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What IS SD/HD range?

Tom396

.30-06
What is your opinion on the ranges that should be considered self defense and/or home defense?

I ask, because it actually does seem to make a world of difference to shotgun loads. Just a few yards could be the difference between stopping an intruder with a single center mass shot and merely pissing off an intruder with a single center mass shot.

I patterned some cheap 00 buck (Rio) at 20 yards today. It wasn't nearly as pretty as it was at just 5 yards closer (15). I was also practicing with some bird shot. Yes, at 5 yards I suspect it would be a good stopper, but just five yards further out it tends to barely penetrate drywall. I'm thinking that barely penetrating drywall might well equate to a somewhat pissed off crackhead. Those five yards make a lot of difference in effectiveness...even with a center mass hit.

Where's your range for HD? I know it's gotta be different for everybody, especially if you are also considering a threat that is shooting back at you from outside the house. :shock: Inside my house, I'm thinking right between 5 and 10 yards. I think he'd pretty much have to be shooting back at me for me to attempt a 20 yard (or farther) shot. Take care. Tom Worthington.
 
Tom, HD as I see it is the longest shot that you might have to make inside your house.
Possibly the length of your longest hallway in the house.
If you are being shot at from outside the house then shut the door and hunker down until the shooter breaches the house.
Oh and if you find yourself in a shoot out from outside to inside and you live through it, TIME TO MOVE somewhere SAFER! Or you need to Change the type of people that you might be associating with! :lol:
 
I agree with LTB, range should be whatever it is to you, your longest shot. I believe most HD/SD shootings occur within 7 yards.

Most commercially available buckshot will pattern nicely at that range. Remember what you said about birdshot? My advice, if you have buckshot on hand, leave the birdshot alone except for birds and target practice. It won't reliably penetrate deeply enough to stop a threat.

Anyhow, you may find that some buck patterns very precisely at your HD ranges where some may begin to fall apart or open up quite abit. You may already know this and I don't mean to be redundant if you do...
 
Yep, that's the same conclusion I have came to. Longest shot you would realistically take with it.

Not necessarily just distance within your home, but maybe in your yard, or throughout the house or what-not, just be honest with yourself about it.

Since I don't have a huge yard, 35 yards (max) is what I would expect SD/HD distances for ME to realistically be. I don't know if I would say to hunker down or not. That is too tough to call even in the "hypothetical".

And outside, I may or may not have something besides a shotgun staring back at them anyway. I guess the same could be said for inside too. But whatever it is, I would say with general certainty they're going to be in for a very bad day.
 
Anything within the confines of my home, basically 0 to 15 feet.

That said it's always good to know how any gun you use for hunting, defense, etc. patterns at various ranges.
 
I practice at 10 feet, probably a little on the long side. I also practice butt strokes and jabs. Patterning isn't an issue at this distance.

The longest possible target in either of my houses is 10 meters, although this would be under the unlikely circumstance that both me and the bad guy would be standing in opposing doorways or plastered against opposing walls. 10 meters would probably be my longest likely yard shot (although chasing somebody out into the yard is not on my Plan A list anyway).

Statistically, HD/SD shots are 0 to 20 feet. So, to answer your question:

1) Give some serious thought as to what fighting at 0 feet means.
2) Train/ pattern in the short side of the 0 to 20 feet range most of the time.
3) Train/pattern in the 10 meter range a small part of the time.

Anything more, get a rifle if at all possible.
 
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