Were those 12ga mags or 20 ga 2.5"?
Or what?
Thankfully I've never had to shoot a human, but I've shot 00 buckshot into a moose, and birdshot at birds and bunnies.
My current gun is 16ga, and short, with no chokes. All I have shot with it so far is dirt and paper; and the pattern is really, really big at 10 ft.
Like a 20"+ circle with 50 little pellets.
(Shooting #7 & #8 shot)
Its a little denser with #4, but doesnt look satisfyingly deadly enough to the untrained eye.
If I have to shoot someone twice, I want it to be because I missed the first time. Not because the pattern was weak.