How Far Can A Shotgun and Buckshot Go?

[@TacticalHyve]

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[@pyeitme508]

WOW

[@seanwhite304]

Be interesting to see if you can increase those distances with chokes

[@AisAL321]

I concur.

[@WilliamAM43]

I was thinking the Kick’s buttkicker choke might tighten that pattern right up but his gun may not accept chokes and just be cylinder.

[@JamesJohnson-rp9px]

Depends on the load. The fancy stuff with tail-braking wads (Federal Flite Control and Hornady Critical Defense) do worse because the choke strips the wad earlier. For standard buck, *some* I’ve tried do better with some construction and some do worse. It also depends on the specific shotgun. One 870 will pattern great with one load and another 870 won’t like it. The best way to get good patterns from mid buckshot is to send your barrel to Vang Comp.

[@CaveLife652]

I shoot 00 buck with my 11/87 with an extra tight choke for goose hunting and I'm certain it groups tighter. Also #2 3" birdshot can shoot down small trees (4"-5") diameter trees in just a couple of shots so I'm pretty confident it can defeat most doors. Perhaps testing different bird shots for breaching could be a future video.

[@victorwaddell6530]

Should try out slugs out to 100 yards .

[@mcburcke]

Very interesting video, indeed! I'm a shotgun for home defense guy myself (590A1), and I did some research back when about which load to use. Turns out, in one of the few instances when the Federal government was of any use to anyone, the feds determined that the most effective buckshot load at reasonable shotgun distances was nickel-plated #4 buck. That's what I use in mine, with the Fiocchi 2-3/4", 27-pellet load. It might be interesting if you ran this same test with that load to see what the difference with the standard 00-buck 9-pellet might be.

[@03redrubi]

Improved cylinder choke works better with the 00, but every barrel patterns different.

[@martinsonofwar395]

Only if you plan on shooting 00b. Heaven forbid you plan on shooting slugs

[@herknorth8691]

@@martinsonofwar395 I've found that I get the best accuracy with slugs from an IC. Everyone I shoot 3 Gun with has had a similar experience.

[@03redrubi]

@@herknorth8691 Yes, IC is great for slugs as well!

[@toddk1377]

​​@@martinsonofwar395Improved cylinder choke is what's recommended for slugs, the rifled foster type slugs anyway. Rifled choke or barrel for sabot slugs. IC is only recommended for 00 buck because its intended purpose is close quarter tactics and thus, the biggest spread possible at closer distances to increase hit ratio.

[@woodsghost9088]

On "Effective Range" there are 2 schools of thought: 1) at what range can I keep ALL pellets on target? (Lawyers and all that) 2) at what range can I hit with at least ONE pellet? As you said, getting into the weeds would improve performance. But this was cool!

[@whatsup24_7]

Federal Flight Control holds a very tight pattern at long distances

[@doloface23]

That agar I use

[@robertezell1916]

If you can find it.

[@AdamJohnson-dr2ri]

The Vang Comp Systems barrel range test is next right, ya know you wanna test it out! Best case, the 18” and the 14.5” barrels with different loads. Winchester military grade buckshot and Federal flight control would be a decent comparison between semi normal and improved buckshot through a top notch barrel. The back boring isn’t that expensive, gets up there if you want ghost rings and porting though. Good vid as usual, thanks guys.

[@aaron5270]

I remember an exercise with a short squad juggling a breaching shotgun, M4 and a detached 320. I appreciated learning ammo organization and kit management.

[@martinhorst1858]

Try different chokes. My experience is that it will drastically change the effective range and pattern. That pattern will change from load to load also. A full choke will extend the range, but will also create devastating results at 10 to 15 yards. Great content, thanks.

[@RK57AZ]

Nice buckshot distance/ pattern demo with my old favorite 870. Kinda wished you would have done a side by side test with rifled slugs for a comparison? I think this was the most animated I’ve seen Dorr doing a shoot and got a kick watching him cut loose. As always stay safe and healthy guys!

[@adamr9720]

You say a random buckshot in the leg might not stop the threat but I would be crying like a b!tch on the ground if you hit me like that 😂

[@johnerickson1484]

Thanks for putting in the work, great video!

[@BlueJayWaters]

When I was patterning my 20g 870, I was consistently getting 2+ pellets on target with 000 buck at somewhere around 80 yards. Federal really makes a difference, but even with cheap ammo like Rio I was able to get about the same pattern to 60. My 870 is plain besides a blackhawk knoxx recoil dampening stock. And that was with a bead sight lol

[@flyingnorseman]

Keep slugs in my shot shell carrier on the receiver for longer shots but I thought I'd get more range out of the buckshot for sure. Glad I watched this.

