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| The
Box O' Truth #3 - The Shotgun Meets the
Box O' Truth - Page 2 |
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I
then loaded a round of Remington 2 3/4",
00 Buck, 9 pellets.
This load penetrated 7 boards, 3 pellets
went through the 8th board, and one pellet
was stuck in the 9th board.
This is it. |
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The
pellets were pretty badly deformed. |
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This
is the entrance wound for the 00 Buck.
Notice, again, about a 2 1/2" spread
from 12 feet.
Also notice the big hole caused by the shot
cup. |
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It
was time for the Rifled Slug.
I bought some Remington "Slugger",
1 ounce, Max load, 2 3/4", "rifled"
slugs.
This is the Box O' Truth getting killed. |
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The
slug penetrated all 12 boards.
The first one barely penetrated the water
jug.
I shot another one, and it actually bounced
off the water jug.
This is the entrance of the slug into the
12th board, along with the expanded slug. |
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Lessons
learned:
1. Notice that the #4 and #1 Buck penetrated
6 boards. In previous tests, 9mm, .45 ACP,
and M-193 out of an AR all penetrated all
12 boards.
So, it seems that these loads do not "over-penetrate"
as much as some have led us to believe.
The 00 Buck penetrated 8 boards, but was stopped
by the 9th. Still not as much penetration
as the pistol or rifle loads.
The slug penetrated all 12 boards.
2. Once again, please notice the size of the
entrance spreads....2 1/2" to 3 1/2".
Therefore, anyone that says, "With a
shotgun, you don't even have to aim. Just
point it in the general area of the bad guy,
and you can't miss", does not know what
they are talking about.
You can very easily miss with a shotgun. You
must aim to hit your target.
3. The slugs were "bad" penetrators.
By that, I mean that they will penetrate several
interior walls. If you have loved ones in
your home, consider this as you select your
home defense weapon.
4. I "racked" the shotgun several
times during the tests, and no bystanders
lost control of their bowels.
Conclusion: Racking a shotgun will not
make the bad guy faint.
Frankly, I was surprised that the shotgun
did not penetrate more than it did. I had
been led to believe that they penetrated more
than a .223 rifle or a 9mm or .45 ACP. Such
was not the case.
Amazing what you can learn by doing a little
testing.
Birdshot as a Defense
Load
I have had a lot of questions, summed up as
follows: How effective is birdshot (#4, #6,
#8, etc.) as a defense load?
We have done tests with various birdshot loads.
Birdshot penetrated through two pieces of
drywall (representing one wall) and was stopped
in the paper on the front of the second wall.
The problem with birdshot is that it does
not penetrate enough to be effective as a
defense round. Birdshot is designed to bring
down little birds.
A policeman told of seeing a guy shot at close
range with a load of 12 gauge birdshot, and
was not even knocked down. He was still walking
around when the EMTs got there. It was an
ugly, shallow wound, but did not STOP the
guy. And that is what we want... to STOP the
bad guy from whatever he is doing. To do this,
you must have a load that will reach the vitals
of the bad guy. Birdshot will not do this.
In fact, tests have shown that even #4 Buckshot
lacks the necessary penetration to reach the
vital organs. Only 0 Buck, 00 Buck, and 000
Buck penetrate enough to reach the vital organs.
Unless you expect to be attacked by little
birds, do not use birdshot. Use 00 Buck. It
will do the job.
But doesn't
00 Buck penetrate too much in interior walls
to be a "safe" load in a home?
Yes, it does penetrate a lot. But any load
that is going to be effective will need to
penetrate walls to have enough power to penetrate
bad guys. If our only concern was to be sure
we didn't penetrate walls, we would use BB
guns. However, BB guns will not stop bad guys.
Therefore, we must use loads that will STOP
bad guys, and this means that they will also
penetrate walls. So, be sure you hit the bad
guy and do not shoot into walls where loved
ones are on the other side.
When
To Use Birdshot
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.'" |
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