What do you load your home defense shotgun with?

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Kevinq6

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In the chamber I keep a 3in Winchester Super-X 24 pellet #1. The tube has seven 3in Federal plated 10 pellet 000 buck in it. Side saddle has 5 Brennekke 1 3/8oz Maximum Barrier Penetrators on it. If I travel I take the #1 out of the chamber and keep the tube loaded.

I really like how the #1 patterns and it has a lot of pellets while being the minimum size shot I would use. The 000 patterns exceedingly well in my gun, and I chose it for a better option

Once I buy ammo again I'll probably replace the federal 000 load with Winchester 15 pellet Double X 00 buck because that patterns well in my gun. We will see.

What do you guys use?
 
Load your weapon any way you want - but to this day, for close quarters work, all I'll ever want is standard 2 3/4" 00buck. For under 15 meters it's a fight ender with a center of mass hit...

To get into the topic of ammo for shotgun home defense - take a look at the second thread on this board -started and lead by Dave McCracken all those years ago. It's worth a read (and there are over 200 entries on the topic...). Wish I'd been lucky enough to meet Dave. I take as gospel almost all of what he had to say about shotguns...
 
00 buck. Pretty much anything that would drop a human at shotgun fight distances is still going to go through a wall. And likely the next 4. So get the stuff you can buy pretty much anywhere.
 
00 buck here too. Over-penetration is a problem. Under-penetration is a problem. Might as well choose the one that's more likely to stop the threat.
 
2 3/4" 0 Buck until I can get to town and upgrade to 3" Magnum hopefully in 0 Buck. That is in a single barrel New England I just stumbled up on at a flea market yesterday which appeared unfired. I would take No 4 Buck if available. Going to utilize it as a car gun and have some No 8 as well as we tend to get snakes laying in road around here and while I have got them with a 303 and 308 I have to pass up some shots as houses are in background.

My 870s all have 00 Buck.

Per Col Martin Facker MD you can't be a 12 gage indoors for getting people's attention. He told me he attended two autopies where guy's hearts were obliterated with 12 ga and both were able to move 50+ yards before they dropped.

I knew another guy who was in a rolling stake out squad in NYC and they rolled on a silent alarm at a liquor store. As they approach the shop the drived slowed down and three officers exited vehicle while it was rolling. One day they had two backing out of a liquor store and they yelled "Freeze Police" and they both turned with guns in their hand.

One guy tagged the first guy with a 1 oz slug and racked the 870 going for the second guy and as he did he noticed the first guy was still on his feet. He shot the second guy and racked it and went back to the first guy and gave him another slug. That time he went down.

He went over and guy had two slug holes dead center of chest 2" apart and the first one did not take him down ! ! ! ! ! That could be embarrassing! ! ! .
 
The '97 Chinchester riot is loaded with cheapish OO buck and has Fed flite control OO in the butt cuff, the Ithica 37 deerslayer has flite control in the mag and slugs in the butt cuff. There's a bandolier of mixed OO buck and slugs hanging near them.
 
Yeah for me the Winchester just patterns evenly ... doesn't matter what shot at least with what I have tried.

You just quoted me ... do you really do EXACTLY what I do? 3in 000 and one #1 on top?
 
Hummer70 said:
2 3/4" 0 Buck until I can get to town and upgrade to 3" Magnum hopefully in 0 Buck. That is in a single barrel New England I just stumbled up on at a flea market yesterday which appeared unfired. I would take No 4 Buck if available. Going to utilize it as a car gun and have some No 8 as well as we tend to get snakes laying in road around here and while I have got them with a 303 and 308 I have to pass up some shots as houses are in background.

My 870s all have 00 Buck.

Per Col Martin Facker MD you can't be a 12 gage indoors for getting people's attention. He told me he attended two autopies where guy's hearts were obliterated with 12 ga and both were able to move 50+ yards before they dropped.

