How Well Does# 4 Shot Work For HD ?

welll it makes a man with just a blackpowder handgun loaded with a plain roudnball feel mighty potent. birdshot of anysort gives a 22 short the downrange effects of a 357... just on penetration.

remember when cheney was out pheasent hunting and shot a feller by accident in the face with a shotgun, it happened at standard self defense range, yet all it did was cause painful lacerations to the face and neck.

not something to bet upon.
 
... the only ammo I could fine was # 4 shot .
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I bet it'll do until you find something better. At in-room distances a center mass hit with #4 shot should take the fight out of anyone not wearing body armor. And It'll put a good hurt on anyone that is wearing body armor.
 
4 shot in my 16ga for bird hunting. It'll do just fine for home defense as well, but I prefer 00 Buck in the 12ga for home defense if I use the shotgun. 9mm is my normal home defense gun.
 
I had kept #4 buck in my HD pump for a long time. Inside the home and at short range, it's a fine round. Recently however, I have switched to #1 buck for my first couple of shots, followed by #00 buck. I never see #1 buck at my local sporting goods stores, but it can be found online.

I began to reconsider #4 buck after reading an account of a police officer, who used this shell in a shoot out with a bad guy. Long story short: the bad guy was hit center mass at 35 - 40 yds. The bad guy was wearing a heavy leather jacket. Not one pellet penetrated into a vital organ.

Now I don't think it prudent that any civilian follow a bad guy outside of your home. Make sure your family is safe, call 911 and wait for the Calvary to arrive. But after reading that LEO's account, I thought a shell with a slightly larger and heavier pellets might be the way to go.
 
I had kept #4 buck in my HD pump for a long time. Inside the home and at short range, it's a fine round. Recently however, I have switched to #1 buck for my first couple of shots, followed by #00 buck. I never see #1 buck at my local sporting goods stores, but it can be found online.

I began to reconsider #4 buck after reading an account of a police officer, who used this shell in a shoot out with a bad guy. Long story short: the bad guy was hit center mass at 35 - 40 yds. The bad guy was wearing a heavy leather jacket. Not one pellet penetrated into a vital organ.

Now I don't think it prudent that any civilian follow a bad guy outside of your home. Make sure your family is safe, call 911 and wait for the Calvary to arrive. But after reading that LEO's account, I thought a shell with a slightly larger and heavier pellets might be the way to go.
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Apples and oranges my friend, there is a big difference between 20' or less inside your house at dark thirty and 40 yards on the street. Longest possible shot in my house is 8 yards but I practice my Defense drills at 8 yards to 25 yards with multiple targets with both of my home defense shotguns. 0 or 00 or 000 would be better but in my house that is contraindicated by my house layout and occupants so I opted for #4 birdshot after some experimenting and patterning. Not what I would use for outside the house but I have handguns and rifles for that eventuality if need be and it doesn't take me long to load a handful of slugs if for some reason I determine a shotgun would still be the better choice. It's good to have options but for those who don't have those options, (they may be limited in resources and supplies), so you gotta use what you got, use it as well as you can, keep your cool and don't panic if the bad guy does not fly backwards through the air for 20'.
 
I watched a video account by a young man who found himself on the wrong end of a gang initiation. He was shot three times at less than 10 feet with a 12 gauge. Once in the arm, once in the chest and a grazing shot to the head. Then the perp left him for dead. The young man then proceeded to walk to get help. He was unconscious for several days. He made a full recovery.

http://youtu.be/0KAkAgNb-R8

Did it ruin his day? Sure. But that's not the correct measure here.

We're talking about a home defense situation here. That person that you shoot must be in the process of putting your life or the life of a loved one in peril. The question is; can I count on this shot to END this situation. If the perp has a weapon himself do you really want to bet that they won't be able to return fire? This kid got shot center mass and walked away... Literally walked away from the scene.

You do what you think is right, but as for me I figured out what the 'worst' patterning (loosest) 00 buckshot was and that's what's in my hd gun. It gives me a 10" circle at 15'.

Remington 3" 00 from Walmart in the 15rd packs. I also tested federal 00 and 000 classic. I found the 00 to pattern very tightly at 15'. 3-4". The 000 was a little looser at about 5".
 
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111t

That was an excellent video. It appears, by virtue of the sheer number of pellets in the lung X-ray, that the victim was probably hit with either #8 buck or #8 bird shot. At any rate, the victim is very fortunate to be alive. These type of violent gang initiations (they can range from beatings to murder) have become a serious problem in many communities. Hopefully, the perp will serve all 35 years of his sentence, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Old Grump:

I think we are in basic agreement about the use of #4 buck inside the home. For up close and personal work, it is a fine HD shotgun shell. For those who live in apartments or have loved ones sleeping in nearby rooms, it's probably the way to go. But for those of us who live in more wide open spaces with no other loved ones to account for except my wife, a little more punch is more comforting to me. It is an individual choice and each gun owner has to decide where his/her comfort level is.
 
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