12 Gauge Buckshot?

[Bullet]

Do you think this would be good for home defense? Since it’s nickel-plated would over penetration be a problem compared to copper plated?

Remington® Premier® Nickel-Plated Buckshot
The Power Piston® wads in Remington's® 12-gauge, Premier® Buckshot line provide protection against pellet deformation on firing. Premier® Buckshot is hardened with 3% antimony, nickel-plated for additional hardness, and buffered to cushion pellets. The patterns are 25% tighter than normal buckshot loads. All Premier® Buckshot is water-resistant. Per 5 rounds.

12 Gauge - 2-3/4" - 00 Buck - 12 Pellets - FPS Max 1290

 

[lbmii]

From reading various shooting acounts it appears that O, OO, and OOO buck will tend to go through and through more often than not.

THR member BrobeeBiter has a very good if not the best internet site on this subject.

http://www.tacticalshotgun.ca/ballistics_shotgun.html

 

[mattw]

i'd say check out some of the reduced recoil or LE loads from remington, federal, and winchester. That stuff sounds like it might penetrate a bit more than the 8 or 9 pellet loads that the cops use.

 

[AStone]

THR member BrobeeBiter has a very good if not the best internet site on this subject.

http://www.tacticalshotgun.ca/ballistics_shotgun.html

thanks for that reference. it is exceptionally well done & informative.

NemA~

 

[slopemeno]

I read a police report (acquiaintence of mine was a private investigator for the plaintiffs family) of a shooting that was a contact distance shotgun shooting. The shootee took a load of 12 ga buckshot, highbase 2.75" about 2" to the right of the navel. He died instantly, and the buckshot did not exit.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Probably. It depends on how it patterns in your shotgun. Buy a couple 5 packs and test. If it patterns tightly, buy lots of it.

A note about ammo....

Kept cool and dry, modern shotgun ammo has an indefinite shelf life. it's indefinite because we haven't had it long enough to really know, a mere 40 years or so.

Lead shot tends to oxidize after some years, but still works when fired. Plated shot doesn't seem to oxidize.

Early steel shot may oxidize together.This can cause choke damage. I'm not fond of the stuff anyway, so maybe old steel loads should just be safely discarded..

 

[AStone]

#1 buckshot for me, please

So, another hot saturday night here in the great NW.

I worked out, then ate lamb chops with rice, oyster mushrooms, salad & wine while watching parts of "A Wonderful Mind" with Russel Crowe. Then, I spent most of the rest of the evening reading about defensive loads for a 12 ga.

Based on what I read tonight, if I had to buy HD SG ammo tomorrow (I don't, cause I haven't purchased the SG yet), I'd probably buy a box of #1 buckshot.

Why?

Following are a couple of quotes from two fairly convincing papers. Technical terms (e.g., sectional density, which is pretty important, it seems) are explained nicely in one or both.

The first is a quick read, but well-written. Plausible enough.

I can't recommend the second paper highly enough. Fascinating reading.

NemA~
_________

"For personal defense and law enforcement applications, the International Wound Ballistics Association advocates number 1 buckshot as being superior to all other buckshot sizes.

Number 1 buck is the smallest diameter shot that reliably and consistently penetrates more than 12 inches of standard ordnance gelatin when fired at typical shotgun engagement distances. A standard 2 ¾-inch 12 gauge shotshell contains 16 pellets of #1 buck. The total combined cross sectional area of the 16 pellets is 1.13 square inches. Compared to the total combined cross sectional area of the nine pellets in a standard #00 (double-aught) buck shotshell (0.77 square inches), the # 1 buck shotshell has the capacity to produce over 30 percent more potentially effective wound trauma.

In all shotshell loads, number 1 buckshot produces more potentially effective wound trauma than either #00 or #000 buck. In addition, number 1 buck is less likely to over-penetrate and exit an attacker's body.

For home defense applications a standard velocity 2 ¾-inch #1 buck shotshell (16 pellet payload) from Federal, Remington or Winchester is your best choice. We feel the Federal Classic 2 ¾-inch #1 buck load (F127) is slightly better than the same loads offered by Remington and Winchester. The Federal shotshell uses both a plastic shot cup and granulated plastic shot buffer to minimize post-ignition pellet deformation, whereas the Remington and Winchester loads do not."

http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs10.htm
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"While 00 buckshot is certainly the most popular, based on their internally generated minimum penetration criteria, Dr Martin Fakler and the IWBA suggest that #1 buckshot is a better balance of penetration, shot diameter, and pellet count. After conducting our own gelatin tests as well as tests on deer sized game, we tend to agree with them."

http://www.tacticalshotgun.ca/content_nonsub/shotguns/shotgun_ammunition.html

 

[lbmii]

I am using Single Ought 12 pellet Remington Xpress.

Here is the pattern from my Mossberg 590A1 DA with a modified choke at about 7 yards:

Here is the pattern from #1 16 pellet Winchester at 7 yards:

Here is the identical # 1 16 pellet round at 7 yards but this one is Federal brand. Every brand has a different spread and within each brand there are differences between deluxe or regular etc. Pattern your shotgun at the distance you anticipate using it.

Here is Federal Premium OO 9 pellet at 7 yards: