Preacherman
Member
In this thread, Dave McCracken asked:
I've seen ammo capacity make a difference on several occasions. All were in South Africa during the period of our "civil war"-type unrest, from 1976 through 1994. All involved mob situations, or gangs of attackers, where the threat was in terms of numbers as well as weapons. Here are a few case studies:
1. On a small farm, a gang tried to break into the farmhouse late at night, intent on assaulting (perhaps murdering) the farmer and his family. There were at least 17 members of the gang. The farmer used an 870 with a ten-round extended magazine, loaded with SSG buckshot (roughly equivalent to US No. 1 buck). He fired all 10 rounds, bringing down six of the attackers in and around the doorway, then transitioned to a revolver, which he also emptied. His wife went to a 20ga. double-barrel shotgun, which she emptied at one attacker, then resorted to a .22LR bolt-action rifle (!!!), which she also emptied. The remaining (surviving!) members of the gang fled into the night. Later, the police assessment of the action was that if the farmer had not had those 10 rounds on tap, to put down the first few men through the door, he would not have created sufficient delay to be able to retrieve his handgun and defend himself further with that. As it was, the "road-block" of bodies in the doorway bought him that time, and kept his family unharmed. (Four of those hit with shotgun rounds died, and three survived with permanently crippling/disabling injuries - the range was about 7-8 feet!)
2. A friend was traveling through a township with a seriously violent past. As a precaution, he carried a Mossberg 500 12ga. with six rounds on board (five in the mag, one in the chamber: the first three were AAA buckshot [roughly equivalent to US No. 4 buck], the last three were Brenneke slugs). He turned a corner, and was confronted by a roadblock of burning tyres, with "tsotsies" (slang for young gang members - often criminally inclined) throwing stones at blocked vehicles. They were trying to drag a woman out of a pickup that had stopped just ahead of him. He stopped, exited the vehicle, and fired all six rounds at the thugs trying to assault the woman. The range was just over 20 yards. The three buckshot rounds certainly hurt two of the attackers, but several stray pellets caught the woman in the left shoulder (not a serious wound, but disconcerting). The three slug rounds (for which he aimed a bit more carefully) stopped three of the thugs advancing toward him. He then transitioned to a sidearm, but by then the remains of the gang had decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and were fleeing the scene. Again, the police assessment was that without the full six rounds, he would not have been able to stop the thugs advancing toward him, as transitioning to a handgun would have allowed them to close the range, and his handgun (a 9mm. Star pistol loaded with first-generation Winchester Silvertips) would probably not have had the "stopping power" to prevent them from reaching him. By putting them down "with authority", the cops reckon that the remaining gang members were scared into flight.
3. An interesting crowd-control tactic was used by some elements of the police to suppress mob violence. They would have two or three cops armed with 10-round mag extensions on their shotguns (I saw one with an 18" barrel and a 10-round extension, which protruded almost a foot in front of the muzzle! Looked wierd... ) These men would load with very light birdshot, or with rubber buckshot. Faced with an angry mob, they would aim low, at the feet of the front ranks of the mob, and fire off all 10 rounds as fast as possible. The ongoing reports and screams of those in front (none of whom were ever badly hurt - #8 shot at 20-30 yards stings, but seldom punctures the skin) had a major psychological impact on the rest of the mob, which normally broke up pretty fast. The cops I spoke with about this said that the mag capacity had an intimidation effect, in that it allowed them to fire lots of rounds in a hurry. (This, BTW, was one of the reasons that the 12-round "revolver" shotgun was developed in South Africa - situations like this called for such a weapon.)
I had to use a shotgun for "social purposes" on several occasions, but these involved only one or two attackers. Two or three rounds were sufficient to solve the problem. However, I still had an extended magazine, in case I was confronted by multiple assailants who would not take "No!" for an answer. Helped me to sleep better at night...
Let's hear from the rest of you! Anyone else with "sea stories" about high-capacity shotguns?
