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                          Buckshot  Patterns
                          September 26, 2023
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   Shotguns have been enjoying a relative resurgence in popularity of
late and it warms the heart.  Dumping an ounce of lead into the
target with every trigger pull has a way of generating smiles on one
end and carnage on the other.

   Armchair academics, loathe to let a good thing stand, seem to have
to weigh in every time buckshot patterns come up, though.  They
preach the gospel of carbines, handguns, and Federal's fancy wads
which produce rathole patterns in most cylinder bore barrels in the
name of accountability.  A scattergun patterning nine pellets of 00
buckshot in a 6" circle at ten yards is seen as borderline reckless
compared to single projectile weapons or the single manufacturer
wonder wads.  This concern is sometimes backed up by quoting one of
several cases where a stray pellet injured or killed a third party.

   This concern seems fair on its surface but lacks any comparative
data.  How many stray handgun or rifle bullets have caused injury?
What about those cases in proportion to shootings involving the
various firearm types?  How about accuracy potentials in the hands of
various people at various ranges?

   A simple preliminary test was conducted, today.  A novice pistol
shooter was told to fire nine timed shots from his carry handgun, a
subcompact 9x19mm semi-automatic pistol of common make, into a B-8
repair center target stapled over the high center chest of a
silhouette target from a low ready starting position at the seven
yard line.  After logging the time, an identical target was hit with
one shot of a 9 pellet 00 buckshot load from a shotgun which also
started from a low ready position.  Rifle comparisons were left to
later testing.

   For some added context, the shotgun had a large brass bead and
lacked any rear sight; while the handgun featured well regulated
aftermarket sights.  The shooter has been practicing with the handgun
of late and had just spent an hour running drills at ranges from
three to seven yards.  His shogun experience consisted of a couple
shells popped off in a casual range session years prior.

   The handgun grouped nine shots within 6" in a time of seven
seconds even with several bullets landing low-left within that area.
Nine pepllets of buckshot patterned 5.25" with near-perfect centering
of the aiming point and a timer reading of 0.33 seconds.  To paint a
mental image of the relative groups, the B-8 repair center has
central scoring rings colored black in a roughly 5.5" diameter area
(1/2" wider than a common CD or DVD).  The handgun had two bullets
land just outside this black area while the shotgun pellets all
stayed comfortable inside.

   Observations from this result might lead to further questions:

Obs.  The handgun group is a variable collated result of several
      shots taken while the shotgun pattern is a mechanical constant
      per shot.

Q)  If any given bullet from a handgun may or may not go anywhere
    within a comparable or possibly larger area at a given range, is a
    stray shotgun pellet worth singling out as a concern inherent to
    the weapon type?

Obs.  A 5.25" buckshot pattern can be up to 2.625" off center and
      still have the intended aiming point within the pattern.  Any
      single trigger pull of a handgun which puts the bullet 2.625"
      away from the aiming point has missed by that much.

Q)  If any given shotgun blast can has more wiggle room for marginal
    error while delivering a more traumatic blow, can the handgun
    really be compared on raw group size alone while discounting the
    relative effectiveness of each bullet fired in the string of
    shots?

Q)  If the handgun is as likely to throw a bullet as far off the
    center of the target - or even more - as any individual
    buckshot pellet and is more likely to require multiple shots in
    an engagement, why does the shotgun get singled out for pellet
    accountability with common loads?

Obs.  Rifle shooters are often told to know their sight offsets at
      close range in addition to their marksmanship ability.  Handgun
      shooters should be encouraged to know their marksmanship
      limitations for various ranges.  Shotgun shooters are informed
      that they need to pattern their chosen loads and know it at
      various ranges.

Q)  Is a buckshot pattern a liability or just something to keep in
    mind and practice around like a rifle's offset or handgun's lack
    of relative precision?

Obs.  Most handgun shooters seem content to keep most shots fired on
      a silhouette target.  Of those who strive for a higher standard
      of personal accuracy, a vague "center of mass" is the goal.
      Getting into competitive types and the practical shooters who
      borrow their metrics, an 8" circle marks the no-penalty zone in
      IDPA while IPSC uses a 6"x11" rectangle. As an added note,
      either competition typically involves two rounds fired per
      target.  Getting into the still rarer birds who want to follow
      the demanding Mssrs. Bolke and Dobbs, the 5.5" black rings of a
      B-8 target are the goal.

Q)  One to two pistol bullets landing anywhere in an 8" circle or 66
    square inch rectangle is adequate by the vast majority of
    standards where some 00 buckshot patterning in a decidedly
    smaller area gets a flag thrown on the play?  Why is the handgun
    held to a different - lower - standard?
    

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 kimek
 [gopher://sdf.org/1/users/kimek]