Some months ago, I looked at my trusty ol' Mossberg 500 lying on my closet shelf, loaded with generic 00 buck shells, and decided that it needed a makeover. So, I installed a "tactical" stock and foregrip.
This makeover involved more disassembly than I had anticipated, but Ol' Mossy got a good (and long overdue) cleaning in the process. Realizing that I should probably test-fire it after reassembly, I did some shopping first and bought several various types of home defense (HD) loads to try.
The way I figure it, if something goes bump in the night, the security alarm is probably screaming (and so is my wife!), I will have knocked my glasses off the night stand, and in my dazed, confused state, will need a little help hitting any intruder. Counting on "one shot -- one kill" is not a good plan.
Therefore, I wanted to find a load that had the potential for doing serious carnage, as well as a pattern wide enough to still be effective if my aim isn't quite what it should be in the wee hours with the adrenaline pumping like a fire hose.
For the test, I ordered different loads from SPECIALTY/EXOTIC : Ammo To Go and labeled some paper targets with shot shell info. The targets had a simple 3" circle in the middle for comparison of patterns and spread. I measured the distances in our house where any likely lethal encounter might occur, and found them to all be approximately 5 yards. Therefore, that was my test distance.
I used a load of bird shot that my next door neighbor had loaded as my benchmark, and which was aptly named BUBBA SHELLS. The spread of #8 shot from 5 yards would give me a pattern against which the others could be compared. All shot shells tested were 2 3/4" in length.
The test loads were:
1) FIOCCHI 00 Buck Shot, Reduced Recoil -- (9) 00-sized pellets
2) PIT BULL -- an hourglass-shaped lead slug followed by 5 large lead balls
3) TERMINATOR X -- a ring of steel BBs on top of an hourglass-shaped lead slug
4) WOLF POWER BUCKSHOT -- (9) 00-sized pellets
5) LAW ENFORCEMENT BUCKSHOT -- (12) 00-sized pellets
I fired each load from a Mossberg 500 12 gauge with a standard barrel from a distance of 5 yards. The pictures below demonstrate the pattern of each load and the amount of spread from that distance.
BUBBA SHELLS
As expected, the bird shot in the BUBBA SHELLS spread quite a bit. While an intruder would likely be struck by a fair number of pellets, the damage inflicted could be anything from minor to devastating, depending on what organs were inured.
When shotgun pellets enter a body, the first ones slow down and the following pellets ricochet off at different angles, causing leaks all over the place. However, short of a direct CNS hit, those little holes might take a long time to cause incapacitation of an intruder. Bird shot would not be my first choice.
FIOCCHI 00 BUCK REDUCED RECOIL
This load not only lived up to its name -- reduced recoil (for a 00 load) -- but also resulted in a pretty decent pattern. Nine big pellets forming about a 3" pattern would do some pretty serious damage to a bad guy. Whether or not the reduced recoil is a serious consideration is a matter of debate. I've heard and read about lethal encounters where the shooter never even noticed the recoil or even the sound after the event.
PIT BULL
The PIT BULL load is a delightfully destructive concept. One can only imagine the destruction to tissue that would result from a 12-ga slug entering and expanding, followed by 5 large, lead balls caroming off and tunneling through a body. My guess is that a direct hit anywhere in vital organs would make anyone stop in his tracks. Or, at least think twice about taking another step.
The only problem with this load is that there was virtually NO spread. While this might be the most lethal load tested, it isn't if it doesn't hit on target. And, since one of my test criteria was that it be somewhat forgiving of less-than-perfect aim in the dead of night, it's easy to imagine missing an intruder completely.
TERMINATOR X
Gotta love that name, huh? I'm sure a prosecutor would love using that name in court, too. Regardless, it's like the PIT BULL in reverse -- instead of having pellets following the slug, the steel BBs are aligned in a ring on top of the slug.
The resultant pattern is more applicable, IMO, to the HD scenario. You might miss with the slug on that first shot, but the pellets are in the neighborhood to do some damage while you chamber the next shell.
WOLF POWER BUCKSHOT
Now we're talking. This load put all 9 00 pellets within a 3" circle. And I don't know what all of the other blast marks are. Wicked load that kills on one end and maims on the other. It was noticeably more kinetic than the other loads (another way of saying that my shoulder said, "Ouch.")
LAW ENFORCEMENT BUCKSHOT
Call off the dogs. The hunt is over. This load is like the WOLF with 3 extra 00 pellets. Holy schmoly -- all 12 pellets within a 3" circle! Seems to me that it's enough spread to ensure a few good hits even when circumstances cause compromised accuracy, yet small enough to cause extreme devastation when your aim is good. And, like the WOLF load, the recoil is significant. However, I'd still rather be giving than receiving this load! (sorry for the blurry pic)
In summary, any of these loads (except perhaps the BUBBA SHELLS) would stop a threat pronto as long as the load is delivered accurately and effectively. I would just feel better knowing that at least some of the load would hit something vital on a bad guy with that first round, even if I didn't have my glasses on or my wife's screaming was distracting me.
I hope this exercise was helpful. After sending thousands of pistol rounds downrange recently, it was a real wake-up call to be reminded of the devastation that a shotgun can cause. It reinforced my commitment to using my handgun only to fight my way to Ol' Mossy in an emergency.
