Birdshot Damage, Close Range (Photos at link)

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I've seen deer taken with birdshot, mistakenly loaded instead of buckshot on a dog hunt, so I am pretty confident it will work in a pinch if needed for defense.
 
I am with others here and saying that "steve" was as much at fault if not more then his SIL, kind of imature to blame the other guy so harshly, when he aimed a gun at himself and somehow managed to discharge it..
 
The two silliest myths about shotguns and bird shot are 1) a single shot will "fill a room with pellets", no need to aim or even know where an enemy is and 2) birdshot won't penetrate a wall, so there is no need to worry about hitting someone in another room.

Now we can add "Crazy Joe's" advice, that with a shotgun you don't need to ever shoot AT anyone, just fire into the air and the bad guy will run away. (If he doesn't, don't wish for an AR-15; "Crazy Joe" already sent the Army to take yours.)

Jim
 
I feel for the OP, hope they heal fast. Gun rules are in layers. You can't blame someone else who broke a rule for you breaking a rule.


Birdshot is great for SD, if you are being attacked by birds.
 
From the blog comments:

Been in medicine 35 years.
Seen quite a few patients with birdshot in them. Seen almost none with buckshot....if they survived the buck they paid the price by losing an extremity.
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If someone can walk to the ambulance after getting hit from 6 feet away square in the chest, I'll stick to what is proven to work.

#1 stowed a loaded gun
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I store my AK loaded, the difference is that I KNOW its loaded.
 
is it bad that I clicked through not realizing there were graphic pics and didn't even flinch when I saw them?
 
now that is a BAD DAY!!! OUCH.... imagine just a few inches over.... a head shot would have been fatal for sure... nothing to play around with..
 
Back in the late 1990s I remember an older guy at Walmart gun section in Abilene, Texas, told me that BB shotshells is okey for SD in closed range. I do believe now. At the time i dont even own a shotgun but only with my SKS.
 
I store my AK loaded, the difference is that I KNOW its loaded.
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I store my guns in varying states of readiness depending on their purpose. When I handle any of them I do so as if they are loaded.
 
wow thanks for sharing with us. It is a good reminder. I am sorry that happened to you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq3RVvL9ZjU gunblast showed birdshot is pretty powerful at across the room distance. By shooting rack of ribs and a pork shoulder covered in denim. I'm not swapping buck shot but believe birdshot would stop an intruder.
 
Much as the pictures made me feel a little woozy, they also caused me to regard the 4 Rules with a renewed sense of importance. Complacency sets in when a long time passes with nothing happening and this reminded that I cannot let such a lapse occur. Ever.
 
lobo9er said:
wow thanks for sharing with us. It is a good reminder. I am sorry that happened to you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq3RVvL9ZjU gunblast showed birdshot is pretty powerful at across the room distance. By shooting rack of ribs and a pork shoulder covered in denim. I'm not swapping buck shot but believe birdshot would stop an intruder.
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as long as he didn't have 4 inches of flab or muscle or tissue 'twixt his coat and his vitals.

birdshot is for birds.

I'm out
 
Make no mistake about it, birdshot can certainly kill and it can kill at further away than close range. I have seen the aftermath of it happening as an EMT back in the day when I was still running rescue. Even as scattered pellets birdshot can penetrate enough to be lethal. At close range it produces what surgeons call 'rathole wounds' - ragged and ugly, sometimes lethal, sometimes not.

My point in opening this thread was to remind members to be careful with their shotguns, not to start yet another debate over whether birdshot is useful for defense or not. So, to make the point again - remember the Four Rules and keep them always in mind when you have a firearm in hand. Momentary lapses of attention can be tragic. Among the worst things I have ever seen in a long life and a short career in EMS have been shotgun wounds. You DO NOT want those memories floating around inside your head if you can help it. Pictures are bad enough, which is why I set it up to require another click before they appeared.
 
Just a reminder, the 00 bck is the gold standard for home defense because the cops used it. The no 4 buck is also very well regarded. Anyway shotshell regardless of shot sizes are deadly at closed range.

Always observe proper firearm safety and live free.
 
If someone can walk to the ambulance after getting hit from 6 feet away square in the chest, I'll stick to what is proven to work.
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Ignorance is bliss.

If someone was hit in the shoulder with a deer slug they could walk away. 140 lb deer run away after being shot with all sorts of heavy hitters. Its shot placement no matter what the gun or what its loaded with. If that bird shot hit him in the face, neck or heart this thread would have started a whole lot more grim.
 
My point in opening this thread was to remind members to be careful with their shotguns, not to start yet another debate over whether birdshot is useful for defense or not. So, to make the point again - remember the Four Rules and keep them always in mind when you have a firearm in hand. Momentary lapses of attention can be tragic.
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This.

Treat them all as loaded, follow the rules, even add to them when you can. Extra layers add more safety. I generally have a loaded handgun near me. If it is not on me, it is in a holster that covers the trigger. Just one more layer of safety.
 
Proof of what doctors say: If you own a gun, the odds ratio of you being shot is higher than if you don't.
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Yeah. ...And if you own a boat, your chances of drowning go up.


I agree with those who decline to blame the SIL. The author mishandled a firearm, and more importantly, pointed it at himself. Just don't do that.
 
In the article it states the SIL started shooting slugs and worked down to the birdshot. The blogger is damned lucky the SIL didn't start with birdshot and work up to slugs, leaving one if them in the chamber.
 
This is an incredible story. Thank you for sharing hopefully everyone will take a lesson from this post today so a mistake like this does not happen again!
 
Fred Fuller said:
So, to make the point again - remember the Four Rules and keep them always in mind when you have a firearm in hand. Momentary lapses of attention can be tragic. Among the worst things I have ever seen in a long life and a short career in EMS have been shotgun wounds. You DO NOT want those memories floating around inside your head if you can help it. Pictures are bad enough, which is why I set it up to require another click before they appeared.
Click to expand...

This. Practice and muscle memory. The only weapon I keep loaded in my RSC is the BB gun (for the annoying birds that sometimes show up). Knowing that, I still clear or check all weapons in there. Even the airsoft ones. I do the same with every weapon I handle at gun stores, training etc. 99% of the time I don't even realize I am doing it.
 
I believe comment #21 may have been referring to #4 Buckshot. I also wonder why our last two vice presidents do not have a proper understanding of shotguns.
 
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