Who Uses BB Birdshot for Home Defense Load?

[ZeroJunk]

My brother in law shot a medium sized stray dog with #6 shot at about 35 yards thinking he would simply scare the dog away and it killed it.

Most everybody agrees that buckshot is the most reliable killer.

But, don't shoot "petty thieves" with bird shot hoping to just disable or discourage them. Might not work out that way.

 

[Steve C]

The BB load is the largest of the bird shot. My dad used it on the farm for killing coyotes out to 100 yds from a full choke. These where lead BB shot not the steel loads you find now for waterfowl which are lighter and loose energy faster than lead. Some of the new heavy shot would be even more effective.

I have a friend that made beer money when in the service during the Vietnam War era selling shotguns he bought at the PX to ROK (Republic of Korea) soldiers. He was in the Air Force and flew supplies into Nam.

He told me he’d sell a shotgun, usually Remington 870’s and Mossbergs along with a case of BB load shot shells. Said the ROK’s wouldn’t take buckshot and just wanted BB loads. He’d hand them the gun and a hacksaw and they’d cut the barrel off just in front of the magazine.

The ROK’s had a reputation as tough jungle fighters and if BB’s worked for them in combat there’s little doubt in my mind that they’d be an effective load against bad guys but won’t have the over 100yd range of buck or slugs.

 

[Regolith]

The BB load is the largest of the bird shot.

Actually, FF is, though its fairly rare. Its just smaller than #4 buckshot (.23 in vs .24 in for #4 buck).

BB, by contrast, is .18 inches, and BBB is .19 inches.

 

[dvdivx]

Considering lead BB gets an average of 11" in gelatin it's fine for home defense. Only problem is finding lead BB. Steel shot is worthless as it's too light. Hevi-shot's dead coyote rounds at a T size should also be very good for apartments or houses with kids.
If you are using either round for little birds at close range than you must really hate little birds. People using 00 or 000 buckshot in an apartment setting are looking for a manslaughter charge if their neighbor gets hit.
I would not go below lead BB however. BB, BBB, T, F or #4 buck should all be fine you will just get more hits with the BB or T load and more likely to make a vital hit.

 

[Nnobby45]

The ROK’s had a reputation as tough jungle fighters and if BB’s worked for them in combat there’s little doubt in my mind that they’d be an effective load against bad guys but won’t have the over 100yd range of buck or slugs.

It might be their reputation for hunting jungle fowl and peacocks that's more applicle here, since they had access to 00 buck for hunting the two legged critters.

Effective range (difined as having enough remaining pellet concentration) of 00 buck stops quite a bit short of 100 yds.

 

[Fast Frank]

So I'm out shooting hand launched clays with some friends on a piece of property that has some oil field equipment on it, right?

This very topic comes up and some of the guys vote for using the #6 we had for bad guys and some of us said no.

Being the curious type, I grabbed an old car hood that was laying on a trash pile and stood it up for some ballistic testing.

At 6", it blew a nice round 1" hole through the car hood- Pass. Bird shot will work fine at 6".

At three feet, the birdshot blew a nice round hole, slightly larger. Pass. Birdshot will work at three feet.

At six feet, the bird shot made a big dent several inches across that did not penetrate the sheet metal of the hood.

At ten feet, the shot had spread enough that it wasn't making one dent, it was making a bunch of little dents.


I know that this isn't scientific proof of anything, and your barrel might make different patterns, but I believe this IS pertinent data.

Some folks say that birdshot will work at close range. I agree, but in my opinion "Close Range" means six feet or less.

If the bad guy is bad enough that I need to shoot him, six feet is too close.

As for the "He's just a petty thief and the shotgun will scare him away", I agree.

I have been involved in a couple of incidents where pointing a shotgun at the bad guy was enough to convince them that they didn't want any of what I was offering.

There was no need to kill these people, and I'm glad I didn't have to. It would have been tragic had one of them made a wrong move while I was holding the shotgun on them with the safety off and my finger on the trigger.

That's all well and good, but those shotguns were loaded with buckshot.

I'm of the opinion that when it gets bad enough that I have to fire a 12 gage at a man to protect myself or my family, then it's about as bad as it will ever get and I better do EVERYTHING I can to insure that I will survive this conflict.

Making any mistake at all under these dire circumstances will be the last mistake I ever make.

And trusting birdshot to stop a man that moves to attack while I'm pointing a 12 gage at his head from across the room is a mistake.

 

[556A2]

No, I use 00 Buckshot because I'm not taking a chance if my life is on the line.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Birdshot works if close enough. Buck works out to 25 yards or more.

