or drunk, or with thick clothing, or any combo of the above.
 
I live close to the Gulf of Mexico..25 mile drive to the beach..just above 75 degrees in this second week of January..I wore a t shirt and shorts to a birthday party today and still got a little sweaty..I have some #4 buckshot..would that put y'all at ease ?
 
I don't care what you use.

You should care however.

If you trust your life to makeing one shot count with #4, go with god.

I don't trust any ammo made for killing birds with my, and, my family's life.
 
It seems that many guys here have not taken a 12 g of any barrel length and seen what it does to 1/2" ply at ten / twenty ft. I have many times and even #7 bird shot at that distance puts a very big hole in it, at 6 ft you get a 4" clear hole at twenty feet an 8-10" hole. No BG even on drugs is ever going to walk past that, it is one shot put down. 00 and similar can even make you miss at those short distances. Go try it first before guessing.!
 
I don't need to see it. If it was designed to kill a bird I'm not interested which is why it's called bird-shot? At least for self defense purposes;).
 
Like I said your just guessing, I often have to kill feral dogs like sheperds rottwiellers etc that are attacking live stock and no 6 shot puts them down stone dead at 30 yds one shot and they are hyped up on adrenalin too. one shot of anything 6 shot to 2 shot on a steer at ten feet to the head kills it stone dead and a safety jacket can't handle the energy of a 12 g even with 6 shot at ten feet or so. Close to the pellets have not spread and it takes out a hole bigger than your fist every time , no one is going to walk through that. Besides for home defense a hand gun is much easier to use in a confined space and you have a number of shots to go at.
 
Some people think that birdshot is lethal at close range...it aint...you may have only 1 shot so why fool around..why be kind to some intruder? You need to be able to penetrate vital organs.
 
Defense Loads

In Ms., Al., Ga., and Fl. You could use Buckshot with no problems. In Mass. and other liberal states, shoud use bird shot because when a person dragged into court, he could tell the judge that he was going bird hunting and the gun was there because he was going hunting and the he got scared and did not not know what he was doing before he shot the intruder. What I am saying, it depends on were you live. I use No 1 buck.
 
Well, you've got a ways to go before overpenetration, triggerhappy. #1 buck will stay in the body....so you want to trade shots with a .45 with birdshot?
 
For HD, tests show that magnum and standard loads offer NO real advantage over reduced recoil loads and that it's hard to beat 00 buckshot.

Ranger T, Federal Tactical and other reduced recoil 00 buck loads put more assets in your corner when your life's on the line.
 
# 4 buck would be my choice but if penatration through a wall is a consideration down sizing shot size may be safer for friendlies on the other side. :eek:
 
Quoted from http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs10.htm

For personal defense and law enforcement applications, the International Wound Ballistics Association advocates number 1 buckshot as being superior to all other buckshot sizes.

Number 1 buck is the smallest diameter shot that reliably and consistently penetrates more than 12 inches of standard ordnance gelatin when fired at typical shotgun engagement distances. A standard 2 ¾-inch 12 gauge shotshell contains 16 pellets of #1 buck. The total combined cross sectional area of the 16 pellets is 1.13 square inches. Compared to the total combined cross sectional area of the nine pellets in a standard #00 (double-aught) buck shotshell (0.77 square inches), the # 1 buck shotshell has the capacity to produce over 30 percent more potentially effective wound trauma.

In all shotshell loads, number 1 buckshot produces more potentially effective wound trauma than either #00 or #000 buck. In addition, number 1 buck is less likely to over-penetrate and exit an attacker's body.
Click to expand...
 
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