Shotguns & select-slug?

[Erick Gelhaus]

Question about the Select-Slug drill … does anyone have a source to it being used in a shooting? Absent that, anyone who has done it in preparation for a shooting only to have gained the BadGuy’s compliance in another way?

Starting with Gunsite’s shotgun class in ’95 & Bill Jeans, I was taught it – it was reinforced during shotgun classes by both Awerbuck and Reitz.

I am looking for an instance of it being used, like the tactical reload and Dean Caputo’s experience.

Just to confirm we are on the same page, I am referring to (and this starts off with a fully loaded magazine tube) a) chambering a round of 00Buck, b) loading a slug into the tube’s open space, c) running the action to eject the 00Buck shell and chamber the slug, d) engage with the slug at distance or on a high percentage target.

In advance, thank you. (I’ll be posting it in several places).

[GJM]

While I have done it at Gunsite, including in the shootoff, in real life I have only done the reverse.

I carry my shotty full of slugs, but have selected shot a number of times, to harvest a spruce hen or whack a porcupine.

[Hambo]

Did it a lot at HK, but they loved the drill because it showed the superiority of the (then) HK/Benelli M1 over lowly pump guns. I've never heard of it in a real shooting.

[fatdog]

Like GJM I have done "select #8" when I went to investigate something in my barn that really agitated the dogs and found a copperhead. I think you are on to something, that it is as rare as the pistol reload in the heat of action for non-LE folks.

[jlw]

Funny that this comes up on the 20th anniversary of the North Hollywood Shootout. That one could have been ended much sooner has the LAPD had slugs on hand.

[txdpd]

I have on a felony stop that turned into a barricaded person. That wasn't a gunfight and not exactly time critical.

If I could do things my way, I'd run the shotgun with slugs. If the situation and time permits I'd switch out the slugs for buckshot.

[Erick Gelhaus]

txdpd- Thank you for the feedback. I'm getting several of those ... "have done the mechanics but never had to take the shot" which is my experience. Have also had a handful of "yes, it was used and here are the circus ..."

jaw - absolutely. I have asked this question a few times over the years without positive feedback. At the time, a LOT of discussion on the possible impact (pun intended) slugs could have had on the outcome.

[Randy Harris]

After much searching for a real life use of it the only incident I am aware of is one John Farnam told me about where an Oklahoma (Highway Patrol?) officer in a traffic stop ended up exchanging gunfire with the subject who was using his open car door for cover. Officer switched to slug and shot through car door ending fight.

Other than that????? Just have not found anything. It just seems that people with slugs loaded tend to use slugs and people with buck loaded tend to use buck and the incidents are over within a shot or 2 one way or the other and there is really no time (or rarely any reason) to switch ammo. It is kind of like 1 handed weak handed reloads....not terribly common but if you need it things are pretty bad and it is better to know how to do it than to have to figure it out on the fly......

An interesting thing to consider is if slugs had been available to the agents on April 11 1986 would Ed Mireles have switched to a slug to shoot through the windshield at Platte and Matix? Or would he have even been able to with the injury to his arm? That would be a case where the select slug drill might have some merit, but it is also pretty much exactly like the Oklahoma incident...shooting from the cover of one car at another individual inside or hiding behind a car door.

[SamueL]

I carry my shotty full of slugs, but have selected shot a number of times, to harvest a spruce hen or whack a porcupine.

Same here... slug for vehicles and selected buck to dispatch deer. Ain't nobody got time to clean their pistola.

[GJM]

I have had the opportunity to train with many of the "name" shotgun instructors, and most loaded their own shotguns with slugs. Sure simplifies pattern and distance considerations.