When I was in, 00buck was the standard load. I assume it still is. At home I was content with low base #7 1/2 because of over penetration concerns in walls. I figured the whole shot column hitting in a very small area would take care of things if needed. Later on I became friends with a guy who had massive scarring and a fair amount of missing muscle from 3 bird shot loads at close range. Hmm, there may be a problem with my choice
I'm under no illusion that buck shot is much good at longer ranges. During training we fired 00 at targets out to 50 yards with a cylinder bore. You can easily miss a silhouette at that range while putting shot all around it.
After thinking it over, I figured #4 buck might be a good compromise between over penetration and under penetration in a house.
I mentioned this to a good friend and former colleague a few months ago and he told me about a session he'd attended at his department, KCPD, featuring a speaker who is a renowned expert in the medical examiner field. He talked about multiple wounds causing a person to leak more from that than a smaller number of wounds from larger projectiles. The M.E.'s conclusion was that #4 buck was the best choice in a shotgun. That had never occurred to me but it makes sense. I've had a case of 3" #4buck for a few years now. As a civilian, I don't forsee barrior penetration (windshield, doors. etc.) as being an issue. Most likely a home invasion type scenario won't ever be an issue either, but you never know.
Of course, I have to add the standard disclaimer. I hope I'll never have a problem requiring such actions. Second, killing wouldn't be the desired outcome. Stopping a threat would be the desired outcome.
Anyway, there's my thoughts on the matter.
I'm under no illusion that buck shot is much good at longer ranges. During training we fired 00 at targets out to 50 yards with a cylinder bore. You can easily miss a silhouette at that range while putting shot all around it.
After thinking it over, I figured #4 buck might be a good compromise between over penetration and under penetration in a house.
I mentioned this to a good friend and former colleague a few months ago and he told me about a session he'd attended at his department, KCPD, featuring a speaker who is a renowned expert in the medical examiner field. He talked about multiple wounds causing a person to leak more from that than a smaller number of wounds from larger projectiles. The M.E.'s conclusion was that #4 buck was the best choice in a shotgun. That had never occurred to me but it makes sense. I've had a case of 3" #4buck for a few years now. As a civilian, I don't forsee barrior penetration (windshield, doors. etc.) as being an issue. Most likely a home invasion type scenario won't ever be an issue either, but you never know.
Of course, I have to add the standard disclaimer. I hope I'll never have a problem requiring such actions. Second, killing wouldn't be the desired outcome. Stopping a threat would be the desired outcome.
Anyway, there's my thoughts on the matter.
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