Here's what it's like to shoot this classic scattergun. Looking for a new or used gun? [Federals advertised velocity is 1100 for the #1 versus 1145 for the #00. To me, the standout tested load was the Remington Managed-Recoil, 8-pellet 00-buck load. The 00 buckshot (plated, pattern-controlled) load maintains a hit probability of 50+% out to 52 yards, which is the limiting factor in maximum effective range because the individual pellets are sufficiently massive and have a high enough velocity to retain terminal effectiveness to a distance of 104 yards. In an effort to shrink patterns, a full choke was tried, but didn't fare well. All three shotguns created patterns measuring 1.5 inches or less at 12 feet. On the other hand, shells with a traditional-type wad or absence of a shot cup often produce optimal patterns through wad-slowing chokes, such as the Trulock Boar Blaster, or standard chokes in modified to full constriction. Here it might be better to use a slug. Keep Reading. The eight, non-plated, high-antimony lead pellets were contained in the black Versatite wad. As lightly noted by the presenter, the gauge doesnt matter much as far as energy delivered to target by projectiles. If pressed into service at that distance, it would certainly get the job done; however, it did open noticeablygenerally a pair or trio of pellets were within 6 inches or less of the point of aim. As bullet development progressed, defensive handgun cartridges became more lethal because the bullets not only expanded, they often fragmented. CHRIS: Right, and thats with your gun. Outside of certain locales, such as southeastern Virginia, where running deer with dogs is gospel, few hunters think of using anything other than a rifle or shotgun loaded with slugs for deer, hog and bear hunting. This load patterns best in all my shotguns. Home Ammunition How Does Buckshot Perform at 50 Yards? Price: $8.49 per 5-rnd. First, we will try the Hornady Buckshot at 12 yards with the smooth bore. By swapping your trusty rifle for a 12-gauge when hunting in dense cover, youll maximize your odds of success. At ten yards, they both make one big hole into the target and do not see any real spread until you get out to beyond 20 yards. 4 buck to .38 caliber for four-ought buck. Do notice that at longer ranges, the shotgun loses its ability to kill very rapidly. Price: $10.49 per 5-rnd. Outdoor Hub, LLC (d/b/a Carbon Media Group), 30800 Telegraph Rd, Suite 1921, Bingham Farms, MI 48025 USA. Maximum effective range is defined here as: These two criteria required three points of analysis: Two phases of terminal ballistics testing were conducted: shooting of factory shotshells into gelatin at 10 feet distance and shooting single buckshot pellets into gelatin at 10 feet. Wait, will or can? It delivered focused patterns at 25 yards, and at 35 yards, pattern density was still such that a lethal strike was guaranteedespecially through the Boar Blaster choke. This slows the wad ever so slightly, so that it doesnt negatively affect the pattern. The #00 still was. With slugs, you can easily hit man-sized targets out to 100+ yards, but the deep penetration is a huge liability inside a structure - especially multi-unit housing structures like apartment complexes. Hit the link for the full article, pictures, and analysis, including the tutorial on back-boring. Because of aerodynamic drag, buckshot spreads radially outward at a rate that is nonlinear with the translational travel of the pellets towards the target. From the onset, let's put this "standard" into perspective. But what if circumstances dictated that you had to take that shot anyway? Remington 1100 Tactical is a Do-All 12-Gauge Shotgun. The heavily buffered pellets are propelled by a two-piece wad with cuts approximately half the length of the shot cupa reason as to why it patterned so tightly. Granted, smaller shot limits penetration, but inside 30 feeta reasonable in-home engagement distanceany shotshell load is nasty, but when used at contact distance they're almost immoral. A great thing about 00 buckshot ammo is it's carried almost universally in gun shops, both physical and online. In other words, a buckshot pattern at 15 yards should be about 15 inches. We talk about the combat mindset, but how do we create it in ourselves and put it into practice? Most buckshot gives up its energy well within 100 yards or less. This is generally loaded with nine of the 33 caliber lead balls to go about 1,250 feet per second. Read on for his take on this Thai-inspired fusion dish. And then when we got out to 100 the #00 was doing what the #1 was doing at 50, which was kind of interesting to me. As stated, we used the Remington 870 12ga. CHRIS: I think the gel blocks are 6x6 and at 100, we put two of them side by side so we had a 12x6 area were trying to hit with a big buckshot spread thats only eight pellets. 