Loading ...The shotgun is an extremely versatile tool and with the correct ammunition the shotgun is far more effective than handguns for home defense but there is a wide variety of ammunition available for it. In this article I discuss how to choose between bird shot, buck shot and slugs for self and home defense.
Terminal Ballistics
To get the most out of this article you should have some basic knowledge about terminal ballistics (the effect of the bullet on the target). In a previous post titled “A primer on handgun terminal ballistics” I presented an overview of terminal ballistics.
The key thing to take away is that firearms stop threats including humans by penetrating them and destroying tissue and organs. If a bullet doesn’t have enough momentum to penetrate the bad guy it wont be effective in stopping him.
The FBI has determined that to effectively stop a human a projectile must penetrate a minimum of 12 inches with up to 18 inches preferred.
12 gauge or 20 gauge?
A common question is whether a person should purchase a 12 or 20 gauge shotgun for home defense. I recommend that for home defense a 12 gauge be used because it delivers more projectiles to the target, there is a wider selection of ammunition, and the fact that there are reduced recoil or tactical 12 gauge loads that greatly reduce the recoil of the 12 gauge.
2 3/4 inch or 3 inch shotgun ammunition?
For the 12 gauge both 2 3/4 inch and 3 inch ammunition is readily available, the 3 inch ammunition is sometimes referred to as “Magnum.” For home defense 2 3/4 inch ammunition is better. The 3 inch ammunition has greatly increased recoil which makes follow up shots harder, decreases the capacity of the shotgun, and may prevent women or children from using it due to the recoil.
Available Ammunition Types
Birdshot
Birdshot consists of many small projectiles ranging in size from .080″ to .23″ in diamater. Birdshot is the most common ammunition because it can be used for hunting birds, target practice and skeet shooting. Birdshot is numbered and the smaller the number the larger the projectiles.
| Size | Nominal diameter | Pellets/oz | |
| Lead | Steel | ||
| FF | .23″ (5.84 mm) | 35 | |
| F | .22″ (5.59 mm) | 39 | |
| TT | .21″ (5.33 mm) | ||
| T | .20″ (5.08 mm) | 53 | |
| BBB | .190″ (4.83 mm) | 44 | 62 |
| BB | .180″ (4.57 mm) | 47 | 72 |
| B | .170″ (4.32 mm) | 50 | |
| 1 | .160″ (4.06 mm) | 103 | |
| 2 | .150″ (3.81 mm) | 87 | 125 |
| 3 | .140″ (3.56 mm) | 158 | |
| 4 | .130″ (3.30 mm) | 135 | 192 |
| 5 | .120″ (3.05 mm) | 170 | 243 |
| 6 | .110″ (2.79 mm) | 225 | 315 |
| 7½ | .095″ (2.41 mm) | 350 | |
| 8 | .090″ (2.29 mm) | 410 | |
| 9 | .080″ (2.03 mm) | 585 | |
(table from Wikipedia)
Buckshot
Buckshot is essentially a scaled up version of bird shot and also contains multiple projectiles but they are both larger and heavier, making it suitable for use on Deer. Buck shot is numbered similarly to Birdshot, with shot size increasing as the number decreases. The most common sizes of buckshot are #00 (double ought) and #000 (triple ought).
Buckshot tends to have considerable recoil, recently several companies including Remington and Federal have introduced reduced recoil or tactical buckshot.
| Size | Nominal diameter | Pellets/oz |
| 000 (”triple-ought”) | .36″ (9.1 mm) | 6 |
| 00 (”double-ought”) | .33″ (8.4 mm) | 8 |
| 0 (”ought”) | .32″ (8.1 mm) | 9 |
| 1 | .30″ (7.6 mm) | 10 |
| 2 | .27″ (6.9 mm) | 15 |
| 3 | .25″ (6.4 mm) | 18 |
| 4 | .24″ (6 mm) | 21 |
(table from Wikipedia)
Slugs
Unlike Birdshot and Buckshot which have multiple projectiles, the slug is a single projectile. Slugs have a higher effective range and can be used where a spreading pattern is not desired. Because of their massive momentum and energy they are also effective against bears. There are several different types of slugs, expanding, non expanding, rifled, and non rifled.
Ammunition Performance
For reference a 9mm handgun with 115 grain bullet produces:
Energy: 367 ft/lb
Momentum: 19.71
Velocity: 1200 FPS
12 Gauge Birdshot Ballistics
Birdshot is often recommended as a limited penetration ammunition for nervous home owners or apartment dwellers that want to avoid over penetration. In this section I evaluate the potential of birdshot for home defense.
