Shotgun home defense ammo

[Smoke]

I've shot Remington, Winchester, Federal, S&B and my own reloads.

Which one do I prefer? The one thats handy. In my home the longest conciveable shot is 50ft. Of all the shells I've tried any of them in 00 will pattern suficiently inside 50 ft. Some are slightly better than others.

Find your longest shotand then your longest "most probable" shot. ( in my case the bad guy would have to be in the door to the hall at the opposite end of the house and me standing opposite my bed looking through master bedroom door. Most probable is less than 40ft)

Pattern loads for that range.

Smoke

 

[Dave McCracken]

0000 is available from Ballistic Products, IIRC. Runes and Mage you'll have to dig up yourself.

I have a small supply of Tic-Tactical HD loads I'll part with for a mere $5/round. No personal checks or plastic, cash or certified checks only. Let me know how many you want...

 

[targershooter]

I use the following in my rem 870 12 ga shotgun for hd, and i dont put them in the gun in this order as well:

#1 buckshot,#4buckshot,000buckshot,00buckshot, and this one is in the barrel and ready to fire: 3" bb shot(it hurts a lil bit on the shoulder when shooting several one, after the other one)

 

[SapperLeader]

I wanted to use #1 buck in my hd shotgun, but it would pattern well at all, would throw shot all over the place. I ended up with remington 8 pellet reduced recoil 00, due to its tight patterns. My new 870, is going to be my general purpose gun, but may be drafted for a backup hd role. Im hoping this gun likes #1 or #4, but i wont know until I pattern it. Go buy as many types of buckshot you can lay your hands on, print out the pattern thread at the top of the shotgun forum, and hit up your local range. The results will be worth it.

 

[HankB]

A recent thread in THR's "Hunting" forum asserted that buckshot had less penetration than needed (only about 2") on leopard, even at off-the-muzzle range. And leopards are not very big, and not very "hard."

Debate on this was spirited, to say the least, and not everyone accepted the "only 2" of penetration" assertion. (I didn't.) But it made me start thinking . . . what if the perp is wearing a heavy coat, or leather jacket? Not likely here in TX, at least during most of the year . . . but it made me question the use of small shot (like the #9's of a skeet load) for this purpose. Maybe it would work at 2 feet, but inside shots of up to 25 yards are possible inside my home . . . what then?

If I were using a shotty for home defense (I don't, actually) I'd probably use OO buck for the first few rounds, backed up by slugs, on the theory that if the first few rounds aren't enough, the BGs are probably behind cover, and I'd WANT the extra penetration. In no case would I consider something with shot smaller than a goose or turkey load.

But I wouldn't use anything exotic like Dragon's Breath or whatever - too many unknowns, not the least of which is reliability.

 

[p35]

Peter Hathaway Capstick, who wrote several great books based on his experiences as a professional hunter in Africa, swore by #1 Buck as the load for digging wounded leopard and lion out of thick cover. Not trying to restart that argument, but I use #1 in my 870.

 

[patentnonsense]

I use SKEET shell first up, then #1s ...

why #9? No overpenetration, and it's still a pretty tight cluster at ten feet...

why change for the second through fifth? Because if I get to round 2 the nature of the problem has changed.

OK, tell me why I'm wrong...

 

[9 m&m]

patentnonsense,

What if its a guy on drugs lookin for pain and is wearing thick clothing. The smaller pellets wont hold their energy as long and most wont penetrate the thick clothing then you might be thinking bout that second shot.....

 

[Dave McCracken]

9m&m, I've heard that theory before. Nobody espousing it has ever ,TTBOMK, tested it.

Out to perhaps 8 yards the charge moves as a unit in the wad. Think giant Glaser Safety Slug. Once the wad strips off the shot from air resistance, the shot does what shot always does, spreads and slows.

Measure the longest distance in your home and add one yard. Dress a gallon milk jug filled with water in several layers of old clothes, about what someone would wear where you are in winter. Set the jug up at that longest distance +1 yd and hit5 it with a skeet load. After wiping water off your face and glasses, decide if some 300 lb junkie on PCP will continue being a threat afterwards.