4. box at MidwayUSA.com. . We next look at the velocity versus distance from muzzle plot for this projectile: We see that the deformed #1 buckshot sphere will have slowed down to 993 ft/sec at a distance of 29 yards from the muzzle which corresponds to the penetration depth in gelatin of 12.0. This gave the reasonable expectation that all shots taken during the dispersion testing were aimed at the center-of-mass of the FLETC Transitional Target II. Price: $8.49 per 5-rnd. Buckshot is small enough, and with a loss of velocity it loses a lot of hitting power and penetration. Enough so to give you a shot spread about the size of two fists. The number of pellets per shell is governed by their size and their weight. Determination of hit probability (past the 40 yard distance that was physically tested at) was based upon the average mean radius of the tested 10 shotshell/10 target test groups. Recoil has to be considered for a defensive gun. Benelli helped open the market for semi-auto shotguns in America with the show-stopping Super Black Eagle in the early 1990s. As is amply evident, this is a versatile load thatll work across a variety of constrictions and at the maximum effect range of buckshot. JavaScript is disabled. Some consider this a certainty. Theballs also seemed to retain more power. If I were interested in animal control or something like that, would I take a shot at 50 on something? Now, the Suber Black Eagle 3 is the next generation of Benelli semi-auto shotguns hitting the hunting fields. The shots were taken as a baseline at the FBI standard distance of 10 feet between muzzle and gelatin block. This is getting big enough that, unless carefully aimed, many pellets will miss a bad guy. I specifically chose the companys Federal Premium Maximum load with nine pellets of 00 buckshot. While pellets are not bullets, that is significant. 4s to eight 000s. I try to keep with the same length shell, 2 3/4 inch, as a common factor. It could be if your aim is true; a tight cluster of pellets in the vitals will likely be a fight-stopper. I think thats pretty safe to say. Remington Ultimate Defense BuckshotAs its name suggests, Remingtons Ultimate Defense buckshot load is marketed for personal-protection use; however, it nicely pulls double-duty for hunting, too. Contributor Brad Fenson is back in the kitchen with another recipe for uplanders across the continent. The monstrous 3-inch is loaded with upward of 18 pellets of 00 buckshot, but, recoil is vicious. CHRIS: Kinda like a meteorite John, thats right. Personally I prefer #4 buck (NOT to be confused with #4 shot) for home defense. Copyright 2023 National Rifle Association, Women On Target Instructional Shooting Clinics, Volunteer At The Great American Outdoor Show, Marion P. Hammer Women Of Distinction Award, Women's Wildlife Management / Conservation Scholarship, National Youth Shooting Sports Cooperative Program, Remington offers an eight-pellet Managed-Recoil, 00-buck load, Federal's Personal Defense, Copper-Plated, nine-pellet 00-buck load, Review: Federal Premium Force X2 Buckshot, 3 Self Defense Myths That Just Won't Go Away | NRA Family, The Armed Citizen February 17, 2023 | An Official Journal Of The NRA, The Armed Citizen February 10, 2023 | An Official Journal Of The NRA, NRA Women | The Armed Citizen January 20, 2023, What Does Mindset Actually Mean? CHRIS: I guess the big thing is that context is really important and shotguns can do a lot of different things depending on what hardware youre using and what ammo youre using. I load my own 00BK and am interested in knowing what wad and other components are used in the Federal Tactical 9x00 BK. The Shooter's Log, is to provide informationnot opinionsto our customers and the shooting community. At 50 yards you need slugs, or better yet a rifle. Beyond 30 yards, you'll struggle to keep half the pellets on a silhouette. Shooting again at 25 yards, the 18-inch-barreled 500 created a 6.5-inch pattern while the 14-inch-barreled 590A1 produced a 14-inch pattern. We wanted to see how these rounds spread at 7, 15, and 30 yards when fired from an 18.5-inch barrel. As can be expected, No. If a shotgun is used for clearing rooms by