Home defense birdshot?

[Darto]

[OLD-skool454#3]

Yes Sir, 31/2 steel shot out of my 28" barreled Remington Super Mag.

👍100

[L84CABO]

NOPE!

[Imageview]

At super short ranges (under 4-5 yards say) bird shot will make a mess of someone. At longer ranges it lacks penetration. At no reasonable range do I want to get shot with it. Your milage and circumstances may vary.

If you really want the best (i.e most ridiculous) of both worlds, load up some hotter 18g/cc tungsten #3 or #4 loads. And then be mad at the guy after you shoot him over how much it cost.

In my situation where if someone breaks into my house with a knife and runs at me I'll be within 15 feet at most, and really at that point the shot has maybe not even truly left the cup and it'll act more like a slug than shot. We're looking at like an inch of spread, maybe less. I'm sure birdshot would be sufficient. Not what I'd pick, but if it was what I had on hand I wouldn't be worried about its stopping power. Or the stopping power of the second or third shots just to make sure the threat is addressed.

[OLD-skool454#3]

OP, just my opinion...use whatever you want that you have or can afford that any family member can pick up and use proficiently. You'll never, ever find a right answer because there is none. We all have our preferences...people like what they like.

[Avocado Toast]

If birdshot was ideal, agencies would use it and recommend it, but they don't.

Bird makes a shallow wound. It has little penetration. If the perp is a fat SOB, the shot may not penetrate the blubber. If the per is wearing a leather jacket, the shot may not penetrate. If they are wearing leather and are fat, bird won't do squat. Now add in the person being on drugs or amped up with adrenaline. You have so little chance of stopping a perp with bird because the deck is stacked against you.

The answer is always buck. You can buy larger or small sized buck but use buck.. The purpose of shooting is to stop a threat, and buck gives you the best chance at that.

And whatever you do, I say this with tears running down my cheeks, don't think you can achieve nirvana by loading the mag tube alternate rounds of buck, slugs, bird or some combo of that. It's not a good idea and pretty bad one, all things considered.

The current gold standard in buck is the Federal 132-00 in either 8 or 9 pellets per shot. It's about $1 a round or maybe a little less.but if money is tight, the 15 round Winchester 00 buck box is perfectly fine for bedroom distances.

[JagerDog]

Excellent choice......IF you're defending yourself from little birds.

Otherwise, choose something with the word BUCK in it.

[OLD-skool454#3]

Lol...I've gotta get out to the movies more often.

[sonofeugene]

If all you have is bird shot, then use it. However, one gets only one attempt to stop the bad guy, so I have my shotgun loaded with self defense buck shot.

Remember, you are shooting to stop a threat, very possibly a threat to your life. Why not use the best.

[SandHill]

The current gold standard in buck is the Federal 132-00 in either 8 or 9 pellets per shot.

I beg to differ. While I admit 00 has a lot more adherents and wil lcertainly get the job done, many well informed commentators feel No. 1 buck with 15 pellets is even better:

"The previous #1 Buck Flite Control load contained 15 pellets with an 1100 feet per second (fps) muzzle velocity. Dr Gary K Roberts described it as offering “ideal terminal performance for (both law enforcement and self-defense use.” When shot into calibrated ordinance gelatin, these pellets would penetrate to a depth of 14-18”. Roberts noted that this led to 35% more tissue damage than one would get with an equivalent 9 pellet 00 buckshot load."
Can't get link to work, but here is URL: https://americancop.com/federals-1-buck-is-back/

I am fortunate to have stocked enough of the "previous #1 Buck Flite Control load" for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.....

[Avocado Toast]

Flite Control is amazing stuff and far superior to bird for any SD application. I take slight exception to Dr. Roberts' testing methods.

From the linked article, Roberts tested from what distance before entering the gel? Since most all buck, with the exception of FC, expands about 1 inch per yard, the anticipated spread at 2 yards would be less than 2" and FC would be even less. At that distance, non-FC buck would arguably be the better "spreading round" and at distance, from 10 yds and beyond, FC would be ideal in most any form.

People have this misconception that shotguns don't need to be aimed but they do. In a typical 14 v. 14 bedroom, from one end to the other, FC would spread less than 3 inches and regular Winchester buck around 3 inches. I don't think it makes much difference at that distance, regardless if it FC or the pellet size.

Even with all that, my shotguns are loaded with FC. .

[MasterChief]

No disrespect.

Birdshot for home defense is a solution in search of a problem which does not exist in the real world.

[oddball]

Birdshot is better than a sharp stick in the eye, but at a little bit of distance, I don't think it is better than even .22LR.

To those who use a shotgun for H.D., it is absolutely mandatory to pattern your potential loads, at different distances. A couple of months ago, I bought a Beretta 1301 Mod 2 and it is now my primary long gun in the house. But I spent an entire day at my friends property to pattern it and for sh*ts and giggles, patterned #8 birdshot at 7 yds and 15 yds. Needless to say, it was horrible; wide spread (10-12" at 7 yds), tiny holes, and shallow penetration. But I spent most of the day patterning various 00 Buckshot and yes, they do differ. The best were Federal Flitecontrol which patterned a 2" group at 7 yds, 4" group at 15 yds. Hornady Critical Defense was the same at 7 yds, but a little tighter at 15 yds, plus the shell is slightly shorter than the Flitecontrol, enabling me to shove 7 rounds into the mag tube. Rio 00 Buck groups were twice as big as the other two, but cheaper at 5 bucks a box.

Here is 12 gauge #8 Birdshot shot from my 1301 at 7 yds (the larger holes are 20 gauge #3 buck out of a 14" Shockwave), spread is easily over 10":



And here is Hornady Critical Defense 00 buck at 7yds, 8 pellets (large hole is the wad) again from the 1301:



Forget birdshot for H.D., go with buck.

[Vangster]

Everyone thinks they tough, until they get hit with birdshot in the face🤣

[oddball]

^^^^^^^^^

Well, nobody wants .177 pellets shot into their face either.