People Overestimate Buckshot

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I've heard it said that most #1 buck loads don't pattern all that well. I dunno how true that chestnut is, but it's certainly something to consider beyond the gelatin results.

I *do* value relatively controlled patterns, and consider the FliteControl wad to be A Very Good Thing. At likely distances for my SD needs, it'll give me 6"-9" patterns. That's plenty loose for my needs, and far better coverage than a slug.
 
I was really looking for #1, but I recently bought a 250 rd case of #4 Buck. There is one local case where a lady shot an intruder at 20 ft with a high-brass #6 game load, 20ga. Most likely full choke. Really did a number on him, he'll never intrude again for sure-DRT.
 
Fred Fuller said:
Patterning ability in a given load matters far more to me than mere pellet count. Pellets that don't hit what you're shooting at are worse than useless - they're a liability. No matter what size they are.
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+1

I use OO buck because I can buy it cheap and shoot some out of my gun for patterning and practice.
 
Inside the home, a good case can be made for #4 or even smaller shot. Unless you live in a very large home, you are not going to be shooting at an intruder at 50 yards or even 50 feet, so almost any shotgun load will kill and you want minimum overpenetration. FWIW, shotgun patterns usually come out at about 1" per yard. So across a 12 foot room, the biggest spread will be around 4 inches, no matter what shot you use.

Jim
 
I watched the u-tube, but i already knew that buckshot was a good killer at 50 yards...

It's NOT a buckshot problem, it's a problem that folks are too cheep or lazy to PATTERN test their shotguns, to see which buckshot works in THAT shotgun/choke/bbl. length...

Those that "just go buy buckshot" really are doing a disservice to buckshot!

Now, my late uncle killed over 100 deer with buckshot, many of them past 50 yards. NO he didn't loose a lot of deer, if he shot at it, he got it!

He ALSO knew exactly what his shotgun would do at those ranges, because he tested it on paper at distances further than 50 yards. He also bought more than a few shotguns over the years, UNTIL he got one that patterned the way he wanted it to.

He also taught me, that when shooting a deer at 40 yards or beyond, to aim at the point where the neck connects with the body of the deer, NOT at the ribcage.

He used buckshot for more than 70 years, and he knew it like no one else i've ever met...

Buckshot is a good killer "IF" you do your part, starting with pattern testing your shotgun with all buckshot available!

DM
 
Though it wasn't tested, #1 buckshot is likely the best all-around buckshot size for self-defense.
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I'm a big fan of No 1 buck for deer hunting. Those extra shot fill in a lot of holes in a pattern. A deer hit with them is just as dead as if hit by lightening.

Someone said that No 1 didn't pattern well. Funny, in my experience I've never seen a gun that didn't shoot them well. At least not one with a modified or full choke, which is what 99% of the people I hunted with used.
 
1. After an LEO shootout where it was found that 00 Buck would glance off a plate-glass display case (at an angle), a replication test by the PD found that while 00 Buck would glance without penetrating, 000 Buck did penetrate. Interesting that only 6% more mass made a difference.

2. At 50 to 60 feet, #9 Skeet from a 20-gauge will put at least 60 pellets into a man's back, some penetrating into the liver. (Yeah, my buddy lived.) But at five yards, inside a house?

3. Both barrels of 12-gauge #9 Skeet at around 30 yards won't kill, but it leads to the pellet-picking blues and a new nickname of "Pimples".

Pick your scenario.
 
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The People that overestimate Buckshot IMO/IME have not patterned their shotgun with various loads.

There are some Buckshot loads that penetrate deeper than some Slugs.

In my personal shotguns with Cylinder choked barrels 00 Buckshot patterns better than other Buckshot. 0 Buckshot or #1 Buckshot barely stay in the upper torso of a B-27 at 50 feet. Per Fackler, Buckshot does the most wounding with a pattern 5-8 inches in diameter. Many 00 Buckshot loads will do that at 50 feet with a Cylinder choke, but in my tests even after choking down from .730 Cylinder to .687 Extra Full and every choke constriction in between, 0 or #1 Buckshot will not pattern into 5-8 inches.

Some of my testing:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=695148&highlight=Buck

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=727480&highlight=Buck

Birdshot is for birds.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
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As many have said here, of utmost importance, is pattern your shotgun. Pick load that patterns the best. Load in shotgun. Call it good and hope you never have to test it in real life. I personally do not want a quick spreading load, Federal flight control makes alot of sense to me. The cheap buckshot with no wad spreads way to quick for me. Not all buckshot is created equal.
 
Besides the .22 LR, 00 Buck has killed more people than any. It has a long history of being effective and can't be argued.

I've been around a long time. I have never seen an argument against it.

This is a first!
 
Buggy said:
Besides the .22 LR, 00 Buck has killed more people than any. It has a long history of being effective and can't be argued.

