12 Gauge Home Defense Loads

[leadcounsel]

I'm in the 00 crowd. I live in a relatively urban area with neighbors on 3 sides. Despite that, I think 00 has the best overall performance for patterning and devestation for stopping an attack swiftly without the attacker suffering unnecessarily. My educated guess is that shooting to stop the threat, a few shots of buckshot will stop the threat within moments.

I also have slugs in the buttcuff/sidesaddle so it's available if needed.

For anyone who thinks birdshot is the way to go, I disagree. I believe birdshot will/can unnecessarily and painfully wound and disfigure a person. While it 'may' end the threat, it may not and a fight could go on for a long time. And I also imagine a scenario where the attacker escapes and pleads that he's a 'victim' and sues you. I don't want to be sitting in a courtroom as a civil suit defendant while a permanentaly disfigured, maimed and blinded sympathetic man tells a jury that he was just lost or cold and that's why he broke in to my house ... which we know would be a false accusation that he concocted a year later with the help of his lawyer.

 

[Jon Coppenbarger]

00 would seem to work just fine and thats what is in my home defense shotguns.

 

[EvilGenius]

I've had a couple of LEOs tell me that from their research and experience birdshot has a tendency to cause a shallow nasty wound but otherwise non fatal and particularly ineffective.

I go with 0 buck.

 

[chanroc]

Keep my 12 Gauge loaded with 4 Buck. Between that and my Glock, I sleep well at night.

 

[CSA 357]

#4 buckshot in my bedside gun

 

[Steve C]

Lead BB and larger. At 30 ft and under inside the house distance just about any load will be deadly. You have to aim, a miss with any load is totally ineffective.

 

[C0untZer0]

International Wound Ballistics Association advocates #1 Buck

On the issue of what size shot, The Firearms Tactical Institute report recommends #1 Buck

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.

http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs10.htm

 

[jrod]

#6 Birdshot in the house.

 

[Skribs]

Count Zero, the problem for me is finding #1 buck. I'd say (of buckshot loads) around here 80% is 00B and 20% is 4B.

 

[45crittergitter]

but [birdshot] is completely deadly when used at 1-room distances

You are living in more of a false reality with that one. Can it be deadly? Yes. Is it "completely deadly"? Most definitely not.

Just to clarify, I said deadly, not fatal. "Deadly" means "likely to cause or capable of producing death." A correct statement.

"Fatal," which I did not say, means "causing death."

The word "completely," I agree was superfluous but not incorrect.