Patterning: Thanks Dave McC!

[Sox]

I have read some great advice on the forum over the years. Recently, got into shotgunning after much thinking the home defense issue. It sure is nice to throw 9 to 27 rounds downrange with one pull of the trigger-there is no way you can shoot your pistol or semi auto that fast.

So, off to the range. I took my Benelli M3 and kept it in pump mode, as I wanted to get a true feeling of the recoil impulse objectively.

The following loads were shot at ~12yards:

Load Recoil Impulse Spread

Federal LR 00buck 9P mild 5.5"
Winchester LR 00buck 9P mild more than FedLR 5.5"
Hornady LR 00buck 8P mildest 3"
S&B 00buck 12P <4BWin not bad 8"
Winchester #4buck 27P heavier than #1buck 12"
Federal Tactical #4buck 27P mild low recoil 10.5"
Winchester #1buck 16P heavier than mild loads 9.5"
Remington 0buck 12P heaviest 9"

Subjective thoughts:

Fun, Fun, Fun. The Hornady is fantastic!!! Mild, accurate, tight-unreal. I
still have a bit more to do. I want to try some of the Fiocchi stuff. I have to
give credit to Dave McCracken for all his post on the matters of defensive shotgunning. I am glad I listened, as this exercise was eye opening.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Aaawwww......

The Hornaday stuff sounds like a good choice.

You did what everyone should. Did a real world check and found out what works best in YOUR shotgun.

Thanks....

 

[GigaBuist]

Thanks for reporting. Always nice to see some real world data on this stuff.

Hadn't thought of Hornady shotgun ammo... might have to try some of that in 20 gauge #3 buck in my Saiga.

 

[arizona98tj]

Nothing wrong with a little pattern testing.

I ran a few brands of buckshot through mine during last trip to the range.

Details can be seen here.

 

[Sox]

Arizona,

Nice job, that is a cool website. It caused me to do a little thinking. Initially, I thought the 3" tighter pattern may be best, but after pondering your perspecitve of the larger pattern/less precise shot theory-that seems somewhat valid. Along those same lines, the more shot pellets the more potential trauma/wounding- if penetration is adequate.


The question of adequate penetration is another issue. I have read on various forums that #1buck offers the minimum effective penetration with the maximum wounding potential. My question is: I wonder what the results would look like if the penetration depth is measured at the distance one would likely encounter an adversay. e.g. I patterned my loads at 12 yards. Do the gelatin test we see/hear about take into account that sort of distance or are they done pretty much 5-10 feet from the muzzle?

 

[Sox]

I ran out of room on my last reply so bear with me.

Arizona, your A,B,C zone is an interesting concept as well. I was simply thinking of the approximate longest shot I may encounter in the home. Two things come to mind; one, I guess that 12 yards was the longest potential distance by eyeballing it-leaves a lot to be desired. Second, I am going to redo these test with the same ammo only now at only 7 yards.

Thanks again guys.

 

[arizona98tj]

Sox....thanks for the response. It's nice to share ideas and exchange info.

At a 4 day shotgun course I recently attended, we shot distances from 3 yards to 50 yards. I shot enough rounds that I am comfortable with my Benelli's patterns at various distances. I spent more than a few rounds at 7 yards with hostage taker targets. With the brand of 00 buck I was using, I could consistently put 7~9 pellets (a standard 9 pellet 2 3/4" round) into the hostage takers head (only a partial head to shoot at) without hitting the hostage. Can I do that at a high stress level? I'm counting on consistent practice to help develop the muscle memory to do so.

The longest shot inside my house is just under 15 yards....and so I use that as my max yardage for regular patterning (although I will check to see how far back the B zone extends). From near point blank range to 15 yards is where I'll see something happen in my house should it ever come down to that. I'll still practice out to 50 yards and farther but the majority of it will occur within the "home" ranges.

You bring up a good point regarding penetration and the distance some of the gel shots are done at. Knowing the distance for buckshot would be very important in my opinion.

Best of luck....and good shooting!

Stu