[@rom14141]

Run a cut-shell just for grins, it's the OG hillbilly slug and a good trick when all you have is birdshot. I dig your excitement and delivery.

[@HardcoreFourSix]

This shows why we (LEOs) switched from sotguns to ARs. Slugs penetrate structures and buckshot is likely to hit unintended targets due to the spread.

[@unclebuzz6913]

You should try it with a 36 inch full choke goose gun. Also try foster slugs through a smooth bore or the 36 inch full choke 's the 18 inch barrel. You could probably get a barrel for the shotgun you have there. More than likely as the 870 has Many options. Maybe a 3 1/2 inch chambered barrel, with all 3 sizes of buckshot. 2 3/4 to 3 1/2 inch rounds. Check to see if your 870 will handle magnum loads first.. I'd love to see what happens. Great content as always.. God bless you and your loved ones

[@chrispolk93]

Use shotgun extensively for predator and hogs. #1 buck with improved mod choke will roll animals out to 55yds. Never been a fan of 00 size. Not many folks utilize the shotgun platform enough. Good stuff

[@jameschanner3765]

Great video, a good general rule of thumb is 1" of spread every yard.

[@jki808]

Credit to Winchester. The amount of pellets dropped very uniformly. 7,5,3,1 every 5 yards back from 25 to 40. Obviously they varied afterwards but they were still effective.

[@pauljenkins6877]

I am very surprised at the wide dispersion of the Winchester buckshot. I have shot it and at roughly similar distances the pattern was much tighter from a Mossberg 590.

[@adamsmyth584]

Try this test with Slugs. Improved Cylinder choke. With a red dot or Nikon slughunter scope and you will be very suprised. Get a longer range to shot at. Competitions in Bisley for this out to 200 yards.

[@michaelkulig7874]

Went through a tac course with the M-5 many moons ago in the Seabees, shotguns are just fun.

[@gijoe508]

Would be curious to see this tested with different brands of ammunition and different choke tubes

[@Valorius]

@Dorr you would get much better long range results with Federal flight control or Hornady Versa-tite.

[@robertezell1916]

And you can find the Hornady, not so much the Federal Flitecontrol.

[@allenspringsteen301]

Cool video. Would Dorr mind recreating the experiment using slugs?

[@paladin556]

In my experience with slugs, just the cheap 1 oz federal slugs from Walmart, out of an 18" barrel, I can hit steel at 75 yards fairly consistently. Like say 7 out of 10. At 100 it was luck. To hit 3 out of 10 because the barrel is covering the target. At 75 I'm holding high on the target but at 100 i had to hold above the target. This was with a 10" round plate.

[@chewyman8761]

Would slugs be something for using a shotgun at distance

[@BeardedBoonieHat]

@chewyman8761 A slug out to 100+ is absolutely doable.

[@VectorGaming4080]

@@chewyman8761 People have shown that slugs can hit a man-sized target pretty reliably at 200 yards out of a smooth bore if you know what your shotgun is doing.

[@joearabia5627]

I think I have the same sights on my Remington 1100. If they are the same, you can adjust those sights by loosening the screw on the rear sight and move the aperture left/right, up/down.

[@HumbleCowboy92]

Right after he took the shot for 50 yards 😂😂😂 that made me smile

[@craigbenz4835]

Your demonstration mirrors my experience, but I never bothered past 35 yards. Even at 25 it wasn't good enough in my tests or yours.

[@robg8433]

Slugs for longer distances... but sights or a red dot

[@whatisawoman9784]

"1 ping only please" Underrated comment from Dorr

[@toddk1377]

That's a good test and anyone who uses a shotgun should pattwrn their gun at various distances with the loads they have to make sure what to expect. Imo, while we can make shots at extended distances with various loads/choke combo's, I like to cap my distance off at 50 yards. Whatever load and choke combo gives me the best pattern at 50 yards is what I stick with, but I do that because I feel the energy levels at that distance is still quite sufficient to kill what needs to be killed with the exception of large dangerous game like bear or moose.

[@ThomasRonnberg]

This is one of those tests that everyone should try with their own shotguns.

[@electron8835]

He’s definitely got sniper training…😎😎🙌🙌🙌

[@KPHVAC]

Some federal flight control would probably keep a much tighter group.

[@VectorGaming4080]

At 25 yards, my cylinder bore 20” shotgun can keep all pellets from a Federal Flight control load within the head of a steel torso. Federal flight control is effective out to 75 yards easily in terms of reliably landing a couple of hits at least.

[@AppalachianLife]

You might want to try a 870 barrel with screw in chokes. Buckshot with full choke should do better at all of those distances.

