The J-frame of shotguns.

[jlw]

Around AK and MT, we will take all the penetration we can get.

I don't think the people in my subdivision would concur.

[jlw]

Threats are assumed to be 1) Copperhead snakes, 2) Coyotes, and 3) 2 legged predators . It is kept loaded with multiple (I think 4) SPARTAN 20 Gauge #1 Buckshot (9 pellets) and 1 round of whatever heaviest dram 20 gauge 7.5 birdshot load as first round (assume 1st round on snake). Flashlight mounted on the OEM rails.


I do not have a great deal of data on patterns as mostly functioned fired then on hand in basement. A few weekends ago, wife went to range with me and she practiced with her M&P 9mm plus the SA20. (Note - the SA20 did not like cheap 20 gauge "promo" birdshot - became a single shot.). The SA20 functioned fine with the heavy birdshot and with the SPARTAN brand #1 buck. No issues keeping all the #1 buck inside the "torso" of USPSA targets at 15 yards - tight group in A zone and a few C and D zone strikes.

This old Model 12 has done some righteous critter control in its day, most notably when my grandfather used it to stop a rabid fox as it was tearing through a screen door. Multiple generations of my family have relied upon it. However, as revered as it is, it's not what I would grab first with the knowledge I have today.

Any shotgun in social use must be able to pattern so that every pellet will hit center mass at the longest shot within the home. I'm just not finding a 20ga buckshot load that will do it.

[GJM]

Some women have trouble with the weight of a twelve gauge, and prefer the handling of a 20. This is my wife’s Benelli. It has a Trijicon HD front sight and custom rear inlet-ed into the vent rib, and with a Nordic tube packs a lot of hate into a trim package.

[jlw]

@GJM

What size buckshot patterns are you getting from those?

[Cookie Monster]

Around AK and MT, we will take all the penetration we can get.

Can we bring back, phrasing?

[GJM]

@GJM

What size buckshot patterns are you getting from those?

I wouldn’t know as the only stuff we have shot through it is a whole bunch of Brenneke slugs and a few #6 high brass to incidentally harvest some game birds. It spends its whole life loaded with slugs, and we select shot for a bird, with the single shot shell we carry with us. With our defensive shotguns, I don’t keep buckshot around, because it is only a liability for how we use the shotgun.

[jlw]

I don’t keep buckshot around, because it is only a liability for how we use the shotgun.

As are slugs for the role that I am referring.

[GJM]

That could be an interesting discussion. I was influenced many years ago by my instructors, Louis Awerbuck and Randy Cain, who carried slugs in their personal shotguns. Their reasoning was we own everything we launch, and they would rather own one slug than eight or nine balls plus a wad.

[jlw]

That could be an interesting discussion. I was influenced many years ago by my instructors, Louis Awerbuck and Randy Cain, who carried slugs in their personal shotguns. Their reasoning was we own everything we launch, and they would rather own one slug than eight or nine balls plus a wad.

That was also pre-FFC.

[TCinVA]

That's #1 Spartan 20 gauge from a Mossberg 500 at 15 yards.