20 ga self defense info needed please

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borrowedtime69

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my main gun that i have for self /home/ SHTF occassions is a Mossberg 500 20 ga wooden stock, 18" persuader barrel.

i have in stock 400 rounds of winchester and federal 7 1/2 shot, some 000 buckshot, and some slugs. oh, and some steel shot, some in small game shot size and some that are #2 shot.

my question is what kind of results can i get if i have to use the 7 1/2" shot 2 3/4" shells in the following senarios:

- at 10 yards with heavy winter clothes on the target

- at twenty yards, same clothing

- thirty yards sam clothing.

with a 20 ga shotgun, should i be aiming at the face/head area or will center mass work ok? should i get more of the size 2 steel shot? stick with smaller lead? what?

thank you! -Eric
 
I read somewhere that a 20 gauge has approx 75% that of a 12 gauge. They rated it somewhere around being shot with two (2) .44 magnum shots.

I don't know how true it is however.
 
Birdshot causes some very nasty looking but shallow wounds. You cannot rely on it to stop an attacker, so use buckshot. There are 2.75 and 3in #3 buckshot loads that are well balanced in regards to pellet count and power in the 20, though the 000 buck you have may work. The 000 would probably have a thin pattern. If you need to defend yourself you should be shooting center of mass, any round that requires you to place shots on specific or is is effected by stuff like coats has no place in self defense.
 
Don't use 7.5 birdshot at more than 15 feet unless it's a bird or bunny.
Don't use 20ga buck shot at more than 50' and aim center of mass and pray.
Use a 20 ga. slug in the upper torso or better yet the center of face to "getter done" :)
 
There's no substitute for patterning your own gun with the loads you plan on using. Every shotgun barrel is a law unto itself, no telling what it will do with different loads at different ranges until you shoot it and find out.

Stay safe,

lpl/nc
 
Get some Remington 2 3/4" number 3 buck, 20 pellets in a shell, and live happy. Bird shot is for the birds. Works fantastic on doves, though. I like 7 1/2 shot, burn a lot of it on our feathered friends.

I patterned 00 buck out of my 20 gauge double's IC choke at 30 yards and fully 1/2 of the charge, ten pellets, fell in a torso area at that range, pretty decent. They are 25 caliber and velocity is up around 1200 fps or near abouts. So, figure that's 10 rounds out of a 25 auto with about half again the 25's velocity all in one shot torso hit. At across the room ranges, no man alive is going to take more'n one good torso hit from such a round. If he ain't dead when he hits the floor, the fight will be stopped. Buck will penetrate much better than 7 1/2 shot. I don't load with slugs in the house, just the buckshot.
 
I read somewhere that a 20 gauge has approx 75% that of a 12 gauge. They rated it somewhere around being shot with two (2) .44 magnum shots.

I don't know how true it is however.
Click to expand...

Basically, the only difference in a 20 and a 12 is the number of shot in a charge. A 20 gauge 3" load can hold as much as a 12 gauge 2 3/4". 20 gauge slugs don't make the big numbers the 12 does because they don't weigh as much, but they're way more than enough on a human target. But, to put it in perspective, 12 gauge 2 3/4" Foster slug puts up about 2400 ft lbs at the muzzle. You can have, in a 20 gauge, 2300 ft lbs at the muzzle using the 1 ounce Remington Buckhammer round, reported to be accurate out of a smooth bore, though I've yet to try 'em (on the agenda soon as I can obtain a box). Winchester’s new Super-X 20 ga. 3” load uses a ¾ oz. Foster slug. It also has a fast 1800 fps muzzle velocity with a muzzle energy of 2359 foot-pounds advertised. So, the 20 ain't as weak as the 12 gauge macho men would like you to think. 2400 ft lbs, by reference, is about the energy level of a .300 Savage, about 200 ft lbs shy of the .308 Winchester, but about 500 ft lbs MORE than a .30-30 factory load. Do you think a .30-30 can stop a human? Well, it's stopped everything that has walked the the continent, so I suppose a human isn't a big deal. And, the 20 gauge is over 50 caliber, pre-expanded. :D
 
Real world testing of the 20GA, pretty interesting...
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting that link. I found it strange that the slug broke up, and i wish they would've tried another to see if it was just the particular round or 20 gauge slugs in general.
 
