Some other considerations here, based on various posts in this thread, in no particular order...
Peritonitis (infection) might well be a killer, but it isn't a 'stopper.' Having someone die a week after you shoot them would be cold comfort if they were able to kill you or a family member after they were shot. The point in shooting an assailant is to INSTANTLY STOP them from doing what they were doing that caused them to be shot, not to kill them eventually.
There was once a great article available online in full text and with pictures, titled
Shotgun Suicide With A Difference (
https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2000/173/11/shotgun-suicide-difference). I often referred to it to try an enlighten 'birdshot is enough' proponents to the requirements for careful shot placement with smaller projectiles. It's now in 'pay to play' format, unfortunately. There's a synopsis at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_gunshot_suicide however:
One particular case has been documented from Australia. In February 1995, a man committed suicide on parkland in Canberra, Australia. He took a pump action shotgun and shot himself in the chest. The load passed through the chest without hitting a rib, and went out the other side. He then walked fifteen meters, reloaded, leaned the shotgun against his throat, and shot his throat and part of his jaw. He then reloaded, walked 136 meters to a hill slope, lay down on the slope, held the gun against his chest with his hands and operated the trigger with his toes. This shot entered the thoracic cavity and demolished the heart, killing him.
The loads used in this case were #2 shot IIRC.
The point is not that birdshot won't kill - it certainly will, as an EMT I zipped up body bags on people who were killed with birdshot at close range. The point is that peripheral hits with birdshot not only won't kill, they won't even stop in some cases. This is a major consideration in defensive shooting and nothing to be taken lightly. Of course it isn't the only consideration in choosing defensive shotgun loads, but it certainly reinforces the destruction of another shotgun myth. Even with a shotgun, you STILL have to shoot carefully.
I see the "#1 buck is best" argument often. Well,
in theory it might well be, but in theory a bumblebee can't fly either. I have yet to find any 12 gauge shotgun/barrel/choke in which #1 buck will pattern worth a darn. Since I first heard the "#1 buck is best" argument in a hunter safety class when I was a mere teenager, I've been experimenting with it for about forty years now. And I still can't get it to pattern. If you can get it to pattern, more power to you - but just because some theory on the Internet says #1 buck is best is a poor reason to adopt it without testing it to see if it fits your needs. I'll stick with 00 or Brenneke slugs for defensive use, till I find something better.
All the above said, it's still each person's decision to make as to what they load in their defensive shotgun. But such choices are important, and should not be made lightly or on a mere whim.
