revolver bird shot????

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walking arsenal

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was reading an article in which a guy stated he was too cautious about shooting an intruder with "real" bullets so he kept the first two chambers of his revolver loaded with bird shot rounds. he assumed that if the first two rounds didnt get BG to run the next would put him down. not a viable option i thought at first, but on the other hand a face full of bird shot at typical handgun combat range (six arm lengths) might hurt like hell. how does bird shot perform out of a snubby? a good option for a recoil minded house wife?

W.A.

oh yeah, i forgot to say that this is TOTALY a hypothetical question.

if the bg comes knockin at the arsenal residence the wife puts the .357 (speer gold dots) to use if yours truly is out and about.
 
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Very bad idea.

Save the bird shot for Rattlesnakes and Copperheads.

1. You are shooting him with bird shot while he's shooting you with a 45.
What makes people think the BG is going to be unarmed and run away.

2. I've loaded hundreds of 38 Special #8 and #7.5 shot. From 6 inches away it will go through 1/4 inch plywood. From 6 foot away it won't go through a jacket.

3. If you do something like shoot a BG in the face and maybe blind him he will sue you and own your house.

4. While you are stinging him with bird shot he may be taking you gun and knocking your head off with it.

I keep a couple 38's loaded with shot but it's for snakes not people:)
 
I've patterned the CCI 38Spl shotshells from a snubbie and WOW do they ever spread to hell and gone. Expect a minimum of one foot of spread for every two feet downrange.

:uhoh:

Forget it.
 
DON'T DO IT!

DON'T DO IT!

If you are in a situation where the use of deadly force is called for why would you use something you know will not be deadly?

A Speer shot load used at across the living room distance would not be incapacitating. It might deter an uncommitted burglar but only a foolish person would use it against an armed threat. And you shouldn't be shooting at someone who isn't a threat.



Do you really want to hear the following?

"But your honor my client clearly didn't mean to kill anyone hence his use of shot loads in his weapon."

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the homeowner in this case clearly was aware that these shot shells would not kill a man which is why his deadly revolver was only loaded with two. The usage of shotgun shells in his revolver shows that he only intended to inflict inhumane injury to the victim.
The other four chambers were loaded with deadly superduperfangfacedcopkiller bullets."
 
I shoot 10 to 15 snakes every summer at my place.
We're crawling with them...I only shoot the ones in the stalls or around the house. They are exceptional rodent control.

I tried shot once. I think a pointy stick might have been a better idea.
Snakeshot in a revolver's not much good on snakes unless you can reach out and pet the one you're gonna shoot. I would think the same goes for a BG.

I wouldn't use shot for HD unless is was packed in a 12g shotshell 3" long.

Just my opinion tho.
 
I was always under the (mis)conception that shot rounds would ruin the rifling. Who knows...I've never had the desire to use any...and I haven't seen a poisonous snake in Indiana....the time I spent in the woods of Ft. Benning GA, that was another story.
 
FWIW, back when I carried a NAA Mini as an "always" gun, I carried the first chamber loaded with birdshot, followed by four CCI Mini-Mags.

My rationale was: Close in, the shot was essentially as effective as a solid, but across the room, shooting a load of shot at a knife-wielding opponent could convince him you were dead-serious about him not getting any closer. Against someone with a "real" gun :rolleyes: from several feet away, the load of shot fired into his face would definitely interfere with his ability to shoot, giving me time to get away or use the four solids.

If there was time, I could always rotate the cylinder past the shot ctg if necessary.

Never had to put my theory to practice.
 
Birdshots only good for trickshots and grasshopper hunting. Had an RG revolver loaded with CCI Shot for the wife to take care of buzzworms if I wasn't around, but you had to get so close that the snake had just as good a chance as she did. Still, it would be better than the guy I talked to who said his first 3 rounds were blanks so he had a chance of scaring them off before he actually had to shoot them.
 
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