Please help me with 12g ammo

[TheVazha]

[AGGRO]

For hunting? Home defense? Lead or non-lead?

[ceh383]

Most common would be 2-3/4"
No real need for anything beyond that.

[Tarmy]

Describe your intended use(s) and the some folks here will be able to better assist.

[SandHill]

I am assuming you bought the 590A for home defense? My view is that ANY buckshot out of a 12 guage is perfectly adequate for that role. I encourage you to run some rounds of anything through your gun just to get familiar with it. Trap using cheap target loads (birdshot) is great for that.

If you have a place where you can shoot it, just get some cheap buckshot to get a feel for what it feels like with your gun. Ammoseek is a great source for finding deals.

For actual "social work" you don't need to buy a lot of rounds, so buy quality, practice enough to be sure they run well in your gun but you don't need to shoot a lot of them. The most important thing is to buy from reliable manufacturer, so you know it will go boom when you need it to. Ammoseek is showing Federal Power Shok starting at $0.80 a round right now: https://ammoseek.com/ammo/12-gauge/F...gun?ss=00-Buck Anything under a buck is a good price for quality right now.

"Standard" 12 guage is 2 3/4 inches. There is no need to get 3 inch. 3.5 inch or magnum loads. 12 guage buck will get it done. Most police departments use reduced recoil 00 buck with 8 pellets.

Persoanlly, I run Federal No. 1 Buck with Flite Control wad for home defense, but good luck finding that. I think I am in the minority here, but No. 1 gives you 15 pellets as opposed to 9 for standard 00 buck, and I believe more holes in the bad guy is a good thing.

[TheVazha]

Most common would be 2-3/4"
No real need for anything beyond that.

Awesome, thank you. So standard ammo I should be looking for is 2-3/4. All the other ones would be specialty variety?

Describe your intended use(s) and the some folks here will be able to better assist.

Intended use is hd, barricade style.

For hunting? Home defense? Lead or non-lead?

I am assuming you bought the 590A for home defense? My view is that ANY buckshot out of a 12 guage is perfectly adequate for that role. I encourage you to run some rounds of anything through your gun just to get familiar with it. Trap using cheap target loads (birdshot) is great for that.



If you have a place where you can shoot it, just get some cheap buckshot to get a feel for what it feels like with your gun. Ammoseek is a great source for finding deals.



For actual "social work" you don't need to buy a lot of rounds, so buy quality, practice enough to be sure they run well in your gun but you don't need to shoot a lot of them. The most important thing is to buy from reliable manufacturer, so you know it will go boom when you need it to. Ammoseek is showing Federal Power Shok starting at $0.80 a round right now: https://ammoseek.com/ammo/12-gauge/F...gun?ss=00-Buck Anything under a buck is a good price for quality right now.



"Standard" 12 guage is 2 3/4 inches. There is no need to get 3 inch. 3.5 inch or magnum loads. 12 guage buck will get it done. Most police departments use reduced recoil 00 buck with 8 pellets.



Persoanlly, I run Federal No. 1 Buck with Flite Control wad for home defense, but good luck finding that. I think I am in the minority here, but No. 1 gives you 15 pellets as opposed to 9 for standard 00 buck, and I believe more holes in the bad guy is a good thing.

[G-forceJunkie]

Low recoil, 8-9 pellet 00 buckshot, 2 3/4" is what you want for self defense. You should pattern your gun at various ranges and see what it does, so you know its limitations. Federal also makes a round called "Flight control" that will do a tighter pattern than the standard buckshot. That said, really try and take at least an intro course to self defense shotgunning, shotguns are actually one of the more difficult platforms to learn to run well, fast, and accuratly, and learn when and how to run slugs.

[Teachu2]

If you are in California, try your local gun shop. I prefer #4 buckshot for indoor use, as it is plenty heavy but less likely to penetrate walls if you miss. Standard load is 27 pellets, each about .22 in diameter. If you mail order it, you will have to pay an FFL handling fee - here it's usually $25 per order. You might get a deal where you get the gun.

https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_info.php/products_id/411559297/rio+royal+buck+12+ga+2-3+4+4-buck+27+pellet+5rd+box

Back when I was a Deputy Sheriff, we were issued #4 Buck.

[Mayor McRifle]

Federal #1 Buck is my HD round of choice.

6505876C-D906-4D5C-9069-6C66E477A6C3.jpg

Worth reading: https://www.theboxotruth.com/threads...-buckshot.404/

For practice, any low recoil buckshot will work great.

[JagerDog]

While you certainly want to obtain a functional amount and verify function of buckshot for HD, most practice takes place with target loads of birdshot. Say 2-3/4" of #8 shot.

[Oceanbob]

https://esstac.com/shotgun/

[Epaphroditus]

Another vote for #4 buck

Cabelas has 00 buck in 25count box for very reasonable. Shop around.

[FeuerFrei]

You're new to shotguns so keep it simple, explanation wise.

https://www.wideners.com/blog/shotgun-load-types/

Since you need trigger time I suggest the cheapest #7 or #8 shot shells you can find for getting to know your 590. Low recoil and easy to make hits with it.

*grab a YT video on how to break it down for cleaning. Easy peasy.