Birdshot Terminal Ballistics Calculations
Let’s do some terminal ballistics calculations on the potential birdshot, I’ll use #4 shot as it is the heaviest commonly available birdshot load. In this case I’m using numbers from Federal’s Game-Shok Heavy Field Load.
Federal indicates the load fires 1 1/4 OZ (546 grains) of #4 shot at 1220 FPS
Overall Energy: 1804 ft/lb
Overall Momentum: 95
These numbers appear very impressive and far eclipse the 9mm handgun but there is a problem, bird shot does not behave as a single projectile even at point blank range, in fact there are 167 individual projectiles with a 1 1/4 oz #4 shot load. As a whole birdshot has massive momentum, but each individual pellet weighs only 3.2 grains, meaning they have VERY little momentum and don’t penetrate very well as they give up their energy very quickly.
Let us now calculate the momentum and energy of a single birdshot pellet:
Pellet Energy: 23.12
Pellet Momentum: 0.82
This paints a drastically different picture, having minimal energy, and very little penetration which is what we would expect of ammunition designed for birds. That said these numbers also don’t paint an entirely realistic picture because there are 167 pellets striking a fairly small area the performance will be better than a single pellet.
So to get a look at how birdshot performs as a ballistic gelatin test is necessary. Ballistic gelatin is used to approximate tissue and bones of animals to test ammunition. Tacticalworks (a respected information site on ballistic tests) did a test with #4 birdshot (full results here). Here are the results:
Range: 3 yards
Shotgun: 18 inch barreled Remington 870 Marine Magnumn
Round: 12 gauge Remington Heavy Dove 1-1/8 oz #4 Birdshot
Gelatin: 9′x9′x19′ 10% ordinance gelatin block
Measured Average Permenant Cavity: 6.5 inches (16.5 cm)
Temporary Stretch Cavity: 0.0 to 6.0 inches (0.0 to 15.2 cm)
Conclusion:
Bird shot is for birds, not people people!
Even the #4 heavy bird shot load at 3 yards did not penetrate sufficiently to reliably stop an attacker, remember the FBI defines minimum acceptable penetration as 12 inches with 18 inches preferred.
Bird shot should never be used for a home defense load, all bird shot loads lack both the momentum and penetration required to reliably stop a human attacker. This really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone because bird shot is designed for lightweight game, if the pellets were capable of stopping a human it would devastate the small animal and not leave much to eat.
While the intentions of people who recommend bird shot are usually good they usually lack a fundamental understanding of terminal ballistics and unintentionally give horrible advice. They often site examples of bad guys being shot with bird shot breaking off an attack, the important thing to realize is that in almost all cases the attacker chose to stop the attack, he was not forced to stop.
At the end of the day you must realize that anything that will penetrate a human enough to force them to stop an attack is going to also penetrate walls. The best way to avoid this is to prevent the situation where you must shoot, and practice enough to reliably hit the bad guy in a defensive situation.
Fortunately there is a version of bird shot scaled up to a size that is effective on people, it is called buckshot!
12 Gauge Buckshot Ballistics
Many deer are the same size or slightly larger than human sized so it makes sense that ammunition developed for them would be effective on humans. Buckshot is often use very effectively in home defense, the two most common sizes are #00 and #000.
#00 buckshot terminal ballistic information
#00 buckshot has a pellet diameter of .33 and a weight of 54 grains (16.8 times more mass than a #4 birdshot projectile) and each cartridge typically contains 9 to 12 projectiles. For these calculations I’ll use Federal Power-Shok Low Recoil Ammunition 12 Gauge 2-3/4″ Buffered 00 Buckshot 9 Pellets at a velocity of 1140 FPS
Overall Energy: 1402 ft/lb
Overall Momentum: 79.14
If you considered only the overall energy and momentum it would appear bird shot would perform better, but remember, neither bird shot or buck shot is a single projectile so lets now look at an individual projectile:
# Projectiles: 9
Projectile Weight: 54 grains (16.8 times more than #4 birdshot)
Projectile Energy: 155 ft/lb (6.7 times more than #4 birdshot)
Projectile Momentum: 8.79 (10.71 times more than #4 birdshot)
As you can the individual projectile performance of buckshot is much greater than birdshot, but like birdshot because there are multiple projectiles we need to look at an overall picture, luckily tacticalworks also did ballistic performance testing of #00 buckshot (full results here).