Note that the slug he used in the 20 was one of those light-weight high-velocity loads. A 3/4 or 7/8 oz 20 gauge slug would be closer in comparison to the 1oz 12 gauge slug.
 
The 20 gauge slug I want to try is the buckhammer. It's a 1 ounce slug in 3" 20 gauge. It should perform. The foster slugs don't make, but about 1600 ft lbs, plenty for self defense, but I'm thinking outdoor uses for it and the Buckhammer's extra energy is worthy of note. I don't know that the foster slug would break up like that in flesh as it does in water bottles, but interesting testing at any rate.

For in house self defense, I'd already settled on the #3 Buck 2 3/4" 20 gauge loads, hard to argue with. The testing bares that out. Penetration is optimum in their testing.

If I can find Winchester's 3/4 ounce 3" foster slug, I might try that one, too. It's heavier, at least, and Winchester's claims for it are pretty eye opening, right up there with the buckhammer loads. The thing I worry about with the Buckhammer, other than the price is awful high, is that Remington's site claims they work best out of rifled barrels. They should stabilize out of a smooth bore considering their design, but only testing will tell. I think Wallyworld has Winchester slugs. I might go see if I can score a couple of boxes later if they're the 3" stuff. Saw some over there the other day, anyway.
 
- at twenty yards, same clothing

- thirty yards sam clothing.
Click to expand...

When do you see yourself shooting at 20 to 30 yards in a self defense scenario?

My home defense gun is a 500 Persuader loaded w/ buckshot. I don't trust this gun at distances farther than across the room, which is exactly the distance it is designed for.
 
Hey, dbarale Thanks for that link.. Really interesting stuff!

As for the topic, 20 ga should be plenty for home defense with Buck, be careful with over penetration though. Don't want to treat the rest of the family to flying lead. I saw that picture of the fragmented 20 ga slug and was a little surprised, but then saw the condition of the water jug too... :uhoh:

Not so concerned that the terminal performance of the projectile wasn't 100%.
I think the bad guy might agree. :rolleyes:

As for ranges greater than 15' indoors........ I guess some folks have REALLY BIG houses... my largest room is 24' across, in a hallway, I suppose 30 or 40' might exist.... Assuming the bad guy is that far away, I have a chance to avoid/evade until help arrives. If other folks are threatened, all bets are off :fire:
 
#7.5 works fine at the typical self defense distances indoors. It's still in a tight slug-like ball at that range and shows good penetration and damage. As you get out to 20-30 yards, it's now patterning. At that range it's not going to do so well against heavy clothing and it is going to make a shallow wound at best. If you figure you'll need to shoot at anything past maybe 5-10 yards, heavier shot would probably be a better idea. I'd use the buckshot, myself. I keep my home defense 12 gauge loaded with 12 pellet 00 buck. Slugs tend to overpenetrate. If you have close neighbors, you might think about that.
 
I actually sent an email to the guy from box of truth asking if he'd be willing to test some 20 gauge slugs in 7/8 oz, but he said he's not really doing anything involving that at this time. But hopefully he'll do that in the future, so we can see if they are truly comparable to a 12:)
 
Think about the fact that the 20 ga slug round blew the bottom of the box out due to the hydrostatic shock. So, while the penetration was less than impressive, what would that do to someone's innards? I'm betting it would look like jellied hamburger. They would certainly give a lot of thought to getting up if indeed they were able to do so. The 12 ga slug would obviously go right through the average person. I have long thought that the 20 ga would be an ideal HD weapon for a smaller person such as many women, simply due to the fact that it isn't as heavy or bulky as the 12 ga. Unfortunately, there simply isn't nearly as good a selection of ammunition. Anybody at Hornady listening??? Some quality slugs and #3 or #4 buckshot in 20 ga. would be welcome.
 
Again, I'm not convinced the Remington foster slug would break up like that in flesh. Water is much denser, impedes a bullet much more than flesh. I'm reckoning more normal performance in flesh. Anyone come across some jello testing of a 20 gauge foster slug? That might be more relevant than water.
 
Not sure if I just killed the thread

It is very difficult to say what the shot you mentioned will do in the scenarios you mentioned. Gelatin testing those scenarios is the best solution... wet pack might be a good solution if you would like to judge the >relative< penetration of your ammunition. IE, round A will penetrate more deeply than round B. If that is true in wetpack, it should be true in a Gremlin attacking you.
 
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