My thoughts on buckshot.

When I was in, 00buck was the standard load. I assume it still is. At home I was content with low base #7 1/2 because of over penetration concerns in walls. I figured the whole shot column hitting in a very small area would take care of things if needed. Later on I became friends with a guy who had massive scarring and a fair amount of missing muscle from 3 bird shot loads at close range. Hmm, there may be a problem with my choice
I'm under no illusion that buck shot is much good at longer ranges. During training we fired 00 at targets out to 50 yards with a cylinder bore. You can easily miss a silhouette at that range while putting shot all around it.
After thinking it over, I figured #4 buck might be a good compromise between over penetration and under penetration in a house.
I mentioned this to a good friend and former colleague a few months ago and he told me about a session he'd attended at his department, KCPD, featuring a speaker who is a renowned expert in the medical examiner field. He talked about multiple wounds causing a person to leak more from that than a smaller number of wounds from larger projectiles. The M.E.'s conclusion was that #4 buck was the best choice in a shotgun. That had never occurred to me but it makes sense. I've had a case of 3" #4buck for a few years now. As a civilian, I don't forsee barrior penetration (windshield, doors. etc.) as being an issue. Most likely a home invasion type scenario won't ever be an issue either, but you never know.
Of course, I have to add the standard disclaimer. I hope I'll never have a problem requiring such actions. Second, killing wouldn't be the desired outcome. Stopping a threat would be the desired outcome.
Anyway, there's my thoughts on the matter.

#4 Buck was the standard issue at my S.O. forever. Thankfully I never had to use it anywhere but the range, but it appears to be very effective at 25 yds.

#4 has always been my preferred choice but it's always been harder to find than 00.

Terry

#4 has always been my preferred choice but it's  always been harder to find than 00.

Terry

Yep, you won't find it on the shelves. I just looked at targetsports and the only #4buck they have in stock is 3 1/2".
Talk about sticker shock, some of those bismuth shot shells are up to almost $13/ a round!  I haven't hunted ducks in the modern era, back then lead was the only thing there was.

We used 00 buck for the most part with slugs occasionally but normal load was 25rds OO

I’ve seen 2 GSW’s with shotgun when working on the ambulance. 1 410 Judge buckshot point blank to the upper chest (SI attempt) he lived and after a ICU stay went on with his life

2nd was #6 pheasant to the stomach/chest area & it was bloody but zero real damage other than soft tissue

Wellll the third does not count, mutt shot at sheriff with a shotgun & sheriff killed him….

Everything I’ve seen has #1 buckshot is optional, pictures I’ve seen of birdshot and what I’ve seen shotgun instructors have to say about birdshot is it’s for the birds and does not have the mass to penetrate in a human

I’ve got a bunch of Federal low recoil flitecontrol 00 buck and some slugs……

If ya want to go down the rabbit hole

https://youtu.be/mJr5_aEcOks?si=KbefWqrdQ3GBsLF_

https://youtu.be/idD6SuwQ9vc?si=w_RnzotS4Bpw2Q4b

https://www.youtube.com/live/0Ayl1HGUma8...deCXDr-D6l-

https://youtu.be/5HGDikyeqfQ?si=hG_aLRCpsUw7bpJr

Oh I got a shotgun from Steve Fisher and he laughed & said just use 00 buckshot, if you miss with a shotgun at normal indoor home distances you’ve got more serious problems

Get ammo & pattern it, shoot it at all normal distances you could possibly expect to use it at and that all shotgun ammo will pattern differently and some guns really like one load over another

I’ve not shot a gauge since my hospital stay & need to shoot both the pump and the 1301 & see how I do now with them. I’m thinking the 1301 is the way to go

To add a little grist to the mill..
Back then you'd never see a carbine in the stanchion, but I do think it's a much more versatile option for patrol purposes.
At home distances I think the shotgun is perfectly adequate.

It never occurred to me that 00 would not be optimal, for several reasons discussed above. I’ll have to give it some thought. I have some 00 for ‘home def’ but a shotgun is not my primary go to.

My shotguns are primarily bird guns and that means not great defense guns (pumps are mostly waterfowl and longer barrels, shorter upland guns are stackpoles and therefore two shots…). If I was to have a shotgun prepped for defense, I’d need a good bit of setup.

(I have another issue with #4 buck and BB shot that I’ll bring up separately…)

It never occurred to me that 00 would not be optimal, for several reasons discussed above. I’ll have to give it some thought. I have some 00 for ‘home def’ but a shotgun is not my primary go to.

My shotguns are primarily bird guns and that means not great defense guns (pumps are mostly waterfowl and longer barrels, shorter upland guns are stackpoles and therefore two shots…). If I was to have a shotgun prepped for defense, I’d need a good bit of setup.

(I have another issue with #4 buck and BB shot that I’ll bring up separately…)

I'm looking forward to it. Back when I was a teenager, BB was the go to for coyotes when using snow mobiles. My ex-wife used that load on the neighbor's pitbulls in our barn. It worked well then, but that was maybe 3 yards.

To add a little grist to the mill..
Back then you'd never see a carbine in the stanchion, but I do think it's a much more versatile option for patrol purposes.
At home distances  I think the shotgun is perfectly adequate.

It all depends on the situation, a shotgun coupled with a AR gives you options & that’s a good thing 

Without question a gauge is more than adequate