Loading sequence for HD shotgun

My 870 holds 5 rounds of 00 buck at all times. I have another 50 rounds (25 00, 25 1 Oz slugs) within arms reach. It is next to my bed, all other guns locked up. I'm lucky in that I don't have kids and its just the wife and I.

I'm a 7 Xs #1 Buck sort of guy.

I figure I'll have enough things on my mind should I need to use the gun besides worrying about what is in the chamber.

On the butt I keep 6 more rounds of Hornady TAP OO

Chuck

Slug, slug, slug, slug, slug, slug, slug, slug.
A Rem 1100 with that much weight up front is real easy to shoot fast and keep on target. Just be mindful of what's beyond your target.

My school of thought is that slugs have no place in a home defense shotgun.

Way more power and over-penetration then is ever needed inside a house.

If a magazine full of 00 Buck won't do it, it's time to get out of Dodge!

For farm & ranch defense, they have a place if you need to knock out a cars radiator, or shoot through a windshield at 50 yards.
Beyond that, leave the slugs to the deer hunters.


rcmodel

I am no fan of 'candy cane' or sequential loading in a shotgun. IMHO you need to know exactly what will be coming out of the muzzle every time you pull the trigger. In a gunfight there is too much for us lesser mortals to keep up with otherwise to remember how many rounds have been fired, much less what sequence they were in.

Therefore I keep the magazine loaded with buckshot with space for a slug to be added if necessary. The Sidesaddle is loaded with just slugs. Louis Awerbuck told my class he's not smart enough to keep up with more than one kind of ammunition, so he just shoots slugs in his defensive shotguns. I'm not smarter than Louis, I just prefer buckshot close in and slugs out a ways, and have developed a method that I know lets me keep them sorted out under pressure.

lpl/nc

I agree.

In Hollywood they have a script. It's written down on paper.

First, THIS is going to happen. Then, THAT is going to happen.

Next, we will all run outside and SOME OTHER THING will happen.

The End.

If you lived in Hollywood and knew how the scene goes, loading up in a special order would make sense.

For the rest of us, however, it would pretty much guarantee that the wrong load is selected at the wrong time.

I'll stick to buckshot.

I'm considering loading: Buck, Slug, Buck, Buck, Buck, Buck, Buck, etc.

That way, if I fire the buck and it doesn't stop the threat (meaning my target is likely armored), my next round will fix any problem that's not wrapped in IV plates.

00buck, tube is kept 1-less than capacity. Shell carrier holds 3 additional 00 plus 2slugs for long distance precision shot. Get trained on shell selection and tactical reloading, then you always know what you have available when you need it.

Cocktail loading is a waste, you assume that you will hit with every shot & that you actually keep track of what type of round you have in the chamber.

Do be aware that slugs penetrate stuff that full-power .308 Winchester FMJ won't go through, and plan accordingly.

Extreme case--here's a piece of "bulletproof" polycast acrylic, from the Box o'Truth:

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot6.htm


Stopped a .223 FMJ at close range:




Stopped a .308 FMJ at close range:




Couldn't stop a 12-gauge slug:

I'm always open to suggestions, but I loaded my 870 as follows:
slug,00,slug, and the rest of the magazine and chamber loaded with #1 buck.

Do be aware that slugs penetrate stuff that full-power .308 Winchester FMJ won't go through

And IMHO that's the precise reason for having slugs available for a defensive shotgun. And that's also the reason I use hard alloy Brennekes and not some soft-lead hollowpoint deforming Foster type slug. If a BG hides behind my refrigerator, or anywhere behind a car other than the engine, I want to be able to get to him. Buckshot won't do it. Slugs will.

YMMV of course.

lpl/nc

And IMHO that's the precise reason for having slugs available for a defensive shotgun. And that's also the reason I use hard alloy Brennekes and not some soft-lead hollowpoint deforming Foster type slug. If a BG hides behind my refrigerator, or anywhere behind a car other than the engine, I want to be able to get to him. Buckshot won't do it. Slugs will.

Click to expand...

Most definitely.

Some people don't seem to be clear on that, though; I've been in threads in which someone announces that they would never use a .223 with JHP's in the HD role because it would overpenetrate too much, and then state that their HD weapon of choice is a 12-guage loaded with slugs. A 12-gauge with slugs penetrates like a .45-70 buffalo gun.