Range: 3 yards
Shotgun: 18 inch barreled Remington 870 Marine Magnumn
Round: 12 gauge 2? Federal Classic 00 Buckshot (9 pellets)
Gelatin: 9′x9′x19′ 10% ordinance gelatin block
Measured Average Permanent Cavity Penetration: 22.3 inches (56.6cm) (3.4X further than #4 birdshot)
Conclusion:#00 buckshot penetrated to 22.3 inches (3.4X further than #4 birdshot) making it an excellent choice for home defense.
12 Gauge Slug Ballistics
Unlike birdshot and buckshot a slug is a single massive projectile, it can be used for deer hunting and has been used very successfully against black and even bigger bears.
12 Gauge Slug Terminal Ballistics Information
I’ll be using the Brenneke USA K.O. Ammunition 12 Gauge 2-3/4″ 1 oz Foster-type for these calculations
Projectile Weight: 437.7 grains
Velocity: 1600 FPS
Energy: 2184 ft/lb
Momentum: 100
tacticalworks also did a ballistic gelatin test with a 1 OZ foster slug here are the results (full results here).
Range: 3 yards
Shotgun: 18 inch barreled Remington 870 Marine Magnumn
Round: 12 gauge 2 Winchester Foster Style Slug
Measured Average Permenant Cavity Penetration: 17.0 inches (43.2cm)
Measured Temporary Stretch Cavity: 0.5 to 15.5 inches (1.3 to 39.4 cm)
Conclusion
The slug has massive momentum and energy, because this is an expanding slug the penetration was somewhat restricted to 17.0 inches making it an excellent option for home defense.
Overall Conclusion
Birdshot is woefully inadequate for home defense and should not be used except for target practice and bird hunting.
Buckshot is an excellent performer and has a proven track record. Buckshot is a better choice than a slug for general self defense because it does not depend on expansion to limit its penetration.
Expanding foster type slugs are also an excellent performer with massive momentum but non expanding or slugs that fail to expand have the capability to over penetrate due to their mass and momentum. Slugs are best used when a single projectile is required because multiple projectiles spreading would not be appropriate and for longer range shots.
I believe it is responsible to have both buckshot and slugs available with a defensive shotgun, the TacStar SideSaddle mounts to the side of the receiver and allows you to carry extra ammunition, in my case I load buckshot in the shotgun and carry slugs on the side saddle so that I can selectively use them.
This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Firearms. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
[...] target, and ballistic gel testing demonstrates this. The birdshot, even at extremely close range, will only penetrate about 6 inches of ballistic gel, while penetration of 12 inches of balistic gel is generally considered the minimum effective depth [...]
is there birdshot for 9mm pistols to be used for snakes when in woods. olease reply with cost and address for purchase…thanks
00 is overkill, and potentially dangerous to those whom I am trying to protect. My intent is to hurt and scare the crap out of an intruder while at the same time not endangering members of my family. sleeping no more than two sheet-rock widths away from a potential confrontation with a home invader. A friend of mine, a competitive skeet shooter, recommended I use a target load, which is what I have done. I cannot fathom an individual sustaining such a load at point blank range and still insisting on doing me harm, particularly since I have seven rounds left.
Response from me
Dear Tom,
Would you go deer hunting with a target load? I certainly hope not as not only would it not be legal in most states it most certainly isn’t ethical and wouldn’t be effective. A deer is about equivalent to a human in terms of what it takes to physically stop them which is why buckshot is recommended for use against people.
The intent of shooting an intruder is to stop the intruder from causing us harm, not to maim or injure or kill, sometimes that involves death on their part. I strongly suggest obtaining some professional training or taking a CCW course even if you don’t carry. Think of this, the intruder already knows you may be armed and has decided what to do when he confronts you. Despite the long lived myth, bad guys do not reliably soil their pants at the sound of a 12 gauge being pumped and run away.
Follow up hits will likely be ineffective, the FBI has found that after initial ballistic insult additional insult is ineffective in stopping the bad guy. This would be more pronounced with a target load that is simply incapable of reaching vitals, it can not penetrate enough to reliably force an attacker to stop.
Numerous ballistic tests and shootings show that #1 buckshot is the minimum load with enough penetration to be effective for self or home defense. The requirement of a MINIMUM of 12 inches of penetration is the result of the study of thousands of shootings by the FBI and various law enforcement agencies around the world. Recently local area police shot a man 10 times with bullets capable of penetrating 14 inchs in COM, he lived.
