If you asked someone to list the downsides of shotguns, you’d very quickly get to the limited range issue. Shotguns have limited range, especially when firing shot. Slugs can extend the range but still can’t reach the same range as 5.56. Shotguns lack range, but how far can they remain effective? Specifically, how far can they remain effective with buckshot? That’s what I set out to figure out today.
This isn’t all that important for home defense. Most home defense encounters are from 0 to 10 yards. At those ranges, a load of buckshot remains about the size of a fist. Let’s say the zombies have risen or the aliens have invaded, and all you have is a shotgun. How far can we engage those threats?
To define the effective range, we have to determine what effective means. The effective range doesn’t mean how far a single pellet can move while remaining lethal. There are a couple of components to effective range determination, and one is accuracy. How far can we accurately fire the load of buckshot? Second, how much of the load will hit the target? I think at least 50% of the pellets must hit the target to be effective.
