Self defense round

[Riposte1]

Birdshot;

While I know several people, including myself, who have been shot with birdshot at a distance (no damage) I only have had contact with a few who have used it or had it used on them in lethal confrontations. Two were clients of companies I worked for in my younger years.

The first was an attempted robbery in which I knew the victim. It was in the parking lot of a McDonalds in downtown Louisville, Ky (they kept the safe in an out building - not really bright). It was broad daylight. The manager emptied a 5 shot chief special (158gr LRN) into the chest of the robber at near contact range then turned and ran back into the building. About the time he hit the door the BG shot him in the back with a single shot sawed off shotgun loaded with birdshot at a distance of 18 feet. The manager survived just fine and though in pain I talked to him a week after the incident. The docs let the shot "grow" out. That must have been an interesting process. I saw a piece of the shot, it was either #5 or 6. BTW, the robber, after remaining on the critical list for a while survied and was convicted. I always entertained the notion that there was something wrong with that round, no piece of shot penetrated more than 2" most was only 1" deep.

The next was another client in Memphis who was robbed in his driveway when he had come back in from bird hunting. The robbers got his money and started to saunter off (you have to have experineced Memphis to understand this) and the guy just got mad, opened his trunk and scored a "double" with #8 shot. Distance probably 15 - 20 feet. Both wounds were fatal. No charges filed - it was a different time.

Personally I keep one round of #2 shot as the first one in the mag of my house gun, the rest are 00 or 000 buck with 3 slugs in the sidesaddle (My real house gun is an M-14 but I keep the scatter gun handy). But the bird shot is really more to be able to venture outside and wax a varmint that might wander between my yard and the direction of the neighbors (they are about 150 to 200 yards away) to the side, the back is open. I am not concerned about inside the house, it is brick and just my wife and I live here with my son visiting occasionally - he knows to hit the floor.

Some don't know it but in Miami in 1986, Mattix had a pistol grip only shotgun loaded with #6 shot. He didn't accomplish anything except to stop some FBI bullets that might have hit Platt, who was far more dangerous.

While shotguns seem to be on the way out in law enforcement, and I understand why, there is still something visceral about a .72 caliber hole!

Riposte