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Posted On: 11/11/2021
By: Jim Weems
A: Thanks for reaching out Jim! I totally get what you're trying to do. As you're probably aware, the best way to familiarize your self with a certain round's performance is to train with it – which is often prohibitively expensive. That said, you want to pay attention to two major factors while trying to pair your training shells to your home defense loads: shot weight and muzzle velocity. The closer you can match your training load's shot weight and muzzle velocity to your home defense load's, the more realistic training will become. (Alongside shotgun weight and powder weight, these two factors are what determine recoil energy. Obviously you're using the same shotgun for training and defense, and powder weight isn't HUGELY important – plus it's difficult to measure.)
Here are all the 12 Gauge 00 buck loads we have in stock – I assume that's what you'd use for home defense:
https://www.luckygunner.com/shotgun/12-gauge-ammo-shells?jacket_type=156&shell_length=1182
Without knowing your self-defense ammo's stats, I can confidently recommend the Sterling ammo. It's made in Turkey – not the greatest, but impressively reliable for its price point. Our customers have said good things about it. The Nobel Sport Low Recoil ammo is also good. Your home defense loads may produce too much recoil to expect analogous performance from a low recoil load, but your pump can handle it just fine and the time you spend firing it will be instructive nevertheless.
Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Posted On: 10/19/2021
By: George McCaffrey
A: No sir, I'm afraid this would be a poor choice for home protection. #8 shot is typically used to hunt the smallest birds – it would be more likely to upset a home invader than neutralize the threat. (Which isn't to say this shell couldn't be deadly. For context, however, this is similar to the kind of ammo Dick Cheney would have injured his friend with in 2006.) For home defense you want shotgun shells loaded with buckshot or slugs. You can see what we've got in store for 12 Gauge home defense ammo here:
luckygunner.com/shotgun/12-gauge-ammo-shells?jacket_type=156&shell_length=1182
Most of the 00 buck loads are pretty similar in that they'll sink nine supersonic 1/3" diameter lead balls into their target at close range. (For context, #8 shot pellets are 9/100" in diameter.) I'm happy to tell you anything you'd like to know about our 00 buck loads, but for my money you'd do best with the Winchester PDX1 shell. That's loaded with a one ounce slug, which is going to hit its target with energy comparable to an AR-15 bullet, and double down on that performace with three additional pellets of copper-plated 00 buck.
luckygunner.com/12ga-234-winchester-s12pdx1-slug-pellets-10
Posted On: 10/14/2021
By: Gary H
A: No sir, this is new production ammo from Turkey and it's 100% noncorrosive.
Posted On: 9/17/2021
By: William Bier
A: Thanks for reaching out William! A shotgun with a 3" chamber can still fire 2-3/4" shells, and you can narrow your search down to lead shot by picking "Lead" in our filter bar on the right side of the page. Like most other people, I prefer #7.5 and #8 lead shot for trap myself. Here's everything we have in stock that would be good for your 12ga shotgun:
luckygunner.com/shotgun/12-gauge-ammo-shells?jacket_type=310%2C331&shot_type=2223
I like Fiocchi's ammo a lot, but the NobelSport ammo we have in stock is all good as well. The Kent ammo is excellent, but it's low recoil so its shot column is lighter than ususal. Wolf and Sterling ammo are both budget-friendly but reliable enough for trap!
Posted On: 8/1/2021
By: Ernie Riling
A: No sir, not at present! But we do update our inventory frequently, and we get new Sterling products in stock regularly. I hope you'll check back in again soon!
