Bird Shot in your Home Defense Shotgun

Big Bad

Big Bad

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Back when I first retired, I got on a specialized US shotgun site and made an innocent reference to using bird shot in home defense. It turned out that that particular site had a resident self-appointed expert that was driven into a rage at the very idea, you could tell that he was foaming at the mouth as he typed. To support the point I'd made I tried to post some practical experiences and the opinions of door kicking experts I'd talked to, but there was no talking to that guy, it seemed he lived in a place the size of an airplane hanger and was mentally defending against African plains buffalo so, since all discussion was being stifled by him, I gave up on the site.

OK, I assume we've all seen videos demonstrating bird shot load performance in this sort of context, but I just came across the video below where the guy went out and bought some actual meat and ribs, etc, to test on. I find the results convincing (not to mention obvious). And as he says don't try this at home, and certainly not at home in Canada.


 
Shot smaller than 4 seems too risky to be relied on. If you can find some old lead BB Goose rounds, that would be ideal. But #4 buckshot is probably less expensive, more common, and no doubt a lethal load.
 
Years ago, ( 1985 +/- ) I read the the N.Y. city ERT teams used #9 shot , deadly at 7 yards but no wall penetration. At 7 yards a load of #9 would almost hit like a slug.
 
In his walls penetration video, # 4 buck and birdshot fail to go straight through the simulated house, while everything else does. So a hot birdshot load or the smallest buck load may be a sweet spot.
A light target load might not be great for physiological incapacitation, but a hotter load maybe.

I think a flight control steel BB load would be a giant Glaser safety slug which disassembles at 10 yards , and might be a magic bullet in the "only effective at very close range" game. I'd love to see that with the meat target.
 
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Very interesting!

Many years ago I was at a scene where a gang member was shot in the face at close range with bird shot. It didn’t penetrate his brain and he could still walk, but boy did it stop any threat he may have been immediately afterward! His nose didn’t make it.
 
A 'friend' of a friend of mine once shot a small doe in the head straight on at about 15 feet ( room interior dimensions) with a load of #5 lead, figuring that at the least the blinded animal would be easy to approach and finish with the second shot. Not required, it took off half the deer's skull. Perfectly adequate for home defense, at least against deer.
 
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When I was 13, we watched my friend’s Dad have a meltdown and put 2 rounds of birdshot into his living room wall from about 5 feet back. Went clear through two layers of drywall, into the back of the bathroom cabinet on the other side of the wall and out through the mirror. Pellets wedged into the drywall in the bathroom wall and door across from the cabinet.

I think of that every time I hear or read someone say birdshot doesn’t penetrate walls.
 
Juster said:
In his walls penetration video, # 4 buck and birdshot fail to go straight through the simulated house, while everything else does. So a hot birdshot load or the smallest buck load may be a sweet spot.
A light target load might not be great for physiological incapacitation, but a hotter load maybe.

I think a flight control steel BB load would be a giant Glaser safety slug which disassembles at 10 yards , and might be a magic bullet in the "only effective at very close range" game. I'd love to see that with the meat target.
Click to expand...

Steel shot bounces back whereas lead deforms on impact
 
I really think that shot size is irrelevant in a 12 gauge shot gun in a home defense situation. I would feel confident with any load at those distances and hopefully be aware of what lies behind the walls.
 
Two hunting buddies in Moose Jaw were avid bird hunters. One of them put a load of birdshot through his friends 1980 Dodge pickup cab roof. Perfect 3/4 inch hole.
A week later the other one (owned the Dodge) put a load of buckshot into the other guys bungalow ceiling.
Funny thing the buckshot failed to penetrate the roof shingles. Maybe hit a roof reinforce crossbeam?
They were flipping crazy and we suspect he was loading buckshot for geese although he said he grabbed the wrong box of shells.
I don't know how they avoided shooting each other in a duck/goose blind!?
 
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