I've been around a long time. I have never seen an argument against it.

This is a first!
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I never said that it's not effective, I'm just saying that I feel like #0 or #1 buckshot is more effective. From the research that I've done, even #1 buckshot penetrates well beyond 15 inches and has a lot more pellets. In my eyes that means that it's just as effective(or more effective) and has less of a chance of overpenetrating. I will test any buckshot that I plan on using, but I'm sure at across the room distances it really won't matter.
 
It's not you Bro, it's the other comments being made. I trust "Old_Painless" and his review of HD loads....

He says that you are correct! #1 and only 00 because it's easier to get. You did well!
 
Satasaurus said:
I've been doing some research to decide which buckshot I'll be keeping in my home defense shotgun, and while doing so I've realized that people really overestimate it.

It seems like a lot of people go with #00 buckshot just because everyone else does and it's arguably the most well known. I've decided to use #0 buckshot because all the tests I've seen show that it has enough penetration and I would rather have twelve .32 caliber pellets then nine .33 caliber pellets.

People talk all kinds of crap about #0 buckshot and say that it's not effective because of times that it hasn't penetrated far enough at 50 yards. From what I've heard, buckshot is only very effective out to about 25 yards and slugs only out to about 50 yards with an open cylinder shotgun. Personally, past 50 yards I'm just gonna grab my rifle anyways. If I grab my shotgun it's going to be for up close and personal situations only.

Also, I'm not a big fan of the Flight Control buckshot. It just seems to make one big hole at normal buckshot distances which defeats the purpose of buckshot in my opinion. If I want one big hole I'll just use slugs. If I want to shoot further, I'll just use my rifle. I would rather have a decent spread to increase my probability of hitting a vital organ if my shot isn't dead on.
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Ultimately, the reason people use 00 buck over 0 buck is the same reason they choose 00 buck over birdshot: because larger pieces of lead have far more penetrating power and far greater effective range than the smaller shot.

Period.

That said, choose what you wish to use for your own reasons...just don't deceive yourself with respect to actual terminal performance characteristics when you do.

;)
 
I consider my family "people" and we sure don't under/overstimate buckshot.
Lot of deer shot with 00 buckshot, several BIG hogs, and the old car body in the woods experiment.
At "Inhouse" ranges - Jesus will wake up the bg.
 
I stack my magazine with one 3" plated #4 buck first in line, then a couple plated 2-3/4" 00 buck, and then I top it off with plated 3" mag slugs for extended distances. Under my pillow is a .357 mag with full house H110 158 gr. Gold dots, and at my reach is the AR. That's on my side of the bed, the wife and other family members are similarly prepared. We don't mess around when it concerns self defense.

GS
 
Threads like this make me feel our house is woefully small. I can't see ANY shotgun load opening up bigger than fist-sized anywhere in our house. So I'd be comfy with any load myself. If I had a shotgun for h/d that is..... Everyone has his preferences, I prefer something else.
 
rondog said:
Threads like this make me feel our house is woefully small. I can't see ANY shotgun load opening up bigger than fist-sized anywhere in our house. So I'd be comfy with any load myself. If I had a shotgun for h/d that is..... Everyone has his preferences, I prefer something else.
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Yeah, to each their own. After reading a few things by medical examiners it seems like shotguns>rifles>pistols. I tend to grab my 9mm when I think I hear something and if that horrible day ever comes that I know I heard something the shotgun's coming out.
 
Inside the house distances, using 00-buck with a cylinder bore, I figure on having a spread of roughly a fist-size group, maximum. That's the stopper.
I don't plan on engaging threats to my home at 50 yards. The longest straight-line shot in my house isn't ten yards.
If I need longer range I keep slugs in the butt-cuff. 437.5 grains at 1600 fps MV... at 50 yards does what it needs to.
 
i take brass fetcher's fantastic video as advice for shtf type thing to protect your yard or neighborhood. better chance of hitting bad guys under the stress of gun fight with my cylinder bore and flite control buckshot than a rifle.

at 50 yards i put all flite control 00 pellets on a standard poster board. 20" cylinder choke.
 
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rondog said:
Threads like this make me feel our house is woefully small. I can't see ANY shotgun load opening up bigger than fist-sized anywhere in our house. So I'd be comfy with any load myself. If I had a shotgun for h/d that is..... Everyone has his preferences, I prefer something else.
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Have to go with Rondog on this one. At close range (inside 50 feet) any shotgun load is going to make mincemeat out of an intruder. As for patterns and penetration at 50 yards, you are hitting a very gray area. You blast someone at 50 yards you are looking at a long trial. Your life has to be in danger before you can legally pull the trigger. At 50 yards you are not in immenent danger.

Inside the house my 40 Hi -Power works fine.
 
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