12 ga SD Loads

[dennishoddy]

It's out there. Keep in mind that at hallway distances, shot or slug makes no difference for a pattern.
I prefer Ar-15.
30 rounds of amazing HP varmint rounds. Likely no exit wounds, massive internal damage, 1/10 the recoil for follow up shots.

 

[MadDogs]

Does anybody make #4 buck anymore?

Midway has some 2 3/4 and 3" #4

 

[beastep]

#4 buck is my choice if I can find any more of it. May order some from midway.

 

[MadDogs]

#4 buck is my choice if I can find any more of it. May order some from midway.

A 3" load of #4 is pretty impressive.

 

[beastep]

Numbers wise the #4 is hard to beat. Its very impressive if you do the math on it. I read an article by Peter Hathaway Capstick on the subject that was written years ago and that was his go to round for a 12ga. And he chased animals that would kill you very dead.

 

[YukonGlocker]

Numbers wise the #4 is hard to beat. Its very impressive if you do the math on it. I read an article by Peter Hathaway Capstick on the subject that was written years ago and that was his go to round for a 12ga. And he chased animals that would kill you very dead.

Most of the criticism I've seen toward #4 Buck is lack of penetration, especially through heavy clothing. This is the major reason many LE agencies have stopped using it.

 

[Old rookie]

Winchester #1 buck 2.75" has 16 pellets and runs 1250 FPS. It is my inside the house load. Pattern out of my 590A1 is in the pics.

Some notes about Federal Flight Control vs Hornady Critical Defense with their Versatite wad. Both of these are the same exact wad but they perform vastly different, but still both perform very well. The Hornady load is a full house 1600FPS load and the Federal load is a low recoil 1145FPS load. Patterning difference is shown below. The Hornady opens up far faster because it's traveling faster. The wad has 3 tabs that open up and acts like an air brake on a plane. The Federal being slower moving covers more ground before separating from the shot load. The Federal will keep all of it's pellets in the upper A-B zone of a USPSA metric target at 25 yards, at least out of my gun it will. From the pics below it's pretty clear that's not going to happen with the Hornady load.

The bottom line is to know what your gun is going to do and test it at distances that you are going to using it at.

View attachment 58198 View attachment 58199 View attachment 58200

The pics tell a tale to me....and the Win #1 is pretty impressive at 5 and 7 yards, well within HD ranges in my home. Thanks.

 

[MadDogs]

Numbers wise the #4 is hard to beat. Its very impressive if you do the math on it. I read an article by Peter Hathaway Capstick on the subject that was written years ago and that was his go to round for a 12ga. And he chased animals that would kill you very dead.

He liked using a shotgun as a backup on soft skin animals like cats.

 

[beastep]

He liked using a shotgun as a backup on soft skin animals like cats.

Yes sir he did. And myself, in a home defense type situation I really dont have to worry about shooting through car doors and such. But honestly, no matter what you pick, #4 or 00 its all better than a .380.

 

[MadDogs]

Most of the criticism I've seen toward #4 Buck is lack of penetration, especially through heavy clothing. This is the major reason many LE agencies have stopped using it.

#4 will not pass the FBI's 12" penetration test ... That said my wife hasn't either.

Regardless of any test, i wouldn't want to be inside 50 yards of someone throwing #4 loads at me.