TexasCHLforum.com

VMI77 wrote:

Pawpaw wrote:Just to add a little more perspective, this is when I tested my Mossberg 930 SPX with my chosen home defense load... Federal FliteControl #1 buck (LE132-1B). That's 15 pellets in each round.

[ Image ]

I was recently shooting 3" Federal FliteControl Magnum 00 Buck through a Saiga 12 from about 10 feet away. The wad was consistently striking the target within an inch of the buck --pretty much making one big hole in a paper target, but outside the shot. In your image it looks like that didn't happen until you got out to 15 yds. I thought it was a little odd because I hadn't seen this with the 2 3/4 inch buck --then again, that time I was using a KSG. At the same distance the cheap low brass Estate 00 buck (9 pellets) patterned something like your 20 yard shot (and failed to eject every time but once until I changed the gas setting).

I've seen a few people shot with shotguns, and in only one case did the wad penetrate the victim. In that case, the victim was executed on his knees, shot from behind, with the muzzle at contact distance at the base of his neck. We found the wad at the bottom of his chest cavity resting against his diaphragm. He did not survive beyond about 20 minutes after arrival in our ER. But nobody else I ever saw who had been shot with a shotgun had any injury from the wad that I'm aware of. Wads make an impressive hole in paper, but I don't think you can count on them playing much of a factor in the wounding potential of a shotgun in most cases.