No accessories unless you count the stock extenders, big guy 6’6". Shot regular stocks till I became a wingshooting instructor , after shooting a shotgun fitted to me would never go back . The only other thing I do is pull the plug after hunting season . No need to limit myself to 3 shots if I’m not hunting .
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Stick to low powered HD or skeet loads and recoil isn’t an issue.
The biggest misconception people have about shotguns is that they spread shot all over the room which they do not.
Even with open chokes at thirty feet you’re talking about a pattern that’s probably no more than 6-10" in diameter.
To score hits you still have to put it in the middle when you pull the trigger.
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Other than a light I don’t see much sense in adding accessories.
I have the Eagle Tac lights on my HD rifles and shotguns and all of them are at least 1,000 lumens so they are bright enough to actually blind an attacker temporarily and on strobe mode they are powerful enough to seriously disorient anyone.
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At 10yds the pattern isn’t much bigger than a softball from a FC.
Buckshot has serious over penetration issues inside of a home.
Yup. I proved this to a few guys last year. I patterned my shotgun preparing for a turkey shoot. Number 6 game load, at 40 yards, with a full choke, 28 inch barrel. All hits were confined to an 18x18 shoot n see turkey target. Even with an improved cylinder choke, it was still only 22 inches of spread. And, rifled Foster slugs, were tac drivers at that range. For giggles, we put a gallon water jug at that distance, and shot it with a 3 inch 00 buck shell. Bye bye gallon water jug.
Pretty partial to #4 Buckshot in 3". 41 - 24 caliber pellets all at once @ ~1200 fps. Good combo of mass and velocity without too much over penetration. Was primarily fielded in WWI for trench warfare, they were generally more practical about killing than we are today.
Cheers,
Craig6
Oh no, the bird shot vs buckshot debate… 
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They also had no worries about over penetration in a home or apartment.
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Over penetration is a subject that must be weighed against UNDER penetration. I have participated in and conducted penetration studies on shotguns,rifles and hand guns. Roughly stated a human body will CONTAIN “most” projectiles that will penetrate a 5/8" dry wall 2"X4" partition w/ R-19 fiberglass insulation and exit at less than 450fps ish which is roughly the velocity allowed on a paintball gun field for a MUCH (.68 cal) larger projectile.
AS you point out in your “cone of fire” assessments the variables are many and significant. IMHO based on the testing I have conducted and have been exposed to “I” like #4 buck shot inside a dwelling. The spread is about 10" in a 20’ hallway in an un-choked (cut the front off) 20" tube, the velocity drops in accordance with Newtons law. Ballistic algorithms need not apply inside of 50’ but I know what they say and find them lacking.
I would state that Mass and Velocity are the predominant principles but in the case of a shotgun it does not retain itself as a homogeneous unit and therefore cannot be evaluated as a single instance or occurrence beyond a certain distance.
The dumb dirties of a multi million dollar expenditure of your tax $$$$ is that 2 3/4" OO Buck is the most cost effective combat shotgun round to be fielded which covers 97.23% of applicable shotgun roles without changing ammunition.
That said a whole lot of really good info came out about penetration, multi point trauma and a bunch of other cool stuff. That said, I’m not blowing door locks and hinges in my house. #4 Buck works for me.
Cheers,
Craig6
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It’s a pretty simple equation, smaller shot like #6 or #7.5 will have almost no energy remaining once it penetrates a second layer of drywall unless you’re at a distance at which it remains in a patter the size of your fist where as Buck of any size is going to retain far more energy after penetrating.
At the distances we’re talking about in home defense the smaller shot will be incredibly effective against an assailant while having far less potential to do grave harm due to over penetration.
A 1oz load of #OO Buck contains 7 pellets weighing around 63gr each.
A 1oz load of #7.5 shot contains Approximately 350 pellets weighing about 1.25gr each.
Now work the mass x velocity squared equation for each pellet size at standard velocities around 1300fps.
Obviously there is far greater danger from the larger shot over penetrating and that it will be able to to a substantially greater amount of harm after penetrating through walls.
We’re not in combat, we’re not shooting insurgents or enemy soldiers clad in body armor.
The energy from a 1oz load of any commonly used bird shot load fired center mass on an attacker at common home defense distances is more than adequate to instantly drop the intruder/attacker to the ground and they will almost certainly be assuming room temperature within a minute of doing so.
If there is a concern about over penetration there is no logic by which one should be using buckshot for home defense.
Damn, that has to be the fastest technical response I have ever seen.
I will not go down the road of challenging bit by bit scientific data that I have on structures vs. “human” analogs (go look at Mythbusters" )
Just say’n a larger bit of singular mass on an erratic pattern incidentally bouncing off of other singular masses retains most of its velocity and mass therefore penetration as an amalgam of mass and geometry.
You know some times I really hate when my mind hits Science gear.
Before I pull out my SciFi calculator and start jamming formulas… I bid you good night
Cheers,
Craig6
IF you can show me to be in error anywhere please do.
Bird shot is made to kill small animals and birds at much greater ranges than are typical in home defense.
Hit a quail or rabbit hard with an ounce of 7.5’s at 30’ and you probably won’t have anything left to eat.
Typical ranges on small game and smaller birds is 20-45 yards where home defense is typically going to be under 30 yards.
It only takes about 2.5" of penetration to pierce any of the body’s major organs or blood vessels except the kidneys.
Here’s the latest target info I have. #4 game load, at 15 feet, will blow half of a raccoons head off. Take that info for what it’s worth.
Put that same load on paper at the same range and you’ll likely have a nearly clean fist sized hole. You’ll get the same if not an even cleaner hole with even smaller shot.
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Look at the size of your pattern at 30 feet.
You’ve cut the entire post down to one word.
There’s no error there, bird shot is designed to kill small game at ranges much greater than typical home defense range.
At close range the pattern is so tight that it becomes very effective on larger animals including humans.
It’s a simple matter of the number of projectiles, the density of the pattern and the total energy of the load.
I’d suggest watching the video I posted demonstrating the effectiveness of bird shot at typical self defense ranges.
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You are doing nothing constructive by pulling a single word out of an entire post eliminating the context.
I believe that @Henry4 was having technical difficulties when he posted the one-word quote based on his last post. It appears he was trying to quote your first line:
and his:
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Use what you think will work. 00 Flight Control Buckshot for me.
An interesting sight about it. The Box O' Truth #3 - The Shotgun Meets the Box O' Truth | Firearms and Ammuni Forum
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