patrol or SWAT personnel, it is fully capable of making a precise shot. It's capable of dislodging fillings, changing your mind and blurring vision during the process, making practice as pleasant as visiting your mother-in-law and fast follow-up shots as difficult as a return visit. Results and Conclusion: This was a standout among those tested. Try testing #1 buckshot. CHRIS: Hey guys, I am Chris from LuckyGunner.com, here with John Johnston from Citizens Defense Research. The pattern diameter of the buffered load at 40 yards was 31.65 inches . Most commonly, 12-gauge shotguns are the go-to choice for defensive purposes when a shotgun is needed, and have from 27 No. Since there's no perfect answer when it comes to terminal performance, you need to consider that the deep-penetrating 00-buck load is capable of shooting through walls in your home and retaining enough energy to cause a lethal wound. Results: Premium buckshot averaged 12.4 pellets in a 30-inch circle at 40 yards, whereas unbuffered buck averaged 11 hits. Is this a good thing? RifleShooter, however, was not content with the same assumptions. We see a close correlation between the terminal performance of the single-launched buckshot and the factory shotshells. Will buckshot kill at 50 yards? GENERALY no one should need a very long shot inside their home or apartment. In fact, when using the Trulock 0.700-inch choke tube, it placed six of the 12 pellets within 4 inches of the point of aim. All comments are held for moderation and will appear after approval. rifled slug. We also have to understand that shotguns may pattern differently. JOHN: Well, we were talking about it and what we wanted to know was, how far out can we take buckshot and still have it pass the FBI heavy clothing terminal ballistics standard? So, thats what we did. Duvalls character, Boss Spearman, fires at a bad guy outside a shack wall from inside a small room. This is a little thing we like to call Stuff John and Chris Wanna Know. So John, tell us, what do we want to know today? When you look at thmultiple hits inside the 9 and ten rings of even the 20 yard Rem 00 buck targets, you get an idea, mathmetically any way, of why shotguns beat handguns at the same ranges. At 50 yards they lose a tremendous amount of velocity and energy no matter how fast you start them. Price: $8.49 per 10-rnd. Its not. Shotguns are well known for their ability to increase hit probability and to deliver what is commonly believed to be devastating terminal effectiveness at close range. The rule for shotgun patterning has been that you usually get about 1 inch of spread for every yard from the target. JOHN: Right. 50 feet = 16 inches. It's also available from most manufacturers, including NobelSport and RIO Royal. The complete Paper dimension the B-27 Target is printed on is 24" X 45". JOHN: Right. CHRIS: Yeah, so I think if theres any big takeaway here, its that, in most cases and every shotgun is different but your pattern is going to become pretty much useless before the pellets are no longer doing what you want them to do. For self-defense indoors or in environments that physically cannot exceed 10 yards distance, we recommend #4 plated buckshot at 1250 ft/sec or higher muzzle velocity. 1. 4 pellets at 1200 fps. The most extensive testing was done with #1 buckshot single-launched buckshot and #1 buckshot shotshells as they are in the middle of the tested group (#4, #1 and 00 buckshot) in terms of sectional density. A 12-gauge, 2-inch load generally contains from 21 to 34 pellets, while the 3-inch variant is loaded with a whopping 41. You have more pellets, but less energy per pellet. The more pellets, the greater chance of a killing shot. Many still believe they are the most feared guns and put a lot of stock in what I consider an urban legend. Federal's Personal Defense, Copper-Plated, nine-pellet 00-buck load with the FlightControl Wad consistently delivered tight patterns half as large as the other loads tested. Larger spheres travel further and penetrate further into soft tissue than smaller spheres at any given velocity. No. Save Share. Something no one has mentioned with multiple hits, there is a factor of squaring the damage per hit. Taylors & Company FS Tactical 1911: Now in 10mm! A century ago, looking down the barrel of a shotgun was about as fearsome a thing as you could face. Thats our control, thats what we do with our handgun ammo. Buckshot comes in various sizes. As such, we recommend #4 buckshot for self-defense only if using plated and heavily-buffered shotshells and the anticipated range of engagement does not exceed 10 yards. Federal Force X2 Finally, we've got the Federal Force X2 buckshot. 