Home Defense Spreader Shells?

T

TheKlawMan

Moderator
I was reading the thread about spreader shells and Dave McC's link about polywad. These appear to be designed for target loads and bird shot. Is there any similar spreader type load for Home Defense shot sizes using an open cylinder 18.5" barrel? Say you want to open up the pattern of #2 buck shot so as to get as wide a pattern as possible in a room of not much more nor less than 10 yards. I don't want bird shot but I want to avoid over penetration and while I practice I expect if push comes to shove and the adrenalin is pumping it won't be like shooting clay pigeons.

I don't want to turn this into another best hd thread but focus on the availability of what I would call spreader buck.
 
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If you load your own you could make spreader shot .Just flatten the shot and load that. I don't know what kind of pattern it would give but commercial spreader shot is made by flattening shot or cutting squares from lead sheet.
For home defense you really should use 00 buck .The reduced recoil 00 buck works very well without recoil that many don't like to shoot while not having excessive penetration !
 
Some of us prefer less spread, Klaw. The paradigm's to put as much energy as possible into the CNS of the target with less chance of pellets going tragically astray.

Forensics folks have told me that the most effective pattern would be around 5-8" wide and capable of 12-14" of penetration in standard Gel.

If you want more spread, use cheap buck. Some of the stuff out there, like Wolf,etc, is made sans a shot cup like our ammo was back in the 50s. This adds spread like beer.

Depending on the choke setup, you may be able to adjust a given load by swapping tubes. Some tubes actually have reverse choke, being larger than the bore diameter. A little testing may find you a better choice.....
 
I understand Dave and I am working on gaining some proficiency with the 12 gauge, but given my home's layout collateral damage is not likely to be an issue. If a need arises I can pretty much waste anything in the direction that I would be firing.
 
Cubed shot

Though I agree with Dave, pattern density is what we need against people, there are some interesting things out there.

If you search under cubed shot on your browser, you will find lots of interesting "spreader" ideas. A company called Load-X marketed a #1 buck cubed load that I tested, for my needs it had too many flyers.

RWS markets a disperseur round but only in bird shot. Before my time behind the gun, they developed a Professional Hunter disperseur for guides who had to stalk wounded cats in the tall grass. I have never seen it advertised. Below is their web-site
http://www.rws-munition.de/en/products/shotshells/professional-line/tiger-disperseur.html

Good Luck & Be Safe
 
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