We can't predict the distance of a future firefight.

My defensive shotguns are loaded with buck.

 

[nathan]

Consensus here on HD load, all birdshots with no 6 minimum to BB good up to 10 ft to be a manstopper. More than 10 ft , buckshots rule. More than 20 yd, switch to sluggers or rifles.

Apartment dwellers--birdshot to buckshots
Home dwellers-buckshots

 

[pbearperry]

BB for HD

I truly feel #2 shot will work miracles for home defense,unless you live in a home longer than 100 ft.From 12 ft or closer it doesen't matter what type of birdshot you use,the damn wads will kill the bad guy.

 

[10 Spot Terminator]

Birdshot For Home Defense You Say ????

Food for thought here is birdshot is ment for wingshooting and if your intention is just to "WING" someone that puts you into the position of having to defend your home along with possibly you or your loved ones lives then you may have just brought a BB gun to a GUNFIGHT ! Bear in mind your surroundings as to how much is enough as shooting through walls might do more harm than good to your loved ones and that with a little forethought you can help come up with the best compromise . Barrel length and choke will have a great effect on the pattern density of the shot you chose as will the type of shell you are shooting . many of the heavier shots loaded today are extreme range hunting loads and do not spread quickly enough to put them into what would be deemed a "HALLSWEEPER" catagory for indoor defense . There are probabally loads out there most of us never see or hear about and quick search of the web will most likely find more than a few . If you have a friend who reloads shotgun rounds I would tend to think some of the faster patterning wads for clay shooting sports and heavier density pellets like those found
to make "slinky"drifter weights for Steelhead Trout fishing should do the trick, after all ,,, you should only need
a few of these loaded up unless you plan to have a lot of uninvited guests .

 

[bpisler]

At one time i had to use birdshot for
HD but with a turkey choke and some
Remington #4 turkey loads i didn't
feel defenseless at all.

 

[Wire]

Shooting in Butte, Montana

Shotgun preteen vs. illegal alien Home Invaders Butte, Montana November 5, 2006.

Never happened

 

[fireflyfather]

One other consideration that hasn't been mentioned: Multiple attackers.

When facing multiple determined attackers (some people on this board have had that misfortune), pumping several rounds into one of them when one or two could do the job is not smart. I'd rather reserve the limited ammunition in the tube for the other assailants.

Also, I don't assume that the only place where the SG might be used (god forbid) is in the hallway/bedroom of the home. I live in earthquake & wildfire country, in a residential area. After a major urban breakdown, there many not BE a hallway or bedroom, and you are now facing people at longer distances, without walls to put your back up against.

Also, planning on shooting someone in the face with birdshot at those close quarters everyone's talking about means you had better be able to aim that SG accurately at close range, since your pattern will be measured in low-single-digit inches. Center of mass is much more reliable, and safer (less shot are likely to blow by the BG and hit god knows what, plus even the small change of angle will tend to put your shot a little more towards the ground instead of upwards into your neighbor's place.

 

[Ed Ames]

I know that this isn't scientific proof of anything, and your barrel might make different patterns, but I believe this IS pertinent data.

Ever try the same experiment with 00 buck?

My version was a computer case packed with computer components at 8-10 feet. Just a standard mini-tower, shot from the bottom so that it was going straight into sheet metal. Consider it ballistic gelatin calibrated for robot.

Birdshot made a dent.
00 buckshot made 9 or so [smaller] dents.
9mm ball made a hole but the bullet didn't go far.
.223 made a hole and the bullet did quite a bit of damage to the case contents.
7.62x55R made bigger holes but not enough bigger. Some of the bullets also left the other side of the case.
12ga slugs made a big hole and caused the most internal damage.

My scientific conclusion: Shot, including buckshot, is insufficient to stop the robot overlords from enslaving humanity. When faced with a machine uprising insist on slugs or, if cost is a factor, .223.

NOTE: if you decide to try your own experiments, first think about where the lead is going to go if it doesn't stop in the target or backstop (think mirror) and do try to make sure there are no robot spies watching....

Extending this to humans: birdshot is firmly in the "I don't wanna be hit by any thanks" catagory for me... and it has its place in home defense... but shot is at best equivalent to a bunch of pistol-caliber handgun hits and there is a real lower limit. Slugs are in a class of their own. Lead BB shot is going to be like being hit with, what, 50-60 .177 pellet gun rounds going way faster than they'll ever go out of a pellet gun. I've been shot with a .20 cal pellet gun (that didn't push pellets at anything like 1300fps) and it ain't fun. 60, in a 1-2" circle, with over 4x the energy (over twice the velocity)? Count me out!