I'll stick with birdshot in the 12ga backed up with buckshot if i need it, knowing full well that birdshot is about done once it has to go through one wall, but that buckshot can keep going, hence the reason for birdshot up close the first few rounds.
Did anyone post results of say 55 sps vrs a standard interior wall, how much further do they go after one wall?
Jeff
I've done testing on birdshot, buckshot, and 5.56mm 55 gr ball through standard construction sheetrock walls (5/8"), with a box of wetpack two feet behind it. Muzzles were set up 4 yards from the mockup wall.
The 55 gr ball ammo will penetrate 14 inches of soaked newsprint and blow out the other side. 64 gr JSP stays in the soaked newsprint. Buckshot blows a crater about 10" deep, and #7 birdshot blows a hole about 6" deep. I realize this is not as scientific/reproducible as shooting into a calibrated 10% ordnance gelatin block, but it gives some grounds for comparison between one projectile/load and another.
As far as I'm concerned, my results tell me that birdshot is NOT a "safer" alternative. The pellets have barely started to open up into a pattern at "home defense" ranges (7 yards or less) and strike as a solid mass for all intents and purposes. I know from treating GSW victims shot with birdshot inside 5 yards or so that the damage is comparable to that of buckshot. Past that distance buck is more lethal, especially Federal's Flite-Control buckshot.
