Buckshot or Buckshot

[Gun-Reck]

A good demonstration of 12 Ga. #4B:

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[Gun-Reck]

And, of course, #4 Buckshot and "the Meat Target."

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[lemaymiami]

Thanks to all that chimed in additional info on this topic (particularly post #48...) to illustrate what's been said about this topic. Do your part with the right ammo - and the shotgun will end a threat with a single shot if you're on target...

 

[Riomouse911]

Local SO uses (used?) #4B, in the county where I worked that SO uses #00B. At home, I use Federal non-Flite Control #1B in my 870 12 ga. along with 3 Winchester segmenting slugs in the sidesaddle.

(Plus, I even have a stash of Federal 16 ga #1B for my Lefever SxS “coach gun” should the zombies be assaulting the casa long enough for that old timer to come into play!)

Just about any #000 to #4 buckshot load will be effective and on target at ranges out to 45-50 feet or so if the shooter does their part. Beyond that, chance starts to come into play as patterns open up beyond the widest part of the bad guy.

Now let’s all hope that we never have to put our choice of shotgun load to the test.

Stay safe.

 

[ExtremeSquared]

Recoil of any load in a given shotgun is proportional to shot mass and velocity (squared) alone. Shot size and buffer and wad design are practically irrelevant. That old wives tale needs to be let go.

 

[Skribs]

My application for firearms is purely for the purpose of 2-legged defense. I think anything from slugs to BB shot will get that job done, with #4 buck probably being the absolute sweet spot. However, 00 buck seems to be the most available option by far.

 

[Jim Watson]

Recoil of any load in a given shotgun is proportional to shot mass and velocity (squared) alone.

Recoil is a momentum balance, MV = MV, no squared term.
You can use the momentum balance to figure recoil velocity and then calculate recoil energy, but that is nowhere near shot energy.

 

[tactikel]

IMHO use #4 buckshot as a minimum for HD. I use it in my Mossberg 835. A #4 buck pellet approximates a .22 LR at close range. A 3.5” shell hits like a .22 LR, 54 times. Outside the house I use 00.
Yes recoil is stout, but in a SD/HD situation you are so amped up you won’t notice.
BTW my preference is a AR for HD, but the Mossberg is my backup if the day comes when I can’t have an AR.

 

[ExtremeSquared]

Recoil is a momentum balance, MV = MV, no squared term.
You can use the momentum balance to figure recoil velocity and then calculate recoil energy, but that is nowhere near shot energy.

Interesting. I'll have to think on that. Feels like it breaks conservation, but my memory of physics has been trumped by books before.
My main point is that wad / shot design is one of the elements which makes zero difference in felt recoil or total recoil.

 

[Jim Watson]

Momentum is a vector quantity, momentum of shot going north is equal to momentum of gun kicking south.
Energy is conserved but it is not a vector quantity, it appears in various forms from the stressed molecular bonds of the gunpowder to the kinetic energy of the shot, to deformation of the target, everything trickling down to heat.

 

[ExtremeSquared]

Momentum is a vector quantity, momentum of shot going north is equal to momentum of gun kicking south.
Energy is conserved but it is not a vector quantity, it appears in various forms from the stressed molecular bonds of the gunpowder to the kinetic energy of the shot, to deformation of the target, everything trickling down to heat.

I may have been wrong on this for some time.

With a free recoil pendulum set up, a 1.4x increase in muzzle vel should result in a 1.4x increase in height, then, not a 2x increase in height?
But that breaks conservation...
This stuff drifts out of brain when you don't use it enough. I'm going to re-take some khan physics this weekend.

 

[RMc]

Starting in 1963 with the introduction of the Winchester Mark 5 line, with plastic shot collar and ground plastic buffer, the actual diameter of domestic buckshot pellets has been getting smaller. Currently loaded domestic buckshot ammunition follows this trend.

The earlier post showing Federal #1B Flite-Control buckshot at .286" and 33 grains, illustrates this quite well.