Zomebie Shotgun: Buckshot Vs. Bird Shot Vs. Slugs

So when it comes to the subject of shotguns lots of people tend to have some preconceived ideas about scatter-guns. Most of these preconceived ideas are inaccurate. The Purpose of this post isn't to turn you away from the shotgun as a viable PDW (Personal Defense Weapon) but to guide you in what you should expect. This post will be discussing 12 ga. ammunition only as it is the most commonly available internationally.

In a previous post we discussed criteria for a zombie survival shotgun. here we will be talking about what ammo is most effective for use when dispatching the undead.

There is a myth going about (as it has for some time) that the use of bird-shot as a self defense load will stop most determined attackers. the reason that it is preferred as a defense load is because it will not penetrate walls and the such. This is where our problem lies. Given that we would not trust the birdshot to penetrate how can we  look for this same shotshell to be effective as a zombie defense round. at 5 yards this round will do sufficient damage on reasonably hard targets (wood, melons, thin metal, plaster) but at much farther its effectiveness is little to nil. while at first this may be disconcerting improvised shotgun loads will increase the effectiveness  of birdshot.

Here is an example of what Iraqveteran8888 has done:

How to make your own Wax Slugs:

using these improvised loads one can greatly increase the effectiveness of "Low brass" birdshot. In short with low brass being the most commonly available shotgun load candles may become very important in the backpack of a support shotgunner in your group.

What about buck shot? Another common myth of shotguns is that when using buckshot (as is common in Hollywood movies) that simply pointing a shotgun in a hallway will cause massive damage, and that all in the general direction of the shotgun "cone of death" will be destroyed.

with some simple patterning with mil spec ammunition we can see this is not the case, In fact at 15 yards the spread is still patterning within a normal mans torso.  buckshot has an effective range of about 22 yards with most 20" barreled shotguns, anything shorter and your accuracy diminishes. 00 loads are the most available as they can be found in military surplus and many commercial loads. In some cases you can even find 3" magnum shells carrying more pellets of 00 buckshot. in order to make use of these loads you will need to own a shotgun that will chamber 3" shells (like the Remington 870, Mossberg 500/590). Using buckshot loads in close quarters is about as effective as a shotgun will truly ever be. beyond this the shotgun really does a sub par job as a weapon.

Finally we get to slugs, There is a belief that simply because one has been fairly accurate with slugs at 75-100 yards that the shotgun should be used at that range. While it can be done; the shotgun was simply not made to shoot at those distances. Even with the current production rifled slugs shotguns still are not a replacement for a rifle at medium distances. 4 - 5" spreads @ 50 yards are typical of first time use, and even down the line with practice one will still not make up acceptable accuracy, not enough to replace a rifle.

My suggestion for slugs is the Winchester PDX1self defense ammo, Using them myself I have seen the 00 buck plus a rifled slug pattern in the black at 30 yards. here is an example of from Winchester on how their ammo works.

And some real world data (not us)

All In all while I would consider the 12 ga. an effective PDW, I would not make it my primary Weapon. As I have stated before the best shotgun in my opinion has a folding stock in a cruiser configuration that can be worn in a scabbard.
This has been a brief look at the employment of different common shotgun rounds in a zday scenario, If you have comments on the subject feel free to leave something below. If you would like to disprove us post a youtube video and post a link below. Thanks for reading, keep prepared ;p