What's the lethal/dangerous range of a shotgun?

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I've read that buckshot has comparable ranges to pistol rounds in terms of effective range. With that said, I wouldnt trust buckshot at all past the 60 yard mark.

But then again, I'm a home defender, not a hunter. With longer barrels and differing chokes, I'm sure some of you may trust it farther than I do.
 
Turkey.

Hey There:
I wacked my last Turkey at 59 paces with 3" #6 turkey loads. Flatened him right there.

But at 100 yards Plus . that bird shot would fall to the ground. Any one shooting anything at another person at any distance means harm. If the other person shoots back , Oh well.
 
You have to remember things are quite different over here folks :)

Slugs arn't allowed for shotgun licence holders, hell I've used a few but not many. Buckshot, well I've never even seen any buckshot here! The biggest I've seen are what we call AAA (I believe that's different in the states, but just to confirm, over here thats .20 of an inch), I keep a few around for, err, emergencys :p

Anyway, my point is this, this guy was a regular shotgun owner, not a criminal (until he started firing his gun in the wrong place anyway!), so it was unlikely he had any big stuff. You'd probably find he was shooting #8 clay pigeon cartridges. I've read, dont know if it's true, that he was looking to get shot by the police.

Were they right to do it by the way? Well quite probably yeah, but as someone else said on this thread, you'll never really know the truth of it.
 
If someone is walking down the street shooting at houses, and then points the shotgun at you, chances are, he's not going to ask if the barrel is plugged...

I'd rather not get shot with anything...
 
Police and guns.

Hey there;
A few years ago we had this happen in our town. The guy got drunk a lot. Every one knew him and knew he would not hurt any one. But, One night when drunk. He took his .410 out for a walk. (Small town)....
Anyway ! He was shooting something no one really knows what. Just touching off a few rounds in the air. He ha ddone this before so it was nothing new. When he ran out of shells he went home and passed out.
Several times the local sherrifs dep. talked him down and locked him up for the night. Always got his gun back. Or had more not sure. But on this night two (2) newbe state troopers from a different city were there and ended up shooting him 19 times. We all know what was right and wrong. But those cops did not. Only because of some wittnesses did the cops get hammered.
They didn't do much talking just shooting. Well, I have had a hard time passing judgement on the cops, even though I know they were wrong. They did not know the guy. Funny the other cops always talked him down.
There is sometimes a very fine line between right and wrong. All of us need to keep that fact in mind. Had the guy pointed his gun at me , I would have shot him also. But would have shed a tear or two because I knew him.
Yes I believe he needed to be stopped. Just a very sad thing.
Again, that fine line may effect you and me some day.
 
in training i have engaged targets out to 100yds with slugs. with the right ammo and training the shotguns role can be used many more ways than the old fashioned "point and shoot" method that folks like to practice so often.
 
Largest shot available to the shotgun licence holder in the UK is SG.
Not sure what that is equivalent to in the US but an SG is 8.4 mm or 0.3307" inch.
The ones I have are made by Gamebore, and called 'Buffalo' special load.
There are 9 in a load, hard'ish lead and they kick fairly hard, and are only really any use for fox.

Neil. :)
 
Looks like SG is the British equivalent of American 00 Buck, as rrr said.

Stateside we don't quite have an equivalent for AAA (0.20"), but BBB is pretty close (0.19").

I don't know what (BB and BBB, etc.) stand for. I kind of think they mean "bird buck" since they're right in between. I suppose they are turkey loads? Which raises the question of what use they would be on an island completely lacking in turkeys! Not that they would be too bad for close-range self-defense, though. Or I suppose they would be good for foxes and voles and the like, at maybe 40 meters or so? (Edit: Duh ... I read the bottom of the latter link above, and it says BB is good for goose-hunting in both steel and tungsten.)

I'm interested in the UK gun scene ... I know there are some guns and some hunting in the wake of laws restricting both. Saw a very interesting lever-action rifle styled (and chambered) like an AR-15 for sale to civilians ... can't remember if it was Britain or Australia though (I get Anglophones mixed up).

What are the police using these days? I'm not talking about truncheons, I mean the things that go BLAM that they break out when something really awful happens. I gather that at one point most police stations had AR-180s, but I have no idea what they use for pistols. (It would be cool if they were all patriotic and picked one of the John Slough "Spitfire" copies of the CZ-75 / Jericho 941, but I doubt it.) (Edit: a little websurfing indicates that different police departments carry different weapons in the UK, just like everywhere else. I had thought that having a national Home Office would have meant more centralization....)
 
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With sabot slugs out of my Mossberg 500's rifled slug barrel, 100 yards is easily doable.

It isn't going to print 1 MOA, but it will put slugs on a human at that distance without any trouble.

I imagine the lethal range is a good bit beyond that, but I've never fired my shotgun at anything over 100 yards, personally.
 
That's like saying, "Oh you shouldn't arrest him for stealing that car, it was an old car."

What idiots. I don't want anyone brandishing so much as a pellet or BB gun at me in agression or not much less a shotgun. It all still hurts and I have seen what a shotgun can do to a trap house!

