Federal LE132-00 buck with flite control

[Hank15]

What can these be used for (other than self defense)?

Are they viable for hunting small to mid size game?

[hogdogs]

You might do some googling to try to locate ballistics of this round and a regular Super "X" or similar standard 00 buck and see where the energy compares at various ranges... Until it drops a ways off from standard, it is good for the same critters... It would not be my choice for small or medium game.
For that I would go from #8 bird on up to the smaller buckshot like 4 thru 1.
Brent

[Lee Lapin]

I'm saving all mine for defensive purposes, you can shoot yours at whatever you want.

lpl

[Hank15]

I bought 250 rounds of these at the crossroads of the west gun show for about $3.69 + tax per box of five (I've heard that these are hard to find). i dont really want them to just sit there and collect dust, so what do you guys suggest using these for?

[VA9mm]

It is designed for people not deer.

[Lee Lapin]

What do I suggest you do with 'em? Well, this will take care of about a third of 'em. You're in CA? Near Santa Clara perhaps? ( http://www.yfainc.com/schedule.html ).

Imho there's no better way to use up a bunch of shotgun shells than three days in the sun with Louis.

lpl
=====

http://www.yfainc.com/

Tactical Shotgun - Stage I

As with the Stage I Handgun, this course is designed to create reflexive gunhandling, competent marksmanship and tactical thinking. In addition it places strong emphasis on learning what the shotgun will, and most particularly WILL NOT, do. The importance of patterning the shotgun properly is discussed at length. The course also covers ammunition selection, loading and unloading, reloading and ammunition selection while involved in a shooting scenario, shooting from several ready positions and various tactical body positions, dim-light and flashlight shooting, shooting on the move, moving targets, multiple targets and weapon retention. Transition to a pistol is covered for those clients who have taken prior pistol training.

Ammunition requirement is 400 Birdshot, 50 Buckshot and 70 Slugs. Fifty (50) rounds of Pistol ammunition is required if the client wishes to participate in the Shotgun/Pistol transition portion of the course.

[Hank15]

*bump bumpity bump*

[BuckHammer]

Originally Posted by VA9mm

It is designed for people not deer.

I bet the deer that gets hit with that load will breathe a sigh of relief with that knowledge.

[Cerick]

Without a really good quality choke, those would be my first choice of buckshot for deer. The pattern they produce at 25 yards is tons better than anything else I've shot at that distance.

[Hank15]

Come on guys, 100s of views but only a few answers. Help me out here.

[.45 COLT]

Hornady loads (or maybe loaded?) a very similar round. I believe they use the Federal wad. They touted their HV version as great for wild boar at 40 yards.

DC

[Hank15]

How close should I be to a small to mid sized game for a positive kill?

[rantingredneck]

I've never used the 132-00, but I killed one deer last year at 40 yds with the 127-00 (Full power 9 pellet flite control 00). I also killed one two years ago at 30 yds, with Remington 8 pellet managed recoil 00 (1200 fps). I'd expect somewhere around 30-40 yds would be effective for a clean kill.

In both cases those deer rolled in their tracks, kicked once or twice and died. I've seen some deer killed at longer distances with buckshot, but IMO it's always an iffy proposition beyond 30-40 yds and the chances of wounding or crippling and animal are too high.

[hogdogs]

Hank, Please don't take this wrong... PLEASE!
Size is relative... what do you call small and medium... gimme an animal and a guessed weight of those in your area.

Here is the issue with 00 and such large ball shot. You are either going to shred the animal to smithereens, get it killed with one or 2 lucky pellets or miss altogether. The further off you are from the target, the chance of a kill is drastically diminished due to having only 9 pellets. the whole reason there are so many choices of pellet size is so for each target choice, there is a round that will place a quantity of pellets in a "target size" diameter at a given distance. As distance increases you go up one size pellet to hold energy but at a point that no longer is satisfactory due to reduced number of pellets in the shell. For instance for rabbits and even squirrel, 7 1/2 is fine out to a certain distance but for a little more range you can go to number 6. If you know your gun well enuff and hunt where the animals are real shy, I have used #4 for both squirrel and rabbit and most often I was a kid and that was with a .410 so not many pellets.

Do you see where I am going? At the 30 yards 00 "MAY WORK" so as not to shred a rabbit, the chances of one of nine pellets hitting the target is getting slim and one 00 ball is still doing more damage than a round nose .22.

