Home defense: birdshot

[Pawpaw]

That's what you call "determination".

[MechAg94]

I saw an old video years ago that showed a guy in the appropriate bullet proof vest take a 308 shot from an FAL while standing on one foot. He didn't even lose his balance. Just flinched a bit (or maybe a lot).


To review my opinion, if bird shot was all I had, I wouldn't hesitate to use it. However, I have heard bird shot might cause very serious and ugly surface wounds, but might not penetrate enough to stopped a determined attacker.

There is a reason we don't use bird shot for deer hunting.

[Jusme]

As a LEO, I worked a suicide where the guy put a shotgun in his mouth. Just needed the one shot.

[MechAg94]

I think it's been awhile since we've had this debate.

Fun debate. Reading articles is fun. Watching sheet rock and stacks of meat get shot is more fun. Paul Harrell's opinion was that fairly powerful bird shot is required for effective target damage and reducing the likelihood of leaving the house. He first addressed sheet rock penetration and then addressed meat targets. Conclusion at 11:30.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaR1EVybUgc

acronym 4/17/2017 12:20 PM

I watched this and was impressed with the effect the bird shot did have. If you use a hunting load and you are at pretty short range, bird shot will hit someone pretty hard. It will also go through at least one wall so penetration on walls is not zero.

I still think there are better choices, but what you use is up to you.