"First three inches of permanent wound cavity were completely destroyed. Little to no temporary stretch cavity effects were observed. Small sized birdshot such as this #8 heavy dove load is a poor choice for deployment with a
tactical shotgun. Wounds inflicted from birdshot tend to be gruesome yet shallow as they lack the penetration required to reach vital cardiovascular or central nervous system structures.
"
I agree with Farago when he says "#8 heavy dove load is a poor choice for deployment with a
tactical shotgun. " because of body armor and some cases the heavy clothing and the combination of both will decrease penetration but there is not a lot of meth heads wearing body armor and a jean jacket won`t hardly slow down 1oz of 8 shot traveling 1290 fps in close quarters and even his gel test shows a penetration of about 4".....and it`s less than 2 inches from the surface of the skin to the outer surface of the heart.
"The gun must be fired at a so-called “vital area” of the attacker. This usually means the heart or the brain/spine. Hits to the lungs and other organs can also be effective, but results may be slower.
The bullet must have the ability to penetrate whatever is between the muzzle and those vital organs in order to disrupt their function — for non-uniformed civilians, this typically includes clothing, tissue, and bone.
No matter what else may happen during the course of a lethal confrontation, if you shoot the guy in the right spot with a bullet that penetrates deep enough, the threat will go down." -By Chris Baker
Handgun Self-Defense Ammunition Ballistics Test
http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/
Enough of me playing the devil's advocate, like I mentioned I currently have two 12ga shotguns in near proximity for HD, the Mav 88 is loaded with Fiocchi low recoil 2 3/4" 9 pellet 00 and the 590 is loaded with NSI 2 1/4" 6 pellet 00, I`m sure either one of these will stop the threat.
"Make your attacker advance through a wall of bullets. I may get killed with my own gun, but he's gonna have to beat me to death with it, cause it's gonna be empty." -Clint Smith