[@corydailey1486]

Great to know! TY

[@gunswnc]

(as was already mentioned) Try Federal flight control and you will get very different results

[@ThomasRonnberg]

Would love to see how that compares to a shotgun that's tuned for to maximize the results of this test with 00 buck

[@1BXB]

I'd be interested in this test with a full choke or using slugs rather than buckshot. Too many rounds are missing the target here. This is a valuable demo for real world results but more test info is needed to compare options.

[@mencken8]

A lot of what is popping up in videos and discussed in forums these days seems to want to push the shotgun beyond its conceptual limits. First, slugs in all their instantiations are practically a separate book-length topic. Second, if we deal with the shotgun’s eponymous projectiles, shot effectiveness is determined by a number of variables, large and small. Muzzle velocity, shot material (density), shot hardness, shot number, degree of choke, and all those are prior to digging into shell components like wads and buffering. Aaaand there’s your second book.

[@jakemccloskey6405]

Have you tryed federal flight control buck shot ?

[@BuckFoeJiden]

#4 Buck with a good choke has been my go to load for a long time. Depending on barrel, barrel length, manufacturer and choke, you can reasonably expect solid hits out to 75 yds with 00 buck and 000 buck, with potential for ~100 yd hits.

[@midwestbd7144]

This is what I’ve heard as well, I know coyote hunters who had had good luck shooting about to 110 yards with #4 buck and a full choke

[@paulmarino8810]

Sure it is, I've killed deer out to 100yds with buckshot in NJ, shotgun only hunting state. You must pattern your gun with different loads. I use 000 buck, 3" federals. Full choke, mossberg 835.

[@rogerhart5623]

Hello buddy hey I appreciate what you're doing here, and all but I kind of feel that if you're thinking you're having a sighting issue. And the gun is shooting a bit to the right. Then maybe try aiming a bit to the left… Also given shotgun patterning the way it is. I'd truly like to see at least three rounds on each target at each distance. But hey you did the video I didn't and I appreciate your work and it definitely shows that at these kind of distances you usually are just spraying and praying.

[@Grand.Kanyan]

Idk if he said but what choke did he have? I think it's important to note that depending on what choke tube you have can vary the spread pretty greatly

[@toddk1377]

He didn't, but if his 870 has the standard 18" security barrel by Remington, then it's a fixed choke which is typically either IC or CYL.

[@jamesgunnyreed]

I have my "tactical" shotgun loaded with 00 buck. but keep slugs on 1 velcro card and more 00 buck and a few No.6 bird shot on another card. Easy hits with rifled slugs from a smooth cylinder bore 12Ga out to 100 yds....I have another rifled barrel shotgun that uses Sabot slugs, and its no more accurate than the smooth bore using rifled slugs. Forget about any kind of shot out of a rifled shotgun barrel. it just spins it into a huge pattern inside of 15 yds. Nice to see some shotgun stuff here.

[@igorsolomatov4743]

I’d like to know how federal flight control would work? especially with improved cylinder choke!

[@thetexianpatriot2201]

Great video, Dorr. Thanks for the content.

[@ColeDedhand]

Is buckshot effective past 50 yards? Maybe. Sometimes. A little. Is any carbine effective past 50 yards? Yes. Definitely. Every time (if you do your part with the aiming).

[@454FatJack]

Try TAC shotgun 14” 12 9” 😂 even less

[@karlnash7105]

If something is worth shooting, it's worth shooting multiple times ;-) #4 load with 3 shots put enough lead down range. Semper Fidelis

[@politicallyinsensitive4200]

I think Magpul covered this in a Dynamic Shotgun video like 20 years ago. I've been looking at the Winchester SXP for a while now. Every so often I see them on sale or with rebate bringing the price down close to the Maverick 88 plus you can change the coke tubes.

[@gatorsaw3315]

dinner size plates at 100yrds,, And the pole says "That guy was full of sht lol.. Thankss for the vid bro

[@CaveLife652]

Even if you don't hit your shot at 70 yards, the enemy will definitely need a change of pants after 9 pellets zip by their head.

[@jackkelly9022]

My Father and a friend developed and patented a buckshot load in the early 60s which would put 8 000 buck in a 30" circle at 50 yards and a 60" circle at 100 yards. It was a2&3/4" shell with 4&1/2 drams of powder and plastic lifters. It was so tight we had to index the shell so at 40 yards the pattern was horizontal not vertical. The gummint did not buy it...NIH.

[@irafowlerjr.7492]

Good info, thanks

[@XrayMike17plus1]

Federal Flight Control buckshot tightens up groups quite a bit, but I can never find it. ..

[@eefmydee1slideways]

Great Video.

