Non Defense for Defense

[Datguy781]

My shotgun is for defense in the home. So I am reluctant to load the gun with slugs or buckshot. I have found these target/game loads for $5.97 at wal-mart for 25 rounds; it says they are 7 shot steel. Will this over penetrate an intruder and will it be effective at about 10-15 yards? Also what type of shells do you recommend for home defense?

[egor20]

I have found these target/game loads for $5.97 at wal-mart for 25 rounds; it says they are 7 shot steel

Link please

Also what type of shells do you recommend for home defense?

I keep #4 in all my HD guns, but its a personal choice, many TFLers use 0 or 000 buck.

[ATW525]

Also what type of shells do you recommend for home defense?

Buckshot of #4 or larger size or Foster-type slugs. I personally use 00 buck, and I would not even consider #7 steel bird shot for defense. In my opinion it lacks adequate penetration to consistently reach the vital organs of human beings.

[bamaranger]

We kick this around pretty often. I would not want hit with a load of 7 shot at any distance, and up CLOSE, say 3 or or less, it might very well be devastating w/ a rathole type wound, but by 10-15 yds any pattern would start to disperse and the small pellets would start to act individually instead of as a mass and thus be considerably less effective as a SD round.

[jmr40]

At that price you are probably looking at #7 1/2 shot game loads. They are most likely lead instead of steel. Look again more closely and let us kow. I've never seen 7 shot. Never seen steel shot in sizes that small, but I haven't seen everything yet.

I would highly recommend using some form of buckshot for SD. I don't understand why you wouldbe reluctant to do so. Under ideal conditions, and at close range birdshot can be effective. It can also fail to work. Buckshot has proven it is capable and there are no downsides to using the correct load for the job.

[threegun]

I like number 1 Buck because it gives me 16-30caliber balls per trigger pull.

The steel shot will work fine although it won't have the penetration of heavier shot like Buck. From close up it will be vicious but so will Buckshot.

If you do the math #1buck has more diameter per shot than double or triple ot does.

480 vs 396 for OO vs 324 for OOO.......so should all the pellets land you can theoretically cut more bad guy out of the bad guy with each trigger pull with #1 buck if they all go all the way through.

[Eghad]

00 buck here...

At the ranges in a typical home I think it will work.

[Lee Lapin]

If anything, birdshot is likely to UNDERpenetrate. I know that just one case does not prove much on a statistical basis, but take a look at this coroner's report: http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/173_11_041200/herdson/herdson.html . With any defensive firearm/ammunition choice, you only have two things going for you - penetration and placement. In the worst case, you have to achieve BOTH to get an effective stop in a defensive shooting. "Worst case" being the people who don't run when they see a gun pointed at them.

Here, we use a 9-pellet full velocity 00 buckshot load (Federal LE127-00) backed up by hard alloy slugs (Brenneke KOs). We have no close neighbors however, and overpenetration is not a problem for us.

lpl

[Catalyst]

Also consider we're heading into colder weather in the next few months. Shot sizes are less likely do penetrate multiple layers of heavy clothes. Now, if the intended effect is to terminate a home invasion, I would say you are still likely to accomplish that but you never know how persistant some criminal types will be.

[arizona98tj]

My shotgun is for defense in the home. So I am reluctant to load the gun with slugs or buckshot.

If you are defending your home against ducks and/or quail, then by all means load your shotgun with bird shot.

If you are defending your home against something more substantial, perhaps something that has no problem shooting you, then load it with something more substantial than bird shot. Spend some money and attend a good combat shotgun training course. If it is your intention to point the shotgun at someone and pull the trigger, get some training. You owe yourself at least that much.

[youngunz4life]

15 pellet 3" 00 buck - winchester or federal

[Webleymkv]

Fine birdshot may not have enough penetration to reach the vitals of an attacker, but at close distances it can still penetrate several interior walls. Persoanlly, the finest shot I'll use for SD is BB and then only in my 10ga. My HD 12ga is currently loaded with Winchester 3" #1 Buck, but I wouldn't feel bad about #4 Buck either.

[hardworker]

Birdshot will do the trick up close, but it quickly loses steam as it spreads out. At 10 feet, you're still shooting slugs anyway.

And they make steel birdshot in all sizes now because many places ban leadshot for birdhunting.

[ohen cepel]

I like #4's or larger. Usually stick with #4's myself.

#7's are way too small in my mind unless you are in the same small room with the target.

[Carne Frio]

Read this fine article from The Box'O Truth.
Make sure to read all the way down to the
bottom of page two.:D

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot3.htm

[Nnobby45]

My shotgun is for defense in the home. So I am reluctant to load the gun with slugs or buckshot. I have found these target/game loads for $5.97 at wal-mart for 25 rounds; it says they are 7 shot steel. Will this over penetrate an intruder and will it be effective at about 10-15 yards? Also what type of shells do you recommend for home defense?

As a long time bird hunter, I have on NUMEROUS occasions, found # 7 1/2 birdshot between the breast and the skin on the NEAR side of QUAIL. And sometimes the far side. Typically, the shot will penetrate into, but not through, the breast, and sometimes it will pass through.

If one wants to load their HD shotgun with ammo that provides an intruder with shot that often doesn't make it thru a quail, that's their call.

It works real simple. The less it penetrates the safer it is with re: to innocent family members in adjacent rooms. And the less it is effective on Bubba and his freinds when they invade your home in the middle of the night.

Yes, bird shot is effective a extremely close range, but even there it can be defeated by some types of furniture. Once it spreads out, individual shot penetrates poorly.

Number #4 buck is often used as a compromise, but Ive personally seen it defeated by a door made of two sheets of 1/4" plywood fired at a 45 deg. angle. Not one shot penetrated thru the door.

Just my thoughts on this often discussed subject that never sees any change. 00 buck vs. #4 buck, vs. birdshot, with the occasionally mentioned, but hard to find, #1 buck tossed in from time to time.

Summary: As the safety factor goes UP with smaller shot--- Effectiveness goes DOWN.

Each 00 buck weights about 50 grs and low recoil tactical is under 1100 fps. It has no where near the penetrating ability of a 9mm 115 gr. bullet at 1100 fps. and it still works very well against feral humanoids.

[federali]

Everyone's defensive needs are different. If over-penetration is a problem as you have loved ones in nearby bedrooms, or neighboring homes very close by, I would recommend #4 shot. At typical defensive ranges within the home, #4 shot can be devastating. The Secret Service used #4 buck at the time I was still with Treasury. Not sure if they still do. People shot at close range with shot loads seldom live long enough to describe the experience. A wound with concentrated shot is often called a rathole wound.

If over-penetration isn't problem, then I'd stay with either #4, 0 or 00 buck.