grampajack
AR Junkie
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2016
- Messages
- 1,714
Regarding armor, or even a situation where someone's arms are in the way, I think it's better to go for the hips than the head, unless you're really good, it's really close, or the target is standing stationary for some reason. I suppose longer range headshots might be easier with a shotgun than with carbines or pistols, but the spread of buckshot is typically pretty tight, so that may be arguable. Everything said about shotguns is true enough with bird shot at skeet ranges, but buckshot at self defense ranges tends to stay tight enough where good accuracy is important. I would say that a shotgun set up for self defense isn't much more forgiving than an SMG in terms of aiming error. Yes, you get a nice spread, but it's your job to make sure that spread is in the sweet spot. Long story short, at self defense ranges, a shotgun isn't going to give you a very big margin of error when it comes to shot placement, so the head is not a gimme by any means.
As far as the arms being in the way, I don't think anything is guaranteed in that scenario, save for maybe something of the .30 cal variety, which isn't practical for self defense for all kinds of reasons. But I still want the best I can get without risking extreme overpenetration. Take one case for example where the victim of a shooting was hit in the shoulder with 00 buckshot. It went straight through to the heart and killed him instantly. I'm not saying that all 00 buckshot will do this, but I'd say most of the full power stuff has a pretty good chance. Regarding #4 in that same scenario, I don't think any of it would have a chance. The best of it is essentially like .380. It works under ideal scenarios, but it leaves no margin for extenuating circumstances. And unlike the case with .380, if you can shoot #4 then you can be shooting 00 in the same platform, i.e. it's not smaller and the recoil is the same. Long story short, my opinion still stands. The only time #4 is acceptable is if overpenetration is an extreme threat, like in an apartment. In that case, it may even be desirable over alternatives, like .380 or 5.7.
As far as the arms being in the way, I don't think anything is guaranteed in that scenario, save for maybe something of the .30 cal variety, which isn't practical for self defense for all kinds of reasons. But I still want the best I can get without risking extreme overpenetration. Take one case for example where the victim of a shooting was hit in the shoulder with 00 buckshot. It went straight through to the heart and killed him instantly. I'm not saying that all 00 buckshot will do this, but I'd say most of the full power stuff has a pretty good chance. Regarding #4 in that same scenario, I don't think any of it would have a chance. The best of it is essentially like .380. It works under ideal scenarios, but it leaves no margin for extenuating circumstances. And unlike the case with .380, if you can shoot #4 then you can be shooting 00 in the same platform, i.e. it's not smaller and the recoil is the same. Long story short, my opinion still stands. The only time #4 is acceptable is if overpenetration is an extreme threat, like in an apartment. In that case, it may even be desirable over alternatives, like .380 or 5.7.
