Now I can see how the myths about birdshot get propogated

Loaded for bear (or at least wild rutting bucks) w/completely inappropriate ammo as in 00 Buck for Home DEFENSE!? I see it every day here on THR.

It is like watching Rainman. "Dur, double aught buck, dur, its the best, dur, double aught buck, dur..." Mix it alternately with slugs and we've got some real winners that Dr. Freud worries about and Rambo laughs at! "Dur -- LOL."

Somewhere, somehow, 00 Buck and sometimes slugs (the latter largely negating the point of even using a shotgun in the first place) became the default when it s/be Swan Shot IMO: basically from #2 shot UP TO and including #3 Buckshot depending on the circumstances.

Al

Are y'all talking in English?

^ +1 LOL what is it with using cheap birdshot for tests anyway? doesn't anybody buy 1-1/4 oz #4 anymore?

I'll stick with the experience of cops and meatwagon drivers.

i just dont get it. why is it so hard for people to grasp the concept that birdshot is for birds?

I can punch a hole through drywall with my fist. Does that mean I can punch holes through people, too?

JohnBT said:

Are y'all talking in English?

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Yeah, I'm not sure what point they're trying to make. Or even if they agree.

I like how he's like "got a good backstop" and it's just a bunch of foliage and trees in the background.

Me, I'm going to load my 12ga with birdshot. That way I'll be prepared in the event I get attacked by birds, my drywall, or a water jug.

Now what happens if you get attacked by knife wielding geese?

You better use BBB's!

I'd still rather not possibly trust my life to birdshot.

So... it looked like the buckshot out-performed the birdshot. Good to know.

Dur, birdshot is for birds, dur. Dur, anything less than 00 Buck is birdshot, dur. Dur, shot has to go thru six walls and a fresh pumpkin or its useless, dur.

Sorry Rambo Rainmen, Buckshot is for... BUCKS. I'll use it when a buck or a black bear is making its way into my castle. Or if I'm going to be shooting at distance and need the individual pellet mass for range...

Al

Sorry Rambo Rainmen, Buckshot is for... BUCKS.

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Let's see here...
Birds: <5lbs
Bucks: 130-300lbs
Crooks: 130-300lbs

Hmmm

It's amazing how much the first two posts remind me of Beavis and Butthead. I actually heard the distinctive laughing while reading those posts.

I've done some informal close range gel tests on 12 ga birdshot through two layers of denim. I certainly wouldn't want to get hit with a turkey load or heavy waterfowl load at close range. Granted, I didn't account for bone. Maybe next time.

Birdshot is definately for birds. I remember I fired some #6 birdshot (dont know if thats the same number for you over there!) at a fridge door at about 6 feet away, didnt even go through





By the way, the fridge was NOT in my kitchen, in case anyone is concerned

I certainly wouldn't want to get hit with a turkey load or heavy waterfowl load at close range.

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Of course not! I wouldn't want to be shot with a pellet gun either. That doesn't make it a good defense gun. Nobody has said birdshot wouldn't make a nasty looking wound or that it won't kill someone, just that it lacks the consistent penetration to STOP someone.

How many inches calibrated did you get from your tests?

How many inches calibrated did you get from your tests?

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As I said, the tests were informal and I lacked the means to calibrate (as in I don't own a pellet gun) but I mixed the gel to a density a little over 10% and chilled it for 48 hours. The best I could do without a pro-level setup.

The federal #6 3.5" turkey load had a max penetration of 10" and the size BB Black Cloud load penetrated about 12". The cavity left by the turkey load was also about 4" in diameter.

Of course, the range was very close and that is, IMHO, why birdshot is of limited use for self defense. A heavy birdshot load fired across my bedroom will likely turn a section of a bad guy's torso into burger, but double or triple that distance and the effect diminishes rapidly. And as I also pointed out, the lack of bone in the gel block is a bit of an X factor.

It was still fun to tear those blocks aprt, though

Could birdshot do the job? Sure. There are numerous people that have been killed by it. It'll open a nasty wound in a soft meaty spot like the neck.

I just don't see the point of NOT putting some sort of larger sized shot in your gun. If you NEED to fire the gun at someone, they are obviously a great enough threat that they probably are going to be more of a danger to your family than the potential over penetration of the shot. If you DO have to point a shotgun at someone, hopefully it is because you woke up as they were breaking in/rummaging around and not breathing your face or creeping into your kid's room. At that distance, collateral damage (as precious as your family is) is a possibility.

In an ideal situation, if there is such a thing, you have high ground/a choke point with you between the intruder and your family and your family on the line with 911. In any of those situations I would much be armed with buck.

Bird IS fun for killing paper targets and pumpkins though...oh and I guess birds too, but I don't hunt

Why do you all keep saying birdshot, again, as though anything less than 00 Buckshot is "birdshot." Do you tunnel-visioned Rambos even know what birdshot really is? Maybe not Beavis and Butthead, but its laughable to watch you argue about something you can't even define. Simple-minded if accidental and misleading if intentional...

I'm guessing mostly "dur."

Al

Closed, due to a scarcity of courtesy and manners.