Too bad the police are being bashed. Hopefully they will stick to their justification.

Calli
 
The UK gun scene, well it's a bit limited, depending on where you live, and how much money you want to spend.
Basically a shotgun licence is yours for the asking, provided you have not been a naughty boy in the past.
There is no need to prove a need for it, clay shooting, pigeons, and wildfowl is fine.
A rifle is a little different, you need to prove a need for it, i.e. you are a member of a target shooting club, or you have permission to shoot game or vermin on an area of lend that has been inspected an found to be suitable for the calibre you have asked for.
At the moment I am applying for a licence for a couple of rim-fires, .22lr and .17hmr.
I know the land I have available is ok as there are a couple of others with a licence for the same land.
The licence is generally only valid for that land, and no other, although it is sometime possible to get a licence that is called an 'open licence' so you can use the gun at any location that has already been deemed suitable for that calibre.
You have to apply for each calibre separately, and each gun separately if you want more than one of a calibre you also need to have permission for a moderator if needed, and for expanding ammunition.
The amount of ammunition is also controlled, usually no more than 750 rounds at any time (per calibre), and no more than 500 to be purchased at any one time.
I have applied for 2 x .22lr and 1 x .17hmr + a moderator for each, I have asked or a total of 1200 round of .22 with no more than 1000 to be bough at any one time, 500 for the hmr and no more than 300 to be bought at a time.
We will see what happens, it is also never a quick process, I made the original phone call to obtain the application forms about 3 weeks ago, I have filled them all in and returned them, I called to make sure it was all going ok yesterday and was told it will still take another 3 weeks, at least.
For any of you who fancy a laugh, I will post a link that lets you download the forms, you can fill them in, on your PC and print them out, this will give you the forms that you have to get your sponsors to fill in as well.
And before you can get the licence you also need a gun-safe, which lets you lock the guns up separately to the ammunition, and bolts to any bolt action rifle.

Neil. :)

Local Police Firearms Licensing Section, here.
Forms from here.
 
The UK gun scene, well it's a bit limited, depending on where you live, and how much money you want to spend.
Basically a shotgun licence is yours for the asking, provided you have not been a naughty boy in the past.
There is no need to prove a need for it, clay shooting, pigeons, and wildfowl is fine.
A rifle is a little different, you need to prove a need for it, i.e. you are a member of a target shooting club, or you have permission to shoot game or vermin on an area of lend that has been inspected an found to be suitable for the calibre you have asked for.
At the moment I am applying for a licence for a couple of rim-fires, .22lr and .17hmr.
I know the land I have available is ok as there are a couple of others with a licence for the same land.
The licence is generally only valid for that land, and no other, although it is sometime possible to get a licence that is called an 'open licence' so you can use the gun at any location that has already been deemed suitable for that calibre.
You have to apply for each calibre separately, and each gun separately if you want more than one of a calibre you also need to have permission for a moderator if needed, and for expanding ammunition.
The amount of ammunition is also controlled, usually no more than 750 rounds at any time (per calibre), and no more than 500 to be purchased at any one time.
I have applied for 2 x .22lr and 1 x .17hmr + a moderator for each, I have asked or a total of 1200 round of .22 with no more than 1000 to be bough at any one time, 500 for the hmr and no more than 300 to be bought at a time.
We will see what happens, it is also never a quick process, I made the original phone call to obtain the application forms about 3 weeks ago, I have filled them all in and returned them, I called to make sure it was all going ok yesterday and was told it will still take another 3 weeks, at least.
For any of you who fancy a laugh, I will post a link that lets you download the forms, you can fill them in, on your PC and print them out, this will give you the forms that you have to get your sponsors to fill in as well.
And before you can get the licence you also need a gun-safe, which lets you lock the guns up separately to the ammunition, and bolts to any bolt action rifle.

Neil.
Click to expand...
LOL, for a rimfire? Man, you guys have it BAD.
 
The amount of ammunition is also controlled, usually no more than 750 rounds at any time (per calibre), and no more than 500 to be purchased at any one time.
Click to expand...

I think you can get permission for substantially more than that, if its .22 rimfire.

Also, sometimes ignorance on the part of those granting the license can work in your favour. One member of my rifle club got permission to possess x hundred rounds of 7.62x51mm, and the same quantity of .308 Winchester :neener:
 
shotgun lethality

Actual case: My nephew was shot with #4 shot from a 3" Magnum 12 gauge. State police determined distance to be 47 feet and about a 60 degree upward angle (he was in a tree stand, bow hunting for deer, and the shooter was on the ground hunting turkeys). He absorbed over 80 pellets which penetrated a Marine Corps field jacket, flannel shirt, long johns and a cotton tee-shirt. He drove himself to a hospital over a 45 minute span - and almost bled to death. Doctors opened him up and examined internal organs for shot penetration, including pulling out his entire intestinal tract and checking for perferations. Several pellets penetrated his liver and a few penetrated his right lung - he was turning to his left when he saw the turkey hunter pointing at him and pulling the trigger. This was a year and a half ago and he's still shedding some of the pellets that didn't penetrate all the way through his back muscles.
 
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