How Well Does# 4 Shot Work For HD ?

I think the OP would prefer typical rounds for HD but isn't finding bigger stuff on these empty shelves...

I am stuck with slugs or 7 1/2 in my 20 gauges...

Brent
 
If you are able to find ANY empirical data that says #4 will not suffice, then start worrying. I wouldn't hold my breath. There are reams of data on 38 Special, 9mm, and 357 shootings, but zip on shotguns, period. Everything you read is just opinions. Yeah it's based on gelatin penetration tests, yada, yada, but unless you get attacked by a gelatin block - you still don't KNOW. We once hit a hog on the way to a dove hunting trip. Farmer asked us to dispatch it and put it out of it's misery. After seeing what low brass #8s did to that hog at maybe 10 feet, I wouldn't hesitate to grab a #4.
 
Here's one vote in favor of #4 birdshot *inside* a house. Penetration would be greatly reduced over any buckshot.
 
Try this ( I did), soak some old phonebooks and newpaper. Put them in a cardboard box and shoot at them with #4 birdshot at 15 feet and then at 10 feet. This should simulate actual home defense ranges. You will be suprised at how much penetration you will get. I now use both #4 birdshot and #3 buck in my 20 gauge for home defense in my Mossberg 500. :)
 
I have a deep respect for #4 Buck and believe that inside a house that is all you would need. A lot of you know how tough coyotes are. I dropped one years ago with one shot of sixes at thirty yards. I thought it would probably just scare him off, one and done.
 
Good shooting on the coyote. I like #4 buck but regular #4 birdshot is what I'm using for home defense. I figure that at 10ft or so it will get the job done and I don't have to worry too much about overpenetration (I have 4 grandchildren living with me). If need be, I can switch over to the #4 buck easy enough. I just hope the situation never arises, but if it does, I'm prepared. I've tested the #4 birdshot and am confident with it.
 
I can sympathize. I've looked in vain around here for #1 buck, so generally it's 00 buck for my HD shotgun. I also have a supply of #4 buck to fall back on if I ever run out. But if target load was all I could get, I'd certainly use that, rather than leave the gun in the safe.
 
In this day of post Obama gun problems I am stuck with 7 1/2 for my 20Ga Double and a .38 Special for distance with a S/A .357 to back it all up.
I feel that the shotgun would cause a grevious wound and 2 hits from it even more so.
For the time being, untill I can locate more powerfull shells this will have to do...
Darn those gun grabbers anyhow!
ZVP
 
# 4 buck is very effective

# 4 buck is very effective on a pack of wild dogs that used to frequent our area. They are no longer on this earth.

Lemmon from rural South Carolina
 
Check out youtube under "home defense shotgun ammo" and check out "gunblastdotcom"... he dispells the myth of using birdshot for home defense by shooting into MEAT with birdshot. I sure wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of birdshot at normal home defense ranges.
 
I've seen his video; it's a good 'test' and I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of it either but that doesn't make it an optimal choice for HD.
 
A 12 gauge shotgun with #4 bird shot inside of your home will get the job done. Just this past saturday I unintentionally destroyed the metal frame on my target holder with my shotgun using #4 from a distance of 10 feet. I doubt that any intruder would survive.
 
Look harder for buckshot, it is around. New Columbus OH Cabelas has a whole rack of Rio #4 Buck and 00 too.

But yeah, birdshot is better than a ball bat.
 
The thing about birdshot is that while it will do some real damage at close range, it may not immediately incapacitate an intruder. This is all the more a problem if the BG is wearing heavy clothing. If they are juiced up on somethihng and armed, you want an immediate KO.
 
The nay-sayers & pooh-pooher's, about using birdshot FOR SD/HD, should take a good look at the post I linked to, below.

[WARNING - VERY GRAPHIC PICS ! ! ]
Click to expand...

In the article it says that he was getting the shotgun out of the trunk when the trigger was activated by a jack handle. That means the blast was right next to his arm point blank. Also in the x-ray there was still lots of birdshot that didn't penetrate the arm even at such close range. I know people who have been shot and have seen strangers shot with birdshot just past a few feet and walked away. Most healed up and you wouldn't know they were ever shot unless you saw an x-ray or they told you.

The only deaths that were the result of birdshot that I can think of off hand are suicides. Even from suicides I've seen with a contact wound to the chest the birdshot did not penetrate all the way through. I.M.H.O. the reliable lethal range of birdshot vs humans is in grabbing range of your shotgun which defeats the purpose of using a long gun in the first place.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top