Well, just for the heck of it I bought a box of Winchester PDX1 12 gauge 00 buck.
This is the latest whiz-bang "Ammunition For Personal Defense," or so it says on the box. It has a one-ounce rifled slug behind three 00 buckshot.
I fired this ammo from a 22" Winchester Model 1300 with a 22" deer slug barrel, non-rifled (smoothbore), rifle-type sights.
My target was a sheet of construction paper three feet by four feet, with a 3" red stick-on dot in the center
(I'll bet most of you already know how this ends...
)
Anyway - I fired two rounds from about 8 yards. The slugs were pretty much spot on, all three holes touching, with all six 00 shot in a 17" group around the slug.
At this same distance, all 9 buckshot from Hornady TAP 12 gauge grouped on a single sheet of writing paper. Winchester Super X 00 formed a 12-15 inch, very irregular, unpredictable group.
(As a side note: Winchester 00 Super X buckshot, fired from my 18" Pardner Pump shoots so low, I can only keep it on the paper by aiming at the very top of the target. With the Winchester 1300, Super X scattered widely and wildly. I've shot other brands, and suffice it to say, I'd never use Winchester Super X for any application except practice, as it is simply not a very good buckshot round IN MY EXPERIENCE.)
I moved the target to 39 paces, which is about 30 yards for me. This is more of a distance for which you'd expect to use a slug.
At this distance, I fired three rounds of the PDX1. I'm not real practiced with shooting rifled slugs, but the slugs seemed accurate enough. I had to adjust my aim, but when I did my part, the slugs hit the target. I got a five inch group, but that was my fault. The last slug was dead center, as I had gotten the hang of it by then. But out of the nine rounds of buckshot pellet fired, only one pellet hit the large target. It was very low on the target, and I suspect it was from the last round fired.
The upshot is this: At slug ranges, there is no advantage to the extra three buckshot rounds. They probably will not hit the target anyway. If I shot a deer with it, I'd be worried about stray buckshot somewhere in the meat.
At buckshot ranges, Hornady TAP or some other quality ammunition would be more practical. I've tested several 00 buck this year including:
A) Sellier & Bellot, 12 pellets, good coverage, I would use this in self-defense.
B) Remington green/yellow box, 9 shots, nothing to write home about, cheap practice load.
C) Law Enforcement Buckshot NSI (made in Italy - found it at a gun show) 12 pellets, large coverage, but I'd worry about the spread being too wide at longer ranges.
D) Winchester Super X 00, a really terrible shotgun round, I'll never buy any again.
E) Hornady TAP, all nine pellets in a close, consistent group, by far my favorite.
In all, I prefer 9 pellet buckshot over 12 pellet. The 12 pellet stuff seem to spread too much, although if I could be certain of keeping my ranges under 35 feet, then the 12 pellet stuff would be good. Earlier this year, the S&B buckshot impressed a bystander who exclaimed "Perfect!" when I shot at 25 feet. He wasn't around when I moved to 40 feet, and only 6 out of 12 pellets hit the target (I used a 18" cylinder bore Pardner Pump).
Also, the 12 pellet rounds kick harder than the 9 pellet, not too bad, but noticeable. The slugs kick like mules, and the PDX1 was no exception.
I can't recommend the PDX1. It's neither buckshot nor slug, fish nor fowl, and just a high-priced gimmick.
But, really, most of you guys knew how this would end.
This is the latest whiz-bang "Ammunition For Personal Defense," or so it says on the box. It has a one-ounce rifled slug behind three 00 buckshot.
I fired this ammo from a 22" Winchester Model 1300 with a 22" deer slug barrel, non-rifled (smoothbore), rifle-type sights.
My target was a sheet of construction paper three feet by four feet, with a 3" red stick-on dot in the center
(I'll bet most of you already know how this ends...
)Anyway - I fired two rounds from about 8 yards. The slugs were pretty much spot on, all three holes touching, with all six 00 shot in a 17" group around the slug.
At this same distance, all 9 buckshot from Hornady TAP 12 gauge grouped on a single sheet of writing paper. Winchester Super X 00 formed a 12-15 inch, very irregular, unpredictable group.
(As a side note: Winchester 00 Super X buckshot, fired from my 18" Pardner Pump shoots so low, I can only keep it on the paper by aiming at the very top of the target. With the Winchester 1300, Super X scattered widely and wildly. I've shot other brands, and suffice it to say, I'd never use Winchester Super X for any application except practice, as it is simply not a very good buckshot round IN MY EXPERIENCE.)
I moved the target to 39 paces, which is about 30 yards for me. This is more of a distance for which you'd expect to use a slug.
At this distance, I fired three rounds of the PDX1. I'm not real practiced with shooting rifled slugs, but the slugs seemed accurate enough. I had to adjust my aim, but when I did my part, the slugs hit the target. I got a five inch group, but that was my fault. The last slug was dead center, as I had gotten the hang of it by then. But out of the nine rounds of buckshot pellet fired, only one pellet hit the large target. It was very low on the target, and I suspect it was from the last round fired.
The upshot is this: At slug ranges, there is no advantage to the extra three buckshot rounds. They probably will not hit the target anyway. If I shot a deer with it, I'd be worried about stray buckshot somewhere in the meat.
At buckshot ranges, Hornady TAP or some other quality ammunition would be more practical. I've tested several 00 buck this year including:
A) Sellier & Bellot, 12 pellets, good coverage, I would use this in self-defense.
B) Remington green/yellow box, 9 shots, nothing to write home about, cheap practice load.
C) Law Enforcement Buckshot NSI (made in Italy - found it at a gun show) 12 pellets, large coverage, but I'd worry about the spread being too wide at longer ranges.
D) Winchester Super X 00, a really terrible shotgun round, I'll never buy any again.
E) Hornady TAP, all nine pellets in a close, consistent group, by far my favorite.
In all, I prefer 9 pellet buckshot over 12 pellet. The 12 pellet stuff seem to spread too much, although if I could be certain of keeping my ranges under 35 feet, then the 12 pellet stuff would be good. Earlier this year, the S&B buckshot impressed a bystander who exclaimed "Perfect!" when I shot at 25 feet. He wasn't around when I moved to 40 feet, and only 6 out of 12 pellets hit the target (I used a 18" cylinder bore Pardner Pump).
Also, the 12 pellet rounds kick harder than the 9 pellet, not too bad, but noticeable. The slugs kick like mules, and the PDX1 was no exception.
I can't recommend the PDX1. It's neither buckshot nor slug, fish nor fowl, and just a high-priced gimmick.
But, really, most of you guys knew how this would end.