Recommendations for Tactical / Home Defense 12 ga Shotgun Ammo?

[fishgutzy]

Be John Wick at home.

 

[DJBrad]

I keep a 18.5 500 pump with 12 mini shells of #4 buck.

 

[gerrycaruso]

My son had one of those KSG 12 shotguns. He used it successfully during deer season.

 

[Mountain]

Thanks all. No worries about overpenetration. Any reason to favor 00 or No. 4 buckshot? I can keep a couple slugs in the shell card.

 

[StevieP]

NEVER use birdshot. The shotgun is a devistating weapon and birdshot defeats the purpose.

Why do people suggest birdshot? Because its "safer, due to low penetration". Which the reason not to use it. If it won't penetrate drywall, it won't penetrate the bad guy.

inside of thirty feet or so that pile of birdshot is effectively a slug. It hasn't begun to spread out and is a big lump of small pellets

 

[Love Machine]

inside of thirty feet or so that pile of birdshot is effectively a slug. It hasn't begun to spread out and is a big lump of small pellets

No, it isn't - that's a myth. A cut shell of birdshot may act more like a slug, but not loose birdshot.

 

[Love Machine]

I've been looking at Low recoil Federal 00 lately.

 

[gerrycaruso]

You're talking about shooting across the room which means about 3 yards. If it's a really big room, it could be as much as 8 yards. I don't think a load of birdshot would have spread much at that distance. The only reason I like #4 buckshot better than 00 is because there are so many more of them.

 

[kalash]

At 8 yards birdshot is laughable compared to buckshot and both can absolutely spread out enough to send pellets past the intended targets.

 

[powerman]

old timer ffl recommended #6 for in the house. At the time I had 5 people living here and didn't want to go through walls but be enough

 

[EddieZoom]

You can't dump 5 rounds in 2 seconds with a pump.

Jerry can....search for Jerry Miculek pump shotgun video.

 

[PaulR]

Bookmarking best shotgun ammo, thank you.
That KSG-12, that on the list in MA or no?
I was told Benelli, accept no substitute.
2000 rounds later, it's still the same gun.
I have a bunch of Fudd shotguns, need a tactical, just so I can look cool.

 

[whatluck]

I prefer 8 pellet over 9 pellet when it can be found.

View attachment 936292

Came here to post this. This ammo is pretty much unicorn status, but gives really tight patterns out of my 870. Baseball sized patterns at 15 yards.

 

[whatluck]

There's also a hornady 00 buck load I like, they have a flight control wad like Federal they call versatite. 8 pellets 1600 fps. Stuff is like a spicy version of the above.

 

[TG Pioneer]

NEVER use birdshot. The shotgun is a devistating weapon and birdshot defeats the purpose.

Why do people suggest birdshot? Because its "safer, due to low penetration". Which the reason not to use it. If it won't penetrate drywall, it won't penetrate the bad guy.

I sure as hell wouldn’t stand in front of it.

 

[240Geezer]

Jerry can....search for Jerry Miculek pump shotgun video.

Knew that was coming.
I'm not Jerry and I doubt any here are either.
Not mention that with a drum you can just keep on rocking.

 

[Davidk]

I sure as hell wouldn’t stand in front of it.

You only shoot when life is in immediate danger. Is that the time to rely of the weakest possible ammunition?

 

[gerrycaruso]

Now I'm curious and will find out for sure today. I'll shoot birdshot at 4, 6 and 8 yards from a 20" cylinder bore 12 gauge.

 

[kalash]

Keep in mind that even most less lethal rounds (beanbags, rubber buck, etc) tend to go through drywall. Your best bet to avoid shooting into rooms you don't want to shoot into is to put the whole payload into the bad guy (once again, Flitecontrol shines at this).

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhZf_x8Esms&pp=ygUWYnJhc3MgZmV0Y2hlciAxMiBnYXVnZQ%3D%3D

 

[Taipan01]

I have a couple Remington super magnum 870 pumps with rifle sights, 18" smooth bore barrels that I keep with some 3" 00 shells (I could go 3.5" but that may be a bit of overkill, literatly). The way I figure it, they should leave large enough holes that the wife can poke her head through to make sure things are clear.

 

[240Geezer]

I haven't tried wax slugs but they look interesting.

 

[PappyM3]

NEVER use birdshot. The shotgun is a devistating weapon and birdshot defeats the purpose.

Why do people suggest birdshot? Because its "safer, due to low penetration". Which the reason not to use it. If it won't penetrate drywall, it won't penetrate the bad guy.

Depends on the birdshot. There are lots of different types with varying shot size and material.

I personally wouldn’t go with something smaller than a #4 buck. But you can’t group all birdshot together.

Edit:

 

[PappyM3]

I don't think I trust semi auto shotguns for defense. I'd rather have a savage pump (just saying this cheap brand is perfectly reliable while a non cheap semi auto may not be). But semi auto anything is gonna be a matter of knowing what ammo is good to go as far as running in it for starters.

There are a good number of people very versed in shotguns who prefer semi autos due to their reliability. Such as the Beretta 1301. In a stressful situation it is rather common for people (even shotgun experts) to short stroke a pump when trying to run it fast.

A big benefit of semi autos is that they have less recoil.

 

[Mountain]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhZf_x8Esms&pp=ygUWYnJhc3MgZmV0Y2hlciAxMiBnYXVnZQ%3D%3D

Interesting! So the no. 4 buckshot was the best combo of effective penetration and grinding the target to hamburger. Strong recommendation against birdshot.

I'm thinking heavy winter clothes plus the possibility of a bear problem would still favor 00.

 

[Mountain]

I haven't tried wax slugs but they look interesting.

Wax poured into shot? Those were devastating on pumpkins at the old Monadnock shoots. Only thing close was 458 socom with JHP's.

 

[PappyM3]

Hot take: flight control is “overrated” for the vast majority of home defense needs. Low recoil 00 (either 8 or 9 shot) is just as good.

At the distances of most home defense needs, the pattern is going to be really tight whether you use flight control or not.

Flight control is absolutely a good choice for LE, who may engage at longer exterior ranges.

And low recoil buck because it still sends the shot at sonic barrier-ish speed. It’s still going to penetrate just fine.

 

[kalash]

At the distances of most home defense needs, the pattern is going to be really tight whether you use flight control or not.

I disagree. I tested several loads at ~10 yards and the majority of them sent at least one pellet past my silhouette target. Flitecontrol punched a single giant hole.

 

[PappyM3]

I disagree. I tested several loads at ~10 yards and the majority of them sent at least one pellet past my silhouette target. Flitecontrol punched a single giant hole.

That’s crazy. A full size silhouette? At 10 yards I wouldn’t expect bigger than 6” spread. What size was the spread, and what barrel? 18” with no choke?

This highlights a good point I didn’t make though, always pattern your shotgun with what you intend to use. If it doesn’t work for your needs, try a different load or different choke if you can use chokes.

 

[gerrycaruso]

I shot the birdshot and here are the results. I used #9 skeet loads cause that's what I had and I don't think anyone would use anything smaller. At 12 feet the spread was 5". At 16 feet it was 7" and at 24 feet it was 11". I use #4 buckshot but I don't have to worry about animals or other people and if anything exited my house, it would have to travel about a mile through the woods before it reached a house.