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shotgun, not nearly what it's claimed.
Topic Started: Jul 18 2011, 05:43 PM (259 Views)
big-bad
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Not even CLOSE, actually. Any one with any real experience at foraging, with potential enemies around, will tell you that he far prefers a sound suppressed .22 auto rifle over any noisy shotgun. Given an AR-15, 223 AK, or Mini-14 with a Ciener .22lr conversion unit and a suppressor for the 223, you are so far ahead of the shotgun as to make any comparison laughable. Animals and birds stop moving sooner or later, so why risk calling in every bandit within 2 miles when you pop a rabbit, hmm?

Almost nobody shoots enough slugs to be any good with a shotgun beyond buckshot range. With an unchoked "riot barrel", that range is limited to 20 yds in most case, maybe 25 yds in rare instances. Each 00 pellet hits like a .38 lrn, and many of such 38 hits often fail to stop men, even with all of them striking the chest. So you can't trust a buck blast to stop a man unless it is at a range where at least 4 of the pellets reliably strike the 10" vitals circle of the chest. To do this with standard, 9 pellet 00 buck loads, the entire pattern can't be larger than 15" in diameter. Normally, the buck pattern spreads 1" per yard from the muzzle, so 15 yds is about it, really. yes, you can have tight chokes, which stretch the effective range to 30-35 yds, but then the pattern is only 3" wide at 10 yds, and no help at all at hitting attackers at indoor type distances.

Buckshot does not penetrate well at all. it will not pierce a windshield or the tread of a tire or a car door beyond 10 yds and then only if it strikes at very nearly a 90 degree angle. it will not reliably pierce more than 6" of hardwood, or 10" of soft pine, and have any lethality left to it. It won't pierce concealable, soft armor. It has head sized holes in its pattern at a mere 20 yds, from a typical riot barrel, so enemies who are using cover, exposiing only their heads, will be missed frequently at longer ranges.

Birdshot is not worth a damn on larger critters or men, beyond a very few yards, and buck or slugs are not worth a hoot on small game, either. 12 ga shells are 10 to the lb, .22lr's are 135 to the lb. So how many shells will you have with you, hmm? 75, at most. If you split that evenly between buck, slugs, and birdshot, you will have very few rds of each. You can easily be cut off from your "base' for days at a time, you know. Anyone who knows to stay 100 yds away and use a rifle from cover is going to pick you off easily if all you have is a shotgun.

There are no effective flashhiders or sound suppressors for shotguns. So, at night, you ruiin your night vision with your first shot, and that giant flash tells your enemies exactly where to aim. the shotshells are very fragile, and easilly ruined by moisture, rough handling or oils/solvents. they are very awkward to carry in a manner that allows even reasonbly fast reloads. Try reloading a tubular mag in the dark, in the rain, in the mud, while prone, with gloves on, or with cold--numbed fingers. try using a shotgun while you hold an intruder and call the cops, or comfort a job, or use a light, or look under a bed, or look behind clothes hanging in a closet. It is not even a good choice for home defense now, under "normal conditions".
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