{"id":4493,"date":"2021-11-23T08:51:50","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T08:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/?p=4493"},"modified":"2021-11-23T13:11:58","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T13:11:58","slug":"birdshot-for-home-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/birdshot-for-home-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Birdshot For Home Defense?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using Birdshot For Home Defense Doesn\u2019t Work<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The power of a shotgun for personal protection is unmatched when it comes to close-range personal protection. From the blunderbusses of centuries past to \u201criding shotgun\u201d on a stagecoach to the trench brooms of World War I, when it\u2019s time to stop a threat at close range, it\u2019s time to reach for your shotgun.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Fast Facts: Using Birdshot For Home Defense<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Birdshot is for hunting birds and busting clays\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Defensive buckshot ammunition is tailor-made for personal protection<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Lower pellet weight means less penetration, less chance to stop the threat<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just having a shotgun nearby isn\u2019t enough, though. A gun is almost useless without the right kind of ammunition, and a shotgun is no exception to this rule. When it comes to ammo selection, the versatility of the scattergun presents a unique problem. The same shotgun that can be used to hunt quail or ducks can suffice as a home defense gun, as long as you don\u2019t make the mistake of relying on birdshot for home defense. Why is that a problem? Read on and find out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s What\u2019s Inside That Counts<\/span><\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_4500\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_target.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-magnific_type=\"image\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4500\" class=\"wp-image-4500 size-medium\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_target-300x280.jpg\" alt=\"birdshot pattern\" width=\"300\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_target-300x280.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_target-1024x957.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_target-768x718.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_target-1536x1435.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_target-610x570.jpg 610w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_target-1080x1009.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_target-627x586.jpg 627w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_target.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4500\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Birdshot speeds out so much that at even at 10 yards, it barely covers the target<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, let\u2019s talk about what\u2019s inside a shotshell. The amount of shot pellets inside a shotshell varies greatly. The rule of thumb to remember is the higher the number, the more pellets are inside the shell. For instance, #9 birdshot is loaded with lots and lots of tiny pellets that cover a large area when fired. #00 buckshot has only eight or nine pellets, but each of those pellets weighs about as much and travels at about the same velocity as a .32 ACP caliber bullet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ouch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Numbers like this begin to show us why using birdshot for home defense is probably not a good idea. Birdshot pellets are meant to knock a flying object out of the sky, not stop an attacker from destroying your life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Birdshot Is For The Birds<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll note that I said \u201cknock a flying object out of the sky,\u201d not \u201cmake a clean, one-shot kill.\u201d Even the best of wingshooters know that sometimes, it\u2019s not the impact of the pellet that finishes off the bird, it\u2019s the fall to the ground that does them in. Even in those instances, sometimes a quick wring of the neck is required to finish off the bird. Experience tells us that birdshot isn\u2019t a one-shot stop for birds. It stands to reason that using birdshot for home defense would be an even worse idea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4499\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_target.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-1\" data-magnific_type=\"image\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4499\" class=\"wp-image-4499 size-medium\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_target-300x282.jpg\" alt=\"buckshot pattern\" width=\"300\" height=\"282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_target-300x282.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_target-1024x963.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_target-768x722.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_target-1536x1444.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_target-610x573.jpg 610w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_target-1080x1015.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_target-627x589.jpg 627w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_target.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4499\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flite Control buckshot stays tight and on-target at 10 yards<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why, then, does the idea of using birdshot for home defense seem to never go away? The answer, I think, is similar to why some people choose to use <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/less-lethal-shotgun-ammo\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cless lethal\u201d shotgun ammunition<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> instead of self-defense buckshot rounds. The feeling is that rather than incapacitate an attacker, shotgun rounds should warn them off or disable them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Idea Of Using Birdshot For Home Defense Just Won\u2019t Go Away<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, that\u2019s not the role a firearm plays in personal defense. A gun, any gun, projects lethal force at a distance. It\u2019s been that way since the days of the first handgonne, and it\u2019ll be that way for at least the foreseeable future. If you have a need to use less-lethal force, consider something like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/wasp-spray-self-defense\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pepper spray<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and let your gun do what it\u2019s meant to do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ll use an industry standard gel test to see what the effect using birdshot for home defense really is. We should note that ballistics gel isn\u2019t meant to show exactly what happens when a bullet impacts a human body. Rather, gel testing is used as a neutral testing medium to compare the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Terminal_ballistics\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">terminal ballistics<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of one round to another.