I saw an interesting segment on one of the outdoor channels today. A guy set up 4 sheet rock walls in line spaced about 10-12 feet apart to simulate a typical bedroom layout in a house.looked kinda like this. [] [] [] []
Shooting a short barreled shotgun, he first fired birdshot, (I'm guessing 7 1/2 or 8's, he did not say), then buckshot, then a slug, all with the walls perfectly lined up. The birdshot went through both sides of the first wall stopping at the second, while the buckshot and slugs went through all 4 walls and beyond. It just gives a pretty good idea of the penetration capabilities of each of these rounds. The birdshot was about what I expected, the buckshot I kind of thought might not exit out the last wall, the slug, I had no doubt of what it would do!
One interesting thing I noticed was how little the birdshot pattern had expanded when it hit the first wall. Probably no more than 10-12 inches. I figured such a short barrel would have opened up the pattern a little more even though he was only 10 feet or so from the first wall.
Regardless of the results, I still feel a short barreled shotgun loaded with hi-powered 4's or 6's is the best home defense weapon. At least if you live with other houses all around you and you have multiple people living in your home.
Anyway, I know we've had similar threads posted on this subject, but I thought some of you might be interested, maybe make you re-think some things.
Shooting a short barreled shotgun, he first fired birdshot, (I'm guessing 7 1/2 or 8's, he did not say), then buckshot, then a slug, all with the walls perfectly lined up. The birdshot went through both sides of the first wall stopping at the second, while the buckshot and slugs went through all 4 walls and beyond. It just gives a pretty good idea of the penetration capabilities of each of these rounds. The birdshot was about what I expected, the buckshot I kind of thought might not exit out the last wall, the slug, I had no doubt of what it would do!
One interesting thing I noticed was how little the birdshot pattern had expanded when it hit the first wall. Probably no more than 10-12 inches. I figured such a short barrel would have opened up the pattern a little more even though he was only 10 feet or so from the first wall.
Regardless of the results, I still feel a short barreled shotgun loaded with hi-powered 4's or 6's is the best home defense weapon. At least if you live with other houses all around you and you have multiple people living in your home.
Anyway, I know we've had similar threads posted on this subject, but I thought some of you might be interested, maybe make you re-think some things.