Article: Judging buckshot: the new .410 handgun load from federal makes an impact.(AMMO SHELF)

WHEN THE QUESTION COMES TO FIREARMS for defense, and the "proper" shotgun load, some recommend birdshot. Me, I've always been of two minds. One, I can see the attraction: low penetration on walls, larger pattern. But the downside is simple: low penetration on bad guys and too wide a pattern at any real distance.

Inside an average-size room, a shotgun with birdshot is the hammer of Thor. Past three or four strides, the small pellets lose their collective oomph, and become, well, little pellets.

Now, put far fewer of those pellets into a smaller gauge, and the "low recoil" of a 28 gauge or .410 bore for defense becomes just not enough. Which is why I'm not ...

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