Now for size of game all small wing targets and sqirrel and rabbit are small game to me but crows I treat as medium size (#6 minimum but prefer #4) since they don't come in so easy. Coons, possum and fox are medium. Coyotes need a bigger shot as they don't come in so close. I would use the 00 on yotes, nuisance coons (ain't eating them) and close in deer (I would use any 00 on close in deer) them shells don't have highly diminished close range energy I bet!
Brent

[Hank15]

Thanks Brent, that clears everything up.

Since I live in California, the animals you listed as small to mid size game are pretty much what's around here.

I think I'll just stay within 40 yards for all these animals.

[Nnobby45]

I'd suspect that Federal 00 Tac. with FliteControl would easily make up for less velocity with the much tighter pattern.

The Wad controls the pattern, since the shot doesn't release until the wad has gone done range a bit before the rear "fins" open up and the shot keeps going. That's different from standard buck wads with their petals that immediately peel back and release the shot at the muzzle.

My tests:

10yds: there is no pattern. Just one big hole

15yds: about a 4" pattern

25yds: last tests showed patterns about 7X9 inches.

No pattern difference between cyl. bore and mod.

Federal wanted a load to extend the range of all those LE cylinder bores out there. And they did it.

The difference at the muzzle between standard buck and LE low recoil is about 200 fps, but that doesn't translate to nearly as much difference out there at 25 yds. or so. And don't forget that besides more recoil, you get noticeably bigger patterns with full power loads--even compared to low recoil ammo without the FliteControl.

Incidentally, Hornady TAP also uses the same FliteControl wad, but has lead shot rather than Federal's plated.

I'd use low recoil tactical for protection against feral man (borrowed that from Ayoob), on zombies, Calif. Black Tail, other medium sized game, and similar critters. Might prefer slugs for hogs and bears, but wouldn't feel inadequately armed up real close with low recoil buck. So you trade velocity for less recoil to facilitate faster followup shots and tighter patterns.

For HD, I don't worry about FliteControl. I have Win. Ranger and Federal's orig. 00 buck before the FliteControl. That's tight enough indoors. When I travel outdoors, I like the tight stuff.

And of course, Federal and Hornady TAP with FliteControl are also manufacured in standard velocity designed for semi-auto shotguns. If you can find it, maybe that's what some of you are looking for if you're not sure about the low recoil stuff.

[VA9mm]

I bet the deer that gets hit with that load will breathe a sigh of relief with that knowledge.

Contact Federal and ask what their tactical buckshot is designed for. I doubt they will say it was designed as a hunting round.

[Amen]

Contact Federal and ask what their tactical buckshot is designed for. I doubt they will say it was designed as a hunting round.

I'm on hold, but while I do that why don't you call up Springfield and ask them if the .30-06 was designed as a hunting round.

[hogdogs]

I thought the .30-06 was designed as a hunting round and was all we had for warfare at the time... If it was good in battle they wouldn't have switched to the man killa .223
Brent

[VA9mm]

I never said you couldn't use it to hunt. Explain why does Federal sell Power and Vital Shok then? I'm not being sarcastic either, I want to know why doesn't Federal just sell tactical buckshot then?

I emailed Federal and asked them but who knows if or when I will get a response.

[cedjunior]

They sell Low Recoil Power-Shok which they say is suitable for medium game (with a little picture of a deer), so what would be the difference? Have you never heard of marketing? The same stuff in different packaging to appeal to different types of customers is pretty common.

[Hank15]

I checked out the stats on the power-shok low recoil buckshots.

The H132 (power-shok) features 9 pellets - 00 buck traveling at 1140 fps.

The LE132-00 with flite control features 9 pellets - 00 buck traveling at 1145 fps.

I've never looked at other federal ammunition before, but now that I have, I'd say that most buck shots should do well within 40 yards of a small to mid sized game.

[Brigadier]

Maybe its just me, but I'd save the low recoil 00 for HD for fast follow up shots against an attacking offender/multiple offenders. For hunting Bambi, I'd go with the full power version for a humane kill. But then, I'd hunt Bambi with a Brenneke style slug. YMMV.

[Nnobby45]

Contact Federal and ask what their tactical buckshot is designed for. I doubt they will say it was designed as a hunting round.

Reminds me of the 'ol "30-06 was designed to wound, not kill" argument.

I don't think they designed it so it would be effective against two legged critters and ineffective against 4 leggers.

It was simply reduced in velocity (with no design change necessary) at the request of law enforcement so inexperienced recruits could handle the recoil. Better technology in the form of FliteControl followed.

Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, it was found that the reduced recoil/velocity provided adequate penetration along with tighter patterns and faster follow-up shots. That was before FliteControl.

[VA9mm]

Federal's reply as far as bambi was, it would be best to use one the premium hunting loads with higher velocity and greater pellet count.

I'm still waiting on Springfield.