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.
(This post was last modified: 03-12-2024, 05:32 AM by tommag.)
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.
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