[L84CABO]

2 3/4 shells are fine. No need to run 3" shells for defense.

Birdshot is fine for general target shooting but at some point you should run your defensive buck load so you know how the gun handles. And you definitely want to pattern the gun with your defensive load so you understand how the shot pattern expands at various distances. Remember that you are responsible for every pellet that you put into the air.

For this reason I am a huge fan the Federal defensive rounds with Flight Control...which helps keep the pellets in a tighter pattern, helping to ensure they all stay on/in the target and don't go flying off down range.

For defense, I'm a fan of 00 Buck. But a lot of people like #4 Buck or 000 (both of which tends to be a bit hard to find). The #4 Buck likely does not penetrate as much as 00...which could be a plus if you have neighbors close by. But #4 Buck also has 24-ish pellets which might increase your chances of having pellets miss the target. Just make sure you understand the differences and there are plenty of YouTube videos that will help explain things.

Note that most police departments run 00 or possibly slugs for specific situations. You will also get some folks who swear by birdshot for defense...which I personally think is insane. But to each his own. If you are considering birdshot just make sure you fully understand the limitations of the round.

I also stick with regular 00 as opposed to the low recoil stuff. But I run a semi-auto which sometimes doesn't like the low recoil rounds. If you do decide to go with low recoil, make sure you understand the level of penetration you will get with the reduced power rounds (there's probably a youtube video of the more common low recoil rounds).

In terms of price, I stocked up on 00 Federal Law Enforcement Tactical w/Flight Control several years ago. Price back then was $3.99 for a box of 5. I have no idea what they are going for today. Do note that in this specific round (Fed LE Tactical) the 9 pellet round is just ever so slightly longer than the 8 pellet round. This actually makes a difference in the number of rounds I can get in my Benelli m4...but it doesn't affect my Remington 870. I have no idea if this will affect your Mossy but it's something to be aware of.

[Imageview]

There are 4 basic sizes for 12g loads:

2 3/4” is the standard.
3” generally has a slightly higher amount of shot, and powder. Mostly for hunting but there are 3” buck shells out there.
3 1/2” is almost always for hunting, generally steel shot for waterfowl since steel needs a bit more velocity. This seems to be declining in popularity in my experience, or maybe I just don’t like shooting them that much.

There are also mini shells, which are like 1 3/4” if I remember right. They don’t feed well in some shotguns,, and generally feed better with a special adapter in the ones that do feed them. These are almost entirely buckshot. There are mixed opinions on their usefulness.

Buckshot is almost always lead, since the cost for lead free shot is much higher and it’s only required for hunting. The standard load in 2 3/4” is usually nine pellets of 00, although sometimes 8 or 12. If 9 projectiles over 30 cal doesn’t stop what you’re shooting at, I’m not convinced that 3 more will matter. I have a couple boxes of 12 pellet, but that’s just because that’s what the shop had when I wanted to buy buckshot. There are tungsten matrix buckshot shells out there, or you could load your own, that would outperform lead. For human sized targets we don’t usually need the extra performance, but if you’re shotgunning coyotes at 50+ yards it makes sense I guess.

There are smaller sizes of buckshot, like #1 or #4. These have more projectiles that are smaller. I think #4 is roughly 22 cal. There is less penetration with smaller pellets, so some folks like them for apartments or townhouses. There are concerns with the effectiveness of the smaller shot, but at under 10 yards which sounds like the situation you are planning to potentially use a shotgun in those concerns are somewhat mitigated.

Several people have mentioned flight control rounds, which use a special wad that keeps spread reduced at longer ranges. A normal cylinder bore shotgun using target ammo is going to have a theoretical 40” spread at 25 yards. Something with a flight control wad might only have a (guessing, not actual measurent) 25” spread at that range. If you have an improved cylinder (the other common choice for hd style shotguns) that might be 32” and 20”. So for those who really want to reach out and touch someone farther away, it makes a big difference.

For target shooting and practice, birdshot (generally sized 7.5-9) is a lot cheaper and nicer on the shoulder. A pump is very reliable when run correctly, but it’s only as reliable as the person running it. In stressful situations, it’s common to “short stroke” a shotgun resulting in feeding issues. So practice is definitely recommended. You can’t shoot your shotgun at most clay target ranges (the barrel is too short), but any rifle or pistol range that allows shot shells should be fine for basic manipulation.

The other type of ammo that is sometimes asked about is slugs. Slugs come in 2 basic varieties; rifled (for smooth bore shotguns), or slugs intended for rifled barrels. Somehow shotguns are still shotguns if they have a rifled barrel because… government? Rifled barrels are godawful for shooting shot (patterns are extreme and unpredictable), but they are much more accurate at longer ranges when you use slugs designed for them. So if you decide to pick up some slugs, make sure to get the kind for smooth barrels. Slugs are in my personal opinion overkill for hd scenarios. Unless the home invader is a brown bear. But a 4-500gr projectile moving 13-1600 fps is a very convincing argument to lay down and stop breathing. For the intended target and anyone in the next 3-4 rooms behind them, and on the other side of an exterior wall. I guess what I’m saying is they may have a tiny issue with over penetration. How that applies to your circumstances differs.

Hope some of that is useful!