The fact is that NO bird shot load, even heavy turkey load comes close to delivering 12 inches of penetration, the most being 6 inches.
#00 buck is recommended because #1 on occasion can under penetrate. The person you talked to in good faith gave you horrible advice. A lot of people simply do not take the time to understand ballistics, and spread their opinion.
Bird shot even at 3 yards most often will not penetrate the rib cage, occasionally it works, the majority of the time it does not, these are the facts.
I understand your desire to avoid over penetration but the fact is anything that will penetrate a person enough to stop them is going to go through drywall.
I urge you to practice enough to hit the target, harden your house, and if necessary consider moving to a more tactically sound house. At a minimum you need to be aware there is a VERY good chance, more likely than not in fact that your target load will not stop the bad guy, and you should have a fall back plan.
You should also be aware that multiple tests show that pistols penetrate more than #00 buck through drywall, though firearm caliber capable of self defense is going to penetrate drywall.
Best wishes,
Jason
For Joe Ward, Jr
Joe:
Snakes, even the most poisonous, are harmless - unless you mess with them. Chances of hitting them with a pistol are nill, regardless of ammunition type. I grew up in Brasil, where poisonous snakes are as comon as Robins in the US. Best defense against a snake, assuming you want to kill it, is to slam a thin, flexible bamboo pole, like the end of a fly fishing rod, down on the ground, across the snake’s body, breaking it’s verterbrae - - and making you feel like a louse.
\
Response
While I agree seeking confrontations with snakes is not intelligent the statement of not being able to hit them is inaccurate. Having lived in Montana, Missouri and Idaho I can say shots are very possible, things such as CCI’s shot shells that allow you to fire a charge of birdshot from a handgun makes it much easier though plenty of people have hit snakes with JHP.
Thanks for the ballistics information. There seems to be this widely held misconception that birdshot is great for home defense, so I am glad to see you make a ballistics based argument. Penetration is key, as well as permanent wound cavity. As you have demonstrated, 00 buckshot has massive penetration potential and permanent wound cavity capability is amazing.
Thanks for the article.
great info on shotgun home defence thanks….
Thank you for the information! I picked up a Mossberg 590 recently and equipped it with Federal 12 gauge, 2 3/4″ Low-Recoil Buckshot for home defense. I made that decision in part because of the same worries of the poster above: over-penetration. The muzzle velocity dips down to about 1140 fps while retaining enough power to stop an intruder and it still maintains a very tight spread. When hunting season comes around, I’m planning to switch over to slugs.
Although I have to admit I was somewhat horrified to read the above poster mentioning his aim is to “hurt and scare the crap out of an intruder.” If an armed man breaks into my house, the last thing I want to do is give him a chance to get a shot. It’s a complete underestimation of what kind of people are out in society! You’ve just given someone with a felonious background and an armed weapon time to shoot at you in close quarters, not to mention amping his adrenaline up and giving him reason to shoot (and he’s not shooting to hurt or scare; rather to kill) you.
I found this helpful and very much appreciate it. Thank you!
I agree with using 00, but I think soft pellets should be used. The shot would spread more, but probably still not enough to give a wide pattern at 20 ft. The main advantage would be creating wider wound channels for faster blood pressure loss while still maintaining enough penetration to create exit wounds. Any pellets making their way through the target then through the wall would be so slow and deformed they’d be unlikely to even penetrate skin. A miss would probably still be deadly for someone on the other side of the wall.
Good site and a good analogy why #4 birdshot whom I have recoomended (use 4buck myself) for alot of poeple and you clearly explained why.
Not entirely sure it still would not be effective @ closer ranges but your article has me rethinking it. Very well done and thank you.
[...] sense. Although I am a bit of a hypocrite since I do keep my shotguns loaded with 4buck myself. Choosing Birdshot, Buckshot or Slugs for shotgun home defense.
Great info. Was wondering on the overall effect of buckshot, your info addresses them. For others to know 3″ shells fired with Knox recoil system reduces the recoil, feels like a reduce recoil 2 3/4 shell. I have 590a1 and it works great.
Question how about ff shot it is almost the size of #4 buck, as a possiblity? I think some test in order.
Great information, just what I needed. In my 12 gauge shotgun, I usually have birdshot for my first round and flow up with 2 single slug rounds.