#4 vs 00 buck

I have a whole wack of buckshot, but find it generally unless and wasted on target shooting.
I tend to stick to #5, #8 and slugs.
 
To be honest all I have is 7.5 and 8 target shot and a few slugs in the house. if someone breaks in I would easily toss in the target shots as at those distances the bad guy will still be hurt. And hey the hope is they will just run anyway as its a shotgun, they have no clue what its loaded with.

also legally, ]if you used say the target shot, they will have a harder time with some of the legal arguments they come up with such as pre meditated as hey i garbed a gun and whatever ammo i had at hand :) and yes this is personal belief not legal advice.
 
Juster said:
The stores have a very limited selection of Buck, yes.
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SFRC has Hornady 24 Pellet, #4 Buckshot, but it's a little expensive...
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st1264 said:
SFRC has Hornady 24 Pellet, #4 Buckshot, but it's a little expensive...
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I'd like to try those fancy wad things. It would be interesting to remove the little air brakes so they don't spread until they hit. I also wonder what happens when they do hit something up close, I assume it acts like a frangible slug, which would be fun.
 
One problem I've found with most of the #4 buck I've tried is that the pellets don't hold up very well if they don't hit something soft. Unless they're hardened and plated they turn into shapeless little scraps of lead which limits their already marginal penetration.

That said, the XM257 #4 buck round as issued in Vietnam featured extra hard and doubled plated pellets and it was still found to be marginal at times.
 
870P said:
One problem I've found with most of the #4 buck I've tried is that the pellets don't hold up very well if they don't hit something soft. Unless they're hardened and plated they turn into shapeless little scraps of lead which limits their already marginal penetration.

That said, the XM257 #4 buck round as issued in Vietnam featured extra hard and doubled plated pellets and it was still found to be marginal at times.
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Doesn't look that marginal to me in this video... looks like it would open up some serious wound channels if at close range.

 
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st1264 said:
Doesn't look that marginal to me in this video... looks like it would open up some serious wound channels if at close range.
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That's gel, which has the consistency of relaxed muscle tissue and is gentle on projectiles, in real flesh and bone it's often found wanting. I agree that it would do the job at typical indoor ranges, or against lightly built game like coyotes, but there's a reason it's not more popular than it is.
 
I care not so much about what it does to gelatin, but more about the ability to penetrate bone. If it won't go through a skull or a rib then it less useful. Gelatin tests are like the guy looking for his keys on the well lit side of the street, when he dropped them on the dark side. Easy to do, but not really helpful.
 
000 does great on bone, according to what hunters have told me, even with soft pellets.
 
A few years ago when all the Swiss military surplus started coming in there were Swiss Surplus 12ga #2 shells being sold. Does anyone remember these? Were they #2 shot or #2 Buck? Would #2 shot actually have been used for military security purposes?
 
Juster said:
00 goes straight through deer ribs at 55 yards. I haven't seen #4 buck bone penetration on youtube, I'll take another look now.
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There was a guy on another forum who swore by #4 buck for deer, said it was mostly bang flop or close to it. However it must be said he was using 41 pellet 3 inch magnums and some kind of Gucci extended choke.
 
Quiet said:
A few years ago when all the Swiss military surplus started coming in there were Swiss Surplus 12ga #2 shells being sold. Does anyone remember these? Were they #2 shot or #2 Buck? Would #2 shot actually have been used for military security purposes?
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Very cool. Would be interesting to learn more.
 
A box of #4 or #2 lead bird shot is only about $9.99.

CanadianBaconPancakes said:
I wana pick somthing else up besides target loads to keep in my night stand and practice abit with the rest vs jugs...If there any reason to use 00 for walking around shooting clays, watter jugs, ext... I hear over all even #4 is recomended for home defence because 00 can penetrate walls easy and kill others in your house. Should 00 buck be reserved for hunting, ext or it is an ok target load. These are the only 2 i can find in bulk for a decent price the 00 being more expensive.
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BeaverMeat said:
BB

That is all
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Yes, well said. One of my favorite shot shells. Winchester 12GA 3" Magnum Heavy Game load/Hi brass with 1 5/8 oz of BB shot @ 1250 fps....WOW. Amazing shot shell. Nearly 2 oz of BB lead shot is amazing.

Imagine that load in a NIB Remington 870 Wingmaster Magnum with 26/28" bbl with full choke tube installed lol....25 yards it would pattern like a large dinner plate.
 
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