This makeover involved more disassembly than I had anticipated, but Ol' Mossy got a good (and long overdue) cleaning in the process. Realizing that I should probably test-fire it after reassembly, I did some shopping first and bought several various types of home defense (HD) loads to try.
The way I figure it, if something goes bump in the night, the security alarm is probably screaming (and so is my wife!), I will have knocked my glasses off the night stand, and in my dazed, confused state, will need a little help hitting any intruder. Counting on "one shot -- one kill" is not a good plan.
Therefore, I wanted to find a load that had the potential for doing serious carnage, as well as a pattern wide enough to still be effective if my aim isn't quite what it should be in the wee hours with the adrenaline pumping like a fire hose.
For the test, I ordered different loads from SPECIALTY/EXOTIC : Ammo To Go and labeled some paper targets with shot shell info. The targets had a simple 3" circle in the middle for comparison of patterns and spread. I measured the distances in our house where any likely lethal encounter might occur, and found them to all be approximately 5 yards. Therefore, that was my test distance.
I used a load of bird shot that my next door neighbor had loaded as my benchmark, and which was aptly named BUBBA SHELLS. The spread of #8 shot from 5 yards would give me a pattern against which the others could be compared. All shot shells tested were 2 3/4" in length.
The test loads were:
1) FIOCCHI 00 Buck Shot, Reduced Recoil -- (9) 00-sized pellets
2) PIT BULL -- an hourglass-shaped lead slug followed by 5 large lead balls
3) TERMINATOR X -- a ring of steel BBs on top of an hourglass-shaped lead slug
4) WOLF POWER BUCKSHOT -- (9) 00-sized pellets
5) LAW ENFORCEMENT BUCKSHOT -- (12) 00-sized pellets
I fired each load from a Mossberg 500 12 gauge with a standard barrel from a distance of 5 yards. The pictures below demonstrate the pattern of each load and the amount of spread from that distance.
BUBBA SHELLS
As expected, the bird shot in the BUBBA SHELLS spread quite a bit. While an intruder would likely be struck by a fair number of pellets, the damage inflicted could be anything from minor to devastating, depending on what organs were inured.
When shotgun pellets enter a body, the first ones slow down and the following pellets ricochet off at different angles, causing leaks all over the place. However, short of a direct CNS hit, those little holes might take a long time to cause incapacitation of an intruder. Bird shot would not be my first choice.
FIOCCHI 00 BUCK REDUCED RECOIL
This load not only lived up to its name -- reduced recoil (for a 00 load) -- but also resulted in a pretty decent pattern. Nine big pellets forming about a 3" pattern would do some pretty serious damage to a bad guy. Whether or not the reduced recoil is a serious consideration is a matter of debate. I've heard and read about lethal encounters where the shooter never even noticed the recoil or even the sound after the event.
PIT BULL
The PIT BULL load is a delightfully destructive concept. One can only imagine the destruction to tissue that would result from a 12-ga slug entering and expanding, followed by 5 large, lead balls caroming off and tunneling through a body. My guess is that a direct hit anywhere in vital organs would make anyone stop in his tracks. Or, at least think twice about taking another step.
The only problem with this load is that there was virtually NO spread. While this might be the most lethal load tested, it isn't if it doesn't hit on target. And, since one of my test criteria was that it be somewhat forgiving of less-than-perfect aim in the dead of night, it's easy to imagine missing an intruder completely.
TERMINATOR X
Gotta love that name, huh? I'm sure a prosecutor would love using that name in court, too. Regardless, it's like the PIT BULL in reverse -- instead of having pellets following the slug, the steel BBs are aligned in a ring on top of the slug.
The resultant pattern is more applicable, IMO, to the HD scenario. You might miss with the slug on that first shot, but the pellets are in the neighborhood to do some damage while you chamber the next shell.
WOLF POWER BUCKSHOT
Now we're talking. This load put all 9 00 pellets within a 3" circle. And I don't know what all of the other blast marks are. Wicked load that kills on one end and maims on the other. It was noticeably more kinetic than the other loads (another way of saying that my shoulder said, "Ouch.")
LAW ENFORCEMENT BUCKSHOT
Call off the dogs. The hunt is over. This load is like the WOLF with 3 extra 00 pellets. Holy schmoly -- all 12 pellets within a 3" circle! Seems to me that it's enough spread to ensure a few good hits even when circumstances cause compromised accuracy, yet small enough to cause extreme devastation when your aim is good. And, like the WOLF load, the recoil is significant. However, I'd still rather be giving than receiving this load! (sorry for the blurry pic)
In summary, any of these loads (except perhaps the BUBBA SHELLS) would stop a threat pronto as long as the load is delivered accurately and effectively. I would just feel better knowing that at least some of the load would hit something vital on a bad guy with that first round, even if I didn't have my glasses on or my wife's screaming was distracting me.
I hope this exercise was helpful. After sending thousands of pistol rounds downrange recently, it was a real wake-up call to be reminded of the devastation that a shotgun can cause. It reinforced my commitment to using my handgun only to fight my way to Ol' Mossy in an emergency.
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