what's the best ammo to use in an HD 12 gauge?

[2gr8dgs]

I propose 1 type of load for your hd shotty. be it buck or slug. you need to know whats coming out of the bbl. no matter how many rounds you have fired.

 

[2gr8dgs]

I have a surefire for end on my hd shotty. I would rather get shot by a bad guy, then accidentally shoot a loved one.

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

It is entertaining to watch these guys on YouTube "shootin' meat" with birdshot, buck and slugs. Because of the light weight of the birdshot pellets they do not penetrate far and at short range they make a shallow baseball sized crater of a wound. Nasty enough to deter a normal attacker, however if you have someone on drugs who feels no pain, then you are going to want a load with enough penetration to hit the central nervous system or vitals and stop their advance. From my own reading and testing the minimum I feel comfortable using for this is #4 buckshot (that's Buck not Bird). Do your own testing and pick what works best for you.

 

[jjackffrost]

Like the man said anything will work at close range no need to waist your money on exotic rounds like Exotic Shotgun Ammo
My wife uses 410 Critical Defense 2 1/2" in her saga when I am not home. Removed most of the head of a coyote that was after the rabbits. Nasty round.
I use hand-load buck and ball that’s a slug followed whatever shot I have left over from reloading.
I live outside the city and we get predators here that like to eat the livestock.

 

[unklekippy]

If birdshot is for birds, then buckshot is for bucks. At 10-20 feet, ANY shot from a 12 gauge will knock the person down. Drugs may allow him to get back up briefly, but I doubt it.

The short range power of a 12 gauge is amazing. Slugs and buck are great. You are NOT undergunned in your hallway with #8 shot, no matter what cop story folks have about a guy in 1981 high on PCP that kept charging after a chest full of 12 gauge shells.

 

[jjackffrost]

I think the scariest sound a thief can hear is the sound of a pump shotgun being loaded that sound will make all but the craziest thief runaway and that is the best outcome you can have in a brake in

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

I'd like to see a YouTube video of the guys "shootin some meat" with this Firequest 12 Gauge Rock Salt - G12-020 and this Firequest 12 Gauge Pepper Blast - 3 Units Per Package - G12-019 and some hand loads with peppercorns, then roasting at 275F for five hours!

 

[Stomper]

I sport a Mossberg-500 with 8-round mag loaded with 00-Buck alternated with 1oz. rifled slugs. I have trained with this loadout since '85 and it's versatile. You can always "double-jack" the round you don't want/need for the application, and between the 00-Buck and rifled slugs you're pretty well covered for most situations in HD.

Getting hit with ANY 12ga. round will ruin someone's day, but if I have to shoot an intruder it won't be to wound them... few there be that have taken 12ga. 00-Buck or a slug to the chest/head and lived to tell how it felt.

 

[2gr8dgs]

I think the scariest sound a thief can hear is the sound of a pump shotgun being loaded that sound will make all but the craziest thief runaway and that is the best outcome you can have in a brake in

I have no use for an unloaded HD shot gun.
If an intruder has real good ears, they might hear me click the safety off.
breaking into my house took away their warning privileges.

 

[Kevinkris]

I have no use for an unloaded HD shot gun.
If an intruder has real good ears, they might hear me click the safety off.
breaking into my house took away their warning privileges.

i dont think thats what he meant, im sure he knows you never bluff when it comes to a fight for your life. what he says does reign true in many cases ive read about, where the would be burglar runs out of the house when the home owner cocks his pump action.

 

[2gr8dgs]

To me, it has all the merit of an actor, in a movie, racking the slide on his handgun, right before the SHTF.

 

[2gr8dgs]

I also don't assume anyone breaking into my house is just a common burglar.
they crossed a line.

 

[Kevinkris]

look, the guy talks about hoping the guy runs after he cocks his shotgun, it doesnt mean thats the end of the plan. we all know bluffing is by far the worst thing you could do in that situation but none of us will be happy about killing another human being; even if they are a dirt bag.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Here we go again with the armchair generals. Sorry guys, minimum I will carry is #1 buck.. my bedside shottie is loaded with S & B 12 pellet 00. Racking is bad mojo and simply tells them where you are and that they need to open fire on sight. Some are crazy enough to continue. I use carefully placed night lights and will open fire on sight. The tac light is just a backup and for outside

The Box O' Truth #3 - The Shotgun Meets the Box O' Truth - Page 2

A friend of AR15.com sends this:

"I saw a gunshot victim, about 5' 10" and 200 lbs, taken to the operating room with a shotgun wound to the chest. He was shot at a range of six feet at a distance of just over the pectoralis muscle. He was sitting on his front porch and walked to the ambulance. We explored the chest after x-rays were taken. The ER doc had said 'buckshot' wound, but this was obviously not accurate.

It was # 6 shot. There was a crater in the skin over an inch in diameter. When the shot hit the level of the ribs, it spread out about five inches. There was ONE pellet that had passed between the ribs and entered the pericardium, but not damaged the heart at all. As you say, 'use birdshot for little birds.'"

 

[2gr8dgs]

In a scenario where you are breaking into my house, I can only assume you are there to do me & my loved ones violent physical harm. I do not assume the mythical "racking of the slide" will deter you. I will meet you with a violent opposing force.
this is my mindset.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

I've always been a fan of #4 buck loads. I wont disagree that double00 is one bad hombre, but I can say with certainty that I know #4 is. Even the 2 3/4" loads fly 27 20 caliber pellets.
Again I'm not saying that I don't have oodles of double ought, but that reach for unit is stuffed with the 4 buck, and it's flat out evil to any distance a shotgun should be used.

 

[Netspirit]

I will meet you with a violent opposing force.

Don't ever say that. Their force is "violent", your force is just "deadly".

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Guns and self defense are by nature, violent

 

[michaelwilson98]

The only violent thing about a gun is the person holding it. If you believe anything else you need to wake up and face reality.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

The only violent thing about a gun is the person holding it. If you believe anything else you need to wake up and face reality.

In the context of self defense, you're dead wrong. Violence can be both a good thing or a bad thing