I knew another guy who was in a rolling stake out squad in NYC and they rolled on a silent alarm at a liquor store. As they approach the shop the drived slowed down and three officers exited vehicle while it was rolling. One day they had two backing out of a liquor store and they yelled "Freeze Police" and they both turned with guns in their hand.

One guy tagged the first guy with a 1 oz slug and racked the 870 going for the second guy and as he did he noticed the first guy was still on his feet. He shot the second guy and racked it and went back to the first guy and gave him another slug. That time he went down.

He went over and guy had two slug holes dead center of chest 2" apart and the first one did not take him down ! ! ! ! ! That could be embarrassing! ! ! .
Click to expand...

That's amazing.

I like the buckshot that penetrates well to increase the chance of hitting the spine, or the brain if I am shooting at their head.
 
SwampWolf said:
#4 Buck is a good compromise when considering pattern density and penetration factors.
Click to expand...

If you would only use up close and especially if it is plated that seems like a good compromise to me as well. If I were in a very small apartment I'd probably use #4 buck, or aim for the balls with 3in 00.
 
lemaymiami said:
...take a look at the second thread on this board -started and lead by Dave McCracken all those years ago. It's worth a read (and there are over 200 entries on the topic...). Wish I'd been lucky enough to meet Dave. I take as gospel almost all of what he had to say about shotguns...
Click to expand...
"I take as gospel almost all of what he had to say about shotguns...)
I wish I could have met him too. I've spent hours reading Mr. McCracken's posts. Thee best shotgunning knowledge on this site, hell, the best anywhere. I miss him and rc. Awesome shout out for Dave lemaymiami.
 
My tubes are kept loaded with unplated full power 2 3/4 #4 buck, since in the extensive media testing I did years ago I found it is effective enough at short distances, yet has limited barrier penetration to help minimize the risk to my neighbors.
 
I see no reason to load 3" shells for SD. At the ranges we're talking about if you hit a bad guy with the 8 00 pellets of a low recoil round, he will swear he got hit with a 3" magnum.

Remember nothing you can hold in your hands is 100%. Shoot until the target goes down.

JMO
 
Winchester 00 18 pellet 3.5" magnum shells in my Benelli Nova Tactical. :cool:

Kidding, I use Federal's Personal Defense #4 buckshot. 34 pellets in a 2 3/4" shell. Lots of payload but doesn't overpenetrate too much, specifically designed for inside use.
 
GRIZ22 said:
I see no reason to load 3" shells for SD. At the ranges we're talking about if you hit a bad guy with the 8 00 pellets of a low recoil round, he will swear he got hit with a 3" magnum.

Remember nothing you can hold in your hands is 100%. Shoot until the target goes down.

JMO
Click to expand...

That's the general advice. I want a denser pattern at 20 yards so that's why I do 3in. From 10 feet in the home, the hole will be the same :)
 
Kevinq6 said:
That's the general advice. I want a denser pattern at 20 yards so that's why I do 3in. From 10 feet in the home, the hole will be the same :)
Click to expand...

Yes the hole will be the same close up. I'm not aware of your situation so I can't condemn your selection. Most people don't have a 20 yard shot in their home. My guess is less than 10 yards for most.

No matter how good you are, 3" magnums will give you more recoil and affect your recovery time. Important if you have more than one target.
 
#000 buck. Gamebore Buffalo 2 3/4" seems to have a high V0 and it works in all of our shotguns. All interior walls in the house are brick, no cinderblock or drywall in sight, so overpenetration is not an issue.
 
I have my Mossberg 500 security shotgun with 7 round magazine tube currently loaded with 5 rounds of OO and 2 rounds of 4 buck that where left over from a patterning exercise. The 4 buck being first out of the magazine. I really don't feel the need for heavy loads or special ammo the OO being S&B 12 pellet 2-3/4" and the 4 buck is Rio 21 pellet 2-3/4". I live in an urban neighborhood of modest size older single level masonry houses. The maximum range in my house or yard would be under 15 yards.
 
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