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think of it this way. Cars that have a low 0-60 time tend to be sportier and faster than cars with higher 0-60 times. A 0-60 test is a good way to compare the performance of one car versus another in a neutral, repeatable setting. That\u2019s what ballistic gel provides us. Bullets that do well in this test tend to perform well in the field, helping us choose what ammo works best in a real-world situation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Comparing Birdshot To Buckshot<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For this test, we\u2019re going to compare the effects of a round of #7.5 birdshot versus a round of #00 buckshot, fired from a 12 gauge cylinder bore Mossberg 500. We\u2019ll set up a block of clear ballistics gel at the standard 10 foot distance from the muzzle of the shotgun. We\u2019ll set four layers of heavy cloth in front of the gel to test any effect that clothing might have on the path of the pellets. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ojp.gov\/pdffiles1\/Digitization\/122334NCJRS.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the FBI<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the birdshot pellets should penetrate at least 12 inches into the gel to be effective at stopping a threat. We\u2019ll also test a round of 12 gauge 00 buckshot as a comparison.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Test results\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n<div id=\"attachment_4501\" style=\"width: 1610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_gel.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-2\" data-magnific_type=\"image\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4501\" class=\"wp-image-4501 size-full\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_gel.jpg\" alt=\"birdshot gel test\" width=\"1600\" height=\"883\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_gel.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_gel-300x166.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_gel-1024x565.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_gel-768x424.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_gel-1536x848.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_gel-610x337.jpg 610w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_gel-1080x596.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/birdshot_gel-627x346.jpg 627w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4501\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The birdshot penetrated just over 6 inches into the gel<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Simply put, birdshot is for the birds. The pellets from our test round only penetrated just over 6 inches into the gel. According to the FBI testing protocol, this is nowhere close to penetration needed to reach the vital areas of a human being. Will getting shot with a round of birdshot hurt? Yes. Will it physically stop an attacker? Probably not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4502\" style=\"width: 1610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_gel.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-3\" data-magnific_type=\"image\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4502\" class=\"wp-image-4502 size-full\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_gel.jpg\" alt=\"buckshot gel test\" width=\"1600\" height=\"425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_gel.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_gel-300x80.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_gel-1024x272.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_gel-768x204.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_gel-1536x408.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_gel-610x162.jpg 610w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_gel-1080x287.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/buckshot_gel-627x167.jpg 627w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4502\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Buckshot penetrated 21 inches into gel<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buckshot, on the other hand, is different. The eight of the nine pellets from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/12-gauge-sterling-2-3-4-00-buck-200-rounds\">the round of 12 gauge #00<\/a> we tested exceeded the 16 inch minimum, and a few penetrated as far as 21 inches into the gel. Ballistics gel is not real life, but the results from this sort of thing tend to mirror real-world results. Buckshot stops the threat, birdshot doesn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s Either Lethal Force, Or It\u2019s Not.\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is important, because in the eyes of the law, guns are considered to be lethal force. We talked about this when we looked at<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/less-lethal-shotgun-ammo\/\"> less-lethal shotgun ammo<\/a>, but when a shotgun comes into play, it\u2019s considered lethal force, even if you\u2019re just using birdshot for home defense. I must emphasize here that I\u2019m not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, but you should choose your defensive rounds based on what they do to the target, and nothing else.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using birdshot for home defense is one of those ideas that just never seems to go away, even when it\u2019s been proven to be marginally effective, both in testing and in the real world. Shotguns are a devastatingly effective close-range firearm, but they need the right ammunition to do their job. Go bird hunting with birdshot. Use a round like #00 buckshot to defend what\u2019s important to you, and get the training you need to be ready if that time should ever come.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Using Birdshot For Home Defense Doesn\u2019t Work The power of a shotgun for personal protection is unmatched when it comes to close-range personal protection. From the blunderbusses of centuries past to \u201criding shotgun\u201d on a stagecoach to the trench brooms of World War I, when it\u2019s time to stop a threat at close range, it\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,12,11,15,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guns-101","category-outdoor-range","category-practice","category-prepping","category-shotgun-shooting-tips","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Birdshot For Home Defense? - AmmoMan School of Guns Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Using birdshot for home defense is one of those ideas that just won&#039;t go away. 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