1876 Winchester: The Rifle of Texas Ranger James B. Gillett, Tested: The Volquartsen Mamba-X .22 LR Competition Pistol, VIDEO: Police Snipers Train for Super Bowl LIV With .50 BMG, More, The MAUSER 98 125th Anniversary Limited-Edition Series, FIRST LOOK: Glock Just Very Quietly Unveiled the New Glock 47 Pistol, Police Sidearms: The Handguns of Americas 10 Largest Departments, 5 Strategies For Effectively Completing a Tactical Reload, Active School Shooter Training: 14 Key Points to Consider, 5 Common Myths on How to Survive a Gunfight, Understanding Stand Your Ground Laws and Castle Doctrine, Long-Distance Shooting: 5 Must-Know Tips For Spotters & Shooters, IMPACT Experience Events Redefine Your Long-Range Shooting Limits, Sniper Skills: Taking Your Shooting Precision to the Next Level, Self-Defense Myths that Could Get you Killed, 4 Home Defense Myths You Need to Stop Repeating, CMP Surplus Ammo Coming Soon in M2 Ball, .30 Carbine & More. Dispersion of buckshot pattern with distance. The same concept of bird shot applies here, you can hit with more pellets that will do nothing, or not enough. As for 000 buckshot vs. 00 , the size difference is about 0.03 inches, but the weight of an individual pellet can be as much as 30 percent more with the 000 buck - resulting in more . Even 1.25 oz of #8 with a CUP of 10000 or more makes for a good intruder . Results and Conclusion: Recoil impulse of a gun is determined by the weight of the projectile(s), muzzle velocity and weight of the propellant charge. Most used full chokes and my guns always shot best with #1 buck. Im glad that you all like the video. Cylinder bore shotgun in use. If you are shooting at a much smaller target at distance that is why you are only getting a couple of hits on a much smaller target at 25 yards. This test consists of firing a .177 caliber steel sphere (BB) into the gelatin block at 590 feet per second (fps) +/- 15 fps. B27s measure 14" from the 7 to the 7. Browning BT-99 Shotgun Review: Stylish Break-Action Single. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Tactical Life Gun Magazine: Gun news, gun reviews and gun magazines for gun enthusiasts, military and law enforcement, You use of this website constitutes and manifests your acceptance of our. 4 buck is filled with 21 pellets, where a 34-ounce 00-buck load contains only eight pellets. As a conservative rule of thumb, you can expect buckshot patterns to spread 1 inch per yard. Therefore, you must test them in your gun to verify reliable cycling, or use them in a pump-action, single-shot or double (over-under/side-by-side). Details in the video below or keep scrolling for the full transcript. Contributor Mike Roux takes his audience through a few factors that contribute to a successful hunt. ATK was kind enough to supply 12-gauge fodder for the test. We used two different loads: Federal FliteControl #1 and Federal FliteControl #00 8-pellet. I'd just consider it useless outside of 10 yards. Like, for me, its still probably my go-to inside of anything where I can reasonably expect a 50 yard shot or in. Its worthy of note that, although ejection in the Benelli was consistent with these shells, it failed to lock the action open on the final shot. Depending on the particular load and the shotgun's choke, at somewhere between 20 and 30 yards, a few of the pellets will have spread wider than the chest of a silhouette target. Where I live it is very suburban and the homes are very close together. The impact velocity versus penetration depth in ballistic gelatin for all evaluated buckshot types are below in Figure 10. Classic Browning Light Twelve Auto-5 Review: Busting Clays With the Old Humpback Shotgun. The Boar Blaster choke nearly replicated this level of performance. I experienced no cycling issues, either. You can back up to 25 yards and achieve a 6 inch . The factory shotshells provide a baseline with which to compare the results achieved with the single buckshot pellets shot into gelatin as a verification of the acceptability of simulating long-range hits with single buckshot pellets shot at reduced velocity. A small increase in effective range will occur in hot climates and a moderate decrease in range will occur in extreme cold climates. Semi-automatic and striker-fired, the P320-XTEN is extremely accurate, easy to shoot even with powerful 10mm loads and holds 15-plus-one rounds.