#1 buckshot for me, please
So, another hot saturday night here in the great NW.
I worked out, then ate lamb chops with rice, oyster mushrooms, salad & wine while watching parts of "A Wonderful Mind" with Russel Crowe. Then, I spent most of the rest of the evening reading about defensive loads for a 12 ga.
Based on what I read tonight, if I had to buy HD SG ammo tomorrow (I don't, cause I haven't purchased the SG yet), I'd probably buy a box of #1 buckshot.
Why?
Following are a couple of quotes from two fairly convincing papers. Technical terms (e.g., sectional density, which is pretty important, it seems) are explained nicely in one or both.
The first is a quick read, but well-written. Plausible enough.
I can't recommend the second paper highly enough. Fascinating reading.
NemA~
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"For personal defense and law enforcement applications, the International Wound Ballistics Association advocates number 1 buckshot as being superior to all other buckshot sizes.
Number 1 buck is the smallest diameter shot that reliably and consistently penetrates more than 12 inches of standard ordnance gelatin when fired at typical shotgun engagement distances. A standard 2 ¾-inch 12 gauge shotshell contains 16 pellets of #1 buck. The total combined cross sectional area of the 16 pellets is 1.13 square inches. Compared to the total combined cross sectional area of the nine pellets in a standard #00 (double-aught) buck shotshell (0.77 square inches), the # 1 buck shotshell has the capacity to produce over 30 percent more potentially effective wound trauma.
In all shotshell loads, number 1 buckshot produces more potentially effective wound trauma than either #00 or #000 buck. In addition, number 1 buck is less likely to over-penetrate and exit an attacker's body.
For home defense applications a standard velocity 2 ¾-inch #1 buck shotshell (16 pellet payload) from Federal, Remington or Winchester is your best choice. We feel the Federal Classic 2 ¾-inch #1 buck load (F127) is slightly better than the same loads offered by Remington and Winchester. The Federal shotshell uses both a plastic shot cup and granulated plastic shot buffer to minimize post-ignition pellet deformation, whereas the Remington and Winchester loads do not."
http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs10.htm
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"While 00 buckshot is certainly the most popular, based on their internally generated minimum penetration criteria, Dr Martin Fakler and the IWBA suggest that #1 buckshot is a better balance of penetration, shot diameter, and pellet count. After conducting our own gelatin tests as well as tests on deer sized game, we tend to agree with them."
http://www.tacticalshotgun.ca/content_nonsub/shotguns/shotgun_ammunition.html