My thoughts on buckshot.

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…)

My 1st gun was a birthday gift at the young age of 16 & it was a 870 with a 30 inch barrel for Iowa pheasant and other birds…..

Kept it in my vehicle in high school and went hunting after school 

still have it and it’s far from optimal for home defense but in a pinch it will work

I bet you were a happy kid with that birthday present!

Got a 94/22 at Christmas that year, was bouncing off the walls & chomping at the bit to go shooting every chance possible 

would go thru 22 bricks like most teenagers went thru Beer 🤣🤣

Still have that rifle also….both prized possessions, mom/dad also gifted me a 1981 era stainless Mini 14 and still have that