12 Gauge “F” shot
It’s been a long time since I reloaded any shotgun shells, and recently, I decided it was time to remedy that. Looking around for just the right reload, I settled on making anti-personnel loads i.e. self-defense loads. I bought “F” shot. The pellets are .22 caliber. Just right for self-defense.
I loaded 1 ounce loads, which is 28 pellets. Hogdon Clays powder will propel them at 1240 FPS. That’s the punch of most .22 LR rounds. But remember, there are 28 of them.
I took my short-barreled self-defense shotgun, as well as my over and under shotgun to the range for the tests. I mostly used the self-defense shotgun. It has a 16.5 in barrel with cylinder bore. The results were satisfying. The target on the left is at “cross the room distance”. That’s 28 .22 caliber pellets in less than a 4 inch circle. Ouch. The one on the right is at 30 feet – “down the hallway distance”. And as you can see, the pellets gathered in the full chest area. 28 .22 caliber holes in a T-shirt will stop even a determined aggressor. (The hole in his head is from the wad. That would leave a mark!)
Then for good measure, I used the over and under at 50 yards to see if any would hold on the target. It has a 26 inch barrel with a full choke insert on top. Overall, not bad. I can see how this would be useful when shooting at a moving aggressor as he approaches your wire. Not “knockdown” power, but enough to keep them back.
There are 6 in the chest, one in each shoulder, and one in the cheek.
I will load up more, now that I’ve tested them. I have enough stuff to load about 200 or 8 boxes of shells. That will be a nice addition to the shotgun ammo I already have.
Now, of course, it’s cleaning time. Not my favorite part, but keeping your gun running is as important as feeding it. I use CLP and a bore snake. And I try to keep the work to a minimum.
While it’s not my favorite way to spend time, I will clean my guns. And I spend time reloading so that I can feed them. But all of that time and effort is for only one purpose: from time to time, when I can go to the range, I CAN SHOOT MY GUNS! BOOM! BOOM! YEAH!