Most people think of a shotgun, and they think about bird hunting or clay target shooting sports. But shotguns can be a useful tool outside of just bird hunting. During 2020 I am sure most Americans who own firearms—and more-so those who didn’t own firearms—saw how having options with respect to ammunition and guns is net positive. (If you need a little jog to your memory, remember that guns and ammo were nearly unavailable, especially once all the civil unrest began.) Having a supply of ammo, especially if it makes your firearm useful in more situations, is a net positive. Here’s how this applies to having options in shotgun ammo.
Data Points
According to a 2017 report on the demographics of gun ownership, 54% of Americans who owned more than one gun, reported owning a shotgun. For male gun owners 60% say they own a shotgun and 44% of women say they own a shotgun. For the people who own only one gun, only 16% own a shotgun, compared to 62% owning a pistol.
It is a safe conclusion that of the 60% of men owning a shotgun, most likely do some sort of hunting with it. And since the majority of hunting with a shotgun involves waterfowl or upland birds, it’s another safe assumption that most shotgun ammo they’re using is some type of bird shot.
However, for those 16% of shotgun owners who own only a shotgun, they actually have a versatile tool, if they are informed enough to purchase more than just one type of shell for their gun.
For those with an everyday semi-automatic or pump shotgun, understanding that you can shoot more than just one type of ammunition through your gun is valuable.
The reason it’s valuable is that you could use that shotgun for more than just bird hunting. It can also be used for deer hunting and home defense, and different ammo types make it more or less suitable to each use.
Shotgun Ammunition Types, Shotgun Types, and How they Mix
Ammunition
Shotgun ammunition falls into three main categories: bird shot, buck shot and slugs. You can shoot bird shot, buck shot, or slugs through most semi-automatic shotguns and almost all pump-action shotguns.
The big items to understand when purchasing multiple types of ammo for your shotgun is understanding your chamber size, your caliber and what your manufacturer has prescribed as appropriate ammo for your gun.
Shotgun Types
Pump action guns do not rely on the velocity of the round to cycle the gun. The fact that it operates manually or by “pumping” the action means you can shoot different velocities of shot shells reliably.
Compare a pump to a semi-automatic. Semi-auto might require “hotter” ammo, like a 1200 f.p.s. velocity, in order to cycle. Depending on the gun, this might or might not be a concern. But semi-auto guns allow even a novice user less time learning how to manipulate the gun. (Usually a semi-auto will not have an extra button to push to unlock the action, or the worries about short-stroking a manual action).
There are also some shotguns that come with a rifled slug barrel. This means instead of a smoothbore, it has a rifled bore to shoot slugs more accurately. These tend to be used where people are prohibited from hunting with a rifle, but can use a shotgun (usually close to population centers or where particularly anti-gun legislation has passed).
Don’t Break Grandpa’s Shotgun
There are antique and older shotguns that you would not shoot some of the modern, higher velocity rounds through. Paying close attention to the chamber size and making note of what should be shot through such guns is important!
Chokes: the variable that helps you use different shotgun ammo more effectively.
For the average semi-auto or pump shotgun, with the correct choke, you can shoot buck shot bird shot and slugs.
To give you an example of what a semi auto shotgun can do with different types of ammunition., I will explain what our family has done with competition shotguns for over a decade.
Slugs
The majority of the competition guns we’ve used tend to shoot slugs best through an IC (Improved Cylinder) choke. This is slightly more constriction than the cylinder or actual bore of the barrel without a choke in it. The reason it tends to shoot slugs well is that it does not interfere greatly with a slug traveling down the bore of the shotgun. (Too tight of a choke can impede the slug and damage the barrel.)
Bird Shot
For those same guns, we’ve shot everything from a spreader choke for a wider pattern, to a turkey choke for a tighter pattern. This means my shotgun can be used from 5 yards to 35 yards with bird shot. The knockdown power and pattern vary, depending on the choke, and the ammunition used.
Buck Shot
For the same shotguns, buck shot can be shot through a variety of chokes. Buck shot can pattern differently, in even identical models of shotgun, so it is good to pattern your buck shot through several chokes. Some buck shot is made with a special wad that maintains the stack of buck shot longer in flight, and the pattern is tighter as it hits the target.
Buck shot can also vary depending on the number of pellets, commonly from #4, which is usually 27 pellets, to 00, which is usually 8 or 9 pellets.
Buck shot also can have a buffer material which acts as a stabilizer to maintain the geometry of the pellets stacked in the hull.
The available types of shot and ammunition are much more nuanced than the average person probably understands. But knowing that with a little research, you can figure out options to make your single shotgun into a more versatile tool, depending on what ammunition you load.
Example shot shotgun ammunition and choke selection for my Winchester SX4:
1. For bird shot, an IC choke paired with Winchester AA Light Target, 1 and 1/8 ounce of # 7.5 size pellets, moving at 1145 ft./s, will knock down a 6x6 steel target. If the target is made of heavier material or gets further away, I switch to a light mod or maybe even a full choke. Or, I could switch to Super Match, which is the same 1 and 1/8 ounce of # 7.5, but it is moving 1235 f.p.s.
2. For buck shot, I currently use the full choke that came with my shotgun and Winchester Ranger, 8 pellet 00 Buck. It will shoot a softball sized group from 10 to 20 yards.
3. For slugs, Winchester Ranger or Super X slugs, going 1145 or 1300 f.p.s. do the job well. I shoot them through an improved cylinder choke.
Translating these three types of shotgun shells into real-life scenarios, I could take my SX4 and shoot a match, local trap or skeet league, or go duck or pheasant hunting. I could use the same gun with buckshot for hunting where it’s allowed or for home defense—and yes, my competition shotgun tube is not really suited for home defense, but if it was all I had available, it would work. And if I needed to hunt deer in a place where I could not use a rifle, I would be very comfortable shooting a deer out to about 50 yards with that same shotgun.
So don’t be afraid to take your shotgun and do a little research, make sure you know your make model, the chamber size and what shells you need to use for that chamber. But then test out some different types of shotgun ammo and give yourself options.