[@jeffhappel1079]

I would like to see the same test with slugs

[@renegadearms]

Dorr great video but if Coch was there he would tell you how when he joined the teams they used that as a close range sniper rifle… I kid I kid 😂 please internet don’t attack me lol 😂

[@Nuke8401DaveE]

Great video. How about that vertical foregrip, never used. How about a redo with Federal Flight Control=the standard for buck these days. I figure if a vertical foregrip had a benefit they would be used in competition and they aren't. Is there a situation where they are useful? Either on a shotgun or AR? Where's your red dot? Thanks, David E.

[@tacticalhyvecadre1049]

The grip is just a hand stopper. No red dot needed the ghost rings are fine. Basic Tac pump shoty

[@Barreta72]

You have to try with a red dot if you didn't already and use a benneli m4. I would like to see one of the best shotguns at these ranges.

[@michaelnyden8056]

Was that a hunt for red October reference?

[@MaverickChief]

Awesome video shotguns or nothing for me personally

[@01MeuCanal]

Try a slug next!

[@bh-2198]

Thanks Dorr! Now you are will have to (for science) do the same test with slugs. :) :us

[@MrWatson2001]

Federal's Flite Control has entered the chat.

[@PJ_Perry]

Gotti keep those flight control buckshot shells on hand

[@arnesmith3122]

Curious what choke tube you ran for this? I tried this test the other week at my house and found that a full choke actually made worse groups at 50 yards.

[@Kinetic.44]

This guy is not a shotgunner he's not using a choke, I bet you. Factory full chokes work with #4-#1 buck generally, but every shotgun is different. More open constrictions are needed for larger pellets. Carlson and Kicks makes great buckshot specific tubes as well.

[@BRADLEY856]

I’m think way back something about cone of fire increasing 2.5cm every 10 meters. But I’m not sure

[@andrewduis1881]

I shoot #4 buckshot through my SHOTGUN with a X-FULL choke holding 21 Pieces and get 18-20 hits on a man size target at 45 yards...S & B ammo.

[@tbjtbj4786]

The state said 00 pellets would or could be lethal out to 600 yd But it would be a luck hit well a unluckily hit

[@timg7627]

Goods video Higher quality 8 pellet shells, a choke and vang comp barrel mods with provide significantly better results.

[@justinbouvier132]

Get them controlled flight wades from federal or hornady versa tight wade

[@r.b6170]

You should have taken "3 shots each" to get an average at any given distance.

[@johnelder4273]

Interesting, but you really should have patterned your shotgun at 5 and 10 and 15 yards with buck and slugs first to see your particular gun's pattern. They are all a little different. Distance really exaggerates your guns pattern (left/right/high/low).

[@esmith3438]

Where are you shooting? east of San Diego out by Alpine?

[@mrbojangles4155]

How much buck could a buckshot shoot if a buckshot could shoot buck?

[@essentialpunisher5181]

I agree, having a shotgun is the right thing to do.

[@javiersp15]

Sooo sutil Hunt for red october reference

[@greysonkochevar4877]

I would say effective distance of any shot gun with any type of buckshot is about 45-50 yards max

[@bmx7596]

Flight control will put that pellet spread at 30 yards at 60 yards

[@jeffhester1443]

It would have to hurt anyway!

[@ratlips4363]

Foster slug for the ping!

[@pyeitme508]

Just use Slug rounds for longer range 😂

[@tormentorxl2732]

😂😂

[@leadman50]

A large piece of cardboard behind your target would give a little more insight your aiming.

[@dtna]

How about a slug?

[@g1942transient]

Federal Flight Control buck shot might have done better.

[@Davis.Official]

Is this a fixed barrel

[@robertdinicola9225]

Bird shot, 10 to 15 ft. Turkey shot, 20 yds or so. Buck a little further. Slugs. Even with armor usually on their ass.

[@crazymike4894]

What choke are you using❓Choke tube makes a big difference.🤨

[@pulldeauxduck2480]

Cut ,or non cut plastic wad cup ??

[@fubr11]

Dude must have a mouse in his pocket

[@454FatJack]

Here long TAC +18” gun. How 14 ” or shorty😂❤❤

[@Hen993]

So my #6 "target" ammo is way more effective than my 00 buck "self defense" ammo?

[@sharky2606]

You didn't mention if the weapon was smooth bore or rifled

[@midwestbd7144]

Definitely smooth bore, a rifles barrel would make some weird groups

[@rocar716]

Might have missed him at seventy but spread would have got his mates. You also need to aim bit higher at that range

[@tormentorxl2732]

Steadfast accurate? No. A hit is a hit.

[@pbh07]

Do slugs and birdshot like Iraqveteran years ago to see if things have changed