Well, I thought I'd start a thread in reply to your question, Dave. Let's see what comes out of the woodwork!
I've seen ammo capacity make a difference on several occasions. All were in South Africa during the period of our "civil war"-type unrest, from 1976 through 1994. All involved mob situations, or gangs of attackers, where the threat was in terms of numbers as well as weapons. Here are a few case studies:
1. On a small farm, a gang tried to break into the farmhouse late at night, intent on assaulting (perhaps murdering) the farmer and his family. There were at least 17 members of the gang. The farmer used an 870 with a ten-round extended magazine, loaded with SSG buckshot (roughly equivalent to US No. 1 buck). He fired all 10 rounds, bringing down six of the attackers in and around the doorway, then transitioned to a revolver, which he also emptied. His wife went to a 20ga. double-barrel shotgun, which she emptied at one attacker, then resorted to a .22LR bolt-action rifle (!!!), which she also emptied. The remaining (surviving!) members of the gang fled into the night. Later, the police assessment of the action was that if the farmer had not had those 10 rounds on tap, to put down the first few men through the door, he would not have created sufficient delay to be able to retrieve his handgun and defend himself further with that. As it was, the "road-block" of bodies in the doorway bought him that time, and kept his family unharmed. (Four of those hit with shotgun rounds died, and three survived with permanently crippling/disabling injuries - the range was about 7-8 feet!)
2. A friend was traveling through a township with a seriously violent past. As a precaution, he carried a Mossberg 500 12ga. with six rounds on board (five in the mag, one in the chamber: the first three were AAA buckshot [roughly equivalent to US No. 4 buck], the last three were Brenneke slugs). He turned a corner, and was confronted by a roadblock of burning tyres, with "tsotsies" (slang for young gang members - often criminally inclined) throwing stones at blocked vehicles. They were trying to drag a woman out of a pickup that had stopped just ahead of him. He stopped, exited the vehicle, and fired all six rounds at the thugs trying to assault the woman. The range was just over 20 yards. The three buckshot rounds certainly hurt two of the attackers, but several stray pellets caught the woman in the left shoulder (not a serious wound, but disconcerting). The three slug rounds (for which he aimed a bit more carefully) stopped three of the thugs advancing toward him. He then transitioned to a sidearm, but by then the remains of the gang had decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and were fleeing the scene. Again, the police assessment was that without the full six rounds, he would not have been able to stop the thugs advancing toward him, as transitioning to a handgun would have allowed them to close the range, and his handgun (a 9mm. Star pistol loaded with first-generation Winchester Silvertips) would probably not have had the "stopping power" to prevent them from reaching him. By putting them down "with authority", the cops reckon that the remaining gang members were scared into flight.
3. An interesting crowd-control tactic was used by some elements of the police to suppress mob violence. They would have two or three cops armed with 10-round mag extensions on their shotguns (I saw one with an 18" barrel and a 10-round extension, which protruded almost a foot in front of the muzzle! Looked wierd...
) These men would load with very light birdshot, or with rubber buckshot. Faced with an angry mob, they would aim low, at the feet of the front ranks of the mob, and fire off all 10 rounds as fast as possible. The ongoing reports and screams of those in front (none of whom were ever badly hurt - #8 shot at 20-30 yards stings, but seldom punctures the skin) had a major psychological impact on the rest of the mob, which normally broke up pretty fast. The cops I spoke with about this said that the mag capacity had an intimidation effect, in that it allowed them to fire lots of rounds in a hurry. (This, BTW, was one of the reasons that the 12-round "revolver" shotgun was developed in South Africa - situations like this called for such a weapon.)I had to use a shotgun for "social purposes" on several occasions, but these involved only one or two attackers. Two or three rounds were sufficient to solve the problem. However, I still had an extended magazine, in case I was confronted by multiple assailants who would not take "No!" for an answer. Helped me to sleep better at night...
Let's hear from the rest of you! Anyone else with "sea stories" about high-capacity shotguns?
