Heavier loads in winter?

[No1Buck]

I recently purchased a 590 and my home defense round is LE132-1b #1 "flite control". I've seen gel tests that look pretty devastating, but nothing that shows penetration through thick clothing like winter coats. If someone breaks in in the winter, they will probably be wearing a coat. Does it make sense to use a heavier buckshot load in the winter to ensure adequate penetration through heavy winter clothing?

 

[John A.]

Heavy clothing would reduce penetration.

I don't know that it would be enough to not allow the payload to reach vitals though. Especially at HD distances, where I consider them to be pretty much "point blank". That's a whole lot of energy to have to deal with.

 

[MikeD]

I do not adjust.

I already run +P+ in my handgun and slugs in my shotgun. Not much more I can do to ramp it up.

 

[CaddmannQ]

I'm leaning towards the Buck & Ball method myself.

I'm really not worried about having flight control at home defense distances. In fact I want some scatter & run 18" cylinder bore in 12 and 16 ga.

Anyhow with buck & ball if your aim is dead on your attacker is dead too, but if you're off a little you're still going to wound him and slow him down.

I'm playing with some 12 gauge loads that have four 000 Buckshot nested with 16 number 2 buckshot.

That's four .38 caliber and 16 .24 caliber all at once. Any part of that is going to be serious trouble at close distances.

Unfortunately it's going to go right down my hall through my bay window through my wooden fence, into my neighbor's bedroom wall.

It's a problem with living in the suburbs.

 

[Ghmann]

I can't imagine someone wearing enough clothing to keep buckshot from busting a deep hole in them. But, then again, I've never tried it either.

 

[MikeD]

Encountering someone drugged up and not experiencing fear or pain is a much scarier thought to me.

 

[Pawpaw]

Remember at home defense distances, the shot will likely still be in the wad and initially hit more like one single projectile. Fifteen #1 pellets weigh more than nine 00 pellets, so making any change